Harms was born in Hastings, Neb. where he graduated from Hastings High School before attending Hastings College where he graduated in 1978.
He began his coaching career at West Junior High School in the Kansas City, Kansas school district coaching football, basketball and track. In 1981 he became a varsity assistant coach at Washington High School and then became the head coach in 1985.
In 1993 he opened Blue Valley Northwest High School as the first head coach in school history. Harms held this position until 2001 when he became the Activities Director.
During his career he earned a 73-50 record that included seven conference titles, six district titles and three regional titles. He was twice named the KCK coach of the year and twice named the EKL coach of the year. His teams were ranked in the top 5 in Kansas four times and in the top 10 of the Kansas City Metro four times. He is also a member of the Blue Valley Northwest Athletic Hall of Fame.
