Harmon grew up in Walnut Creek, California. His father, Kevin Harmon, played football at Weber State,[2] but died of congestive heart failure when Kyle was a freshman in high school.[3] Kyle attended Freedom High School in Oakley, California. While at Freedom, he tallied 405 tackles and was twice named Defensive Player of the Year in the Bay Valley Athletic League.[2]
College football
Harmon originally committed to play college football for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He withdrew that commitment in January 2017 and committed to the University of California.[4] One week before the 2017 season opener, he left the Cal program.[5] He initially announced plans to enroll at Cal Poly in January 2018.[6] Instead, he enrolled at San Jose State University and has played college football there since 2018.[5]
As a senior in 2021, he tallied 133 tackles (72 unassisted, 61 assisted), the second highest total among all college football players.[7] Having an additional year of eligibility, Harmon returned to San Jose State as a graduate student in 2022. In July 2022, he was named to the Butkus Award watch list.[8]
