After the quick exit of Kliff Kingsbury, the University of Southern California is keeping with the original plan and hiring Graham Harrell as offensive coordinator. Last month, USC announced the hiring of Kliff Kingsbury as offensive coordinator, with the expectation of him being around for a year before departing for a head coaching job. That only lasted a month, as Kingsbury quickly took the head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL.

Graham Harrell is Kingsbury's younger brother when it comes to football

NBC Sports reports the Trojans have found their replacement in Graham Harrell as their new offensive coordinator.

Harrell has been the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at North Texas for the past three seasons. Harrell quickly turned around a struggling offense and led it to a top-30 finish in total offense, passing offense, scoring offense and yards per play in 2018. It was rumored that Harrell would become offensive coordinator at North Carolina and Oklahoma State, but USC quickly shot up with interest on Sunday and Monday they reached a deal.

Harrell is very similar to Kingsbury.

Harrell was a Texas Tech quarterback coach, as well as being a young coach. He's experienced with the Air Raid offense and has previously played for Mike Leach, which Kinsgbury has done as well. Harrell extended his experience in the system as an assistant under Leach as an outside WR coach at Washington State, before arriving at North Texas.

Graham Harrell will lead offense transition to the air raid system

USC head Coach Clay Helton signaled his intent to move to the Air Raid system when he hired Kliff Kingsbury. So this hire keeps that plan in place as spring practices are around the corner and players begin to learn the new system. If the University of Southern California Trojans' offense manages to succeed under Harrell, he may see head coaching jobs in his future as he works with Helton to win a lot of games and possibly save Helton's job.

Helton is one of several coaches that is entering the new season in the hot seat.

It appears that Harrell is here to stay for a while, which is obviously more than what could have been expected from Kingsbury, even with his quick departure. The OC Register reported Harrell previously played quarterback at Texas Tech and spent some time in the NFL, backing up Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, but moved back to the college coaching circuit.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED