Urban Meyer and 5 likely candidates to replace Tom Herman at Texas

1. Graham Harrell, USC Offensive Coordinator

Harrell is in his second season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at USC, as he was the pivot when Kliff Kingsbury moved to the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals without even coaching a spring practice session.

A record-setting quarterback at Texas Tech, Harrell has made a successful move into coaching. He started with a reunion with Mike Leach (his head coach at Texas Tech) as outside wide receivers coach at Washington State in 2014 and 2015, then he moved on to be offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at North Texas from 2016-2018. In 2017 and 2018, the Mean Green were top-26 in the country in scoring, total and passing offense.

Last year, in Harrell’s first season running the show, USC was top-25 in the country in total offense, passing offense, completion percentage, third-down percentage and first downs. True freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis set multiple records.

Harrell is sure to get some head coaching interest after the season. It’s just a matter of who might entertain interviewing him, and what head coaching gig he’d leave USC for among those that may be out there. He was born in Brownwood, Texas, went to high school in Ennis, played collegiately in Lubbock and started to build his own resume as an offensive mind in Denton before heading for USC.

Herman’s buyout will be a thing, even if Texas has the ability to absorb it. So going toward a lesser name that will come a little cheaper to replace him feels possible. Harrell has deep Texas roots, and he will bring the Air Raid offense with him to Austin. Based purely on a fresh perspective and the excitement of an offense that look innovative and highly productive, Harrell may be just the spark Longhorns’ football needs.

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