Neal Brown on Graham Harrell: He's brought a different energy

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown spoke about his new offensive coordinator Graham Harrell and how the offense is changing under his leadership.

“No, here’s what Graham has brought is he’s brought a different energy about him,” Neal Brown said of Harrell. “He’s confident without being arrogant. He’s extremely humble. It helps that he was a great player in this league, and I think that gets the players’ attention on your current roster but also in recruiting.”

“He’s had great success at not only USC but at North Texas, as well. He’s been able to have success with different types of players and different types of offenses. I’m excited what he can bring. He’s been a great staff member. I think we’re going to see the benefits. The biggest for me is he’s got a great feel on game day. So that’s something that I think is going to be a huge positive, and it’ll be not only for our players but for me, great feel on game day, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Good energy is one thing, and it’s important too. However, the strategy and scheme are also important. Neal Brown followed up about the scheme under Graham Harrell.

“We basically put everything that we have in in the spring, and that’s kind of–from a schematic standpoint and part of the reason why I felt like Graham was the best fit for us at West Virginia, schematically, we don’t anticipate being a whole lot different. Where we’re going to be different is in our preparation, in our practice habits, and in our ability to probably be more prepared going into each and every game. But from a schematic standpoint, everything that we were going to do, we installed in spring ball.”

Graham Harrell was one of the best Big 12 quarterbacks ever when he played for Mike Leach at Texas Tech. After his NFL career, Harrell joined Leach’s staff at Washington State. After that, he moved to North Texas and ultimately USC as an offensive coordinator. He moved on from the Trojans following the staff turnover after the 2021 season.

Neal Brown needs a good season at West Virginia. Graham Harrell’s explosive offense will play a major factor in West Virginia’s success in 2022.