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Graham Harrell -- WVU OC/QB

RiverBuff

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Since he's mentioned at BuffStampede and by FoxSports.

My take : Meh

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Harrell

Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Playing career
Biographical details
TitleOffensive coordinator & quarterbacks coach
TeamUSC
ConferencePac-12
BornMay 22, 1985 (age 34)
Brownwood, Texas
2004–2008Texas Tech
2009Saskatchewan Roughriders
2010–2012Green Bay Packers
2013New York Jets
Position(s)Quarterback
2009Oklahoma State (QC)
2014–2015Washington State (OWR)
2016–2018North Texas (OC/QB)
2019–presentUSC (OC/QB)

Coaching career[edit]
Harrell first started coaching by accepting a quality control position at Oklahoma State when Mike Gundy hired former Tech offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen to run the Cowboy offense. Harrell helped tutor the OSU quarterbacks with the new Air Raid system that Gundy had hired Holgerson to run. Harrell left OSU to play football in Canada. After not playing in the NFL during the 2013 season, Harrell joined the coaching staff at Washington State in April 2014, re-uniting him with his college coach Mike Leach. Harrell was given the position of offensive analyst.[55] In February 2015, Harrell was named the football program's outside receivers coach, replacing Dennis Simmons.[56] In December 2015, former Texas Tech running backs coach Seth Littrell was named head football coach at the University of North Texas. Harrell became one of Littrell's first hires, as he was named offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at UNT. Despite being named OC at North Texas, Harrell said he would honor his contract with Leach and WSU and coach the Cougars in the Sun Bowl.

At UNT, Harrell inherited an offense that had ranked in the bottom 25 of the country in passing, total yards, and points in 2015. He improved the unit such that his offenses were ranked in the top 26 nationally in passing, total yards, and points in both 2017 and 2018. [57]

On December 7, 2018, UNC-Chapel Hill sports site Inside Carolina claimed that Harrell had accepted the role of offensive coordinator for the Tar Heels, but Inside Carolina retracted the claim hours later.[58] On January 29, 2019, USC hired Harrell as their new offensive coordinator.[59]
 
Do you believe Harrell attracts a materially better assistant coaching staff than Chev on short notice?

I see it as a push.
 
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My take is he's kind of the offense version of Andy Avalos. Reasons to like him, but likely too inexperienced. 1 year as a P5 coordinator just isn't a huge sample size. Bonus points for Avalos on his Boise time as Boise > North Texas.

Other plus being working in WA/CA/TX for Harrell.

Lincoln Riley is only 2 years older than Harrell, but had been coaching for a solid decade when he got the HC job.
 
Bump. Now the OC at WVU.

Young. Dynamic offense QBs love.

Known guy for recruiting both TX (esp DFW) and CA (esp LA/OC).
 
For anyone who likes the NFL trend of dynamic young offensive minds being put in charge, Graham Harrell should be at the top of the list.

37 years old who checks all the boxes for this profile, has the right geography and program background for recruiting, and his jobs so far have given him a strong network for hiring a staff.

If Harrell was the call and CU was willing to spend big on a DC vet with HC experience (Tim DeRuyter or similar), I could get behind the hire in a big way.
 
Not in my top 5, but certainly a hire I could get behind and be excited about until given reason not to after 2 years
 
Not the biggest Air Raid fan stylistically, but do like his time with Seth Littrell at North Texas where they incorporated a bit more physicality into the offense. Kind of the inverse of a Ryan Walters, who you would want to match with a vet OC if hired. There are worse names that have been floated.
 
Not the biggest Air Raid fan stylistically, but do like his time with Seth Littrell at North Texas where they incorporated a bit more physicality into the offense. Kind of the inverse of a Ryan Walters, who you would want to match with a vet OC if hired. There are worse names that have been floated.
Good question. I think you want someone in a case like that who runs an offense which complements a defensive identity (and also has the vet/prior HC profile). Sanford fits that, I suppose.
 
Tuned in for a bit of the WVU/TTU game this afternoon. Not sure if this what they always look like, but Harrell’s offense is looking pretty awful today.
 
Tuned in for a bit of the WVU/TTU game this afternoon. Not sure if this what they always look like, but Harrell’s offense is looking pretty awful today.
West Virginia is awful in general and that whole staff will get the boot soon, it's not like Graham was well-liked at USC either. If we want to go the young OC route I think there are some really good options in Golesh, Dillingham, and Riley.
 
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