OC Graham Harrell poised to be Purdue's first $1 million assistant
It isn’t uncommon to see assistant football coaches earn base salaries of $1 million per season. But, at Purdue, it never has happened. That’s about to change.
According to the contract of Graham Harrell obtained by GoldandBlack.com, the Purdue offensive coordinator is set to make $900,000 this season, $950,000 in 2024 and $1 million in 2025.
That will make him the highest paid assistant coach in school annals, and the first ever to make a base salary of $1 million.
Harrell also is eligible for the requisite bonuses tied to postseason games, academics and conference finish made available to the other Purdue assistants. His contract was the final one among assistants on Ryan Walters‘ first staff to be signed, getting inked on April 11.
The 37-year-old Harrell came to Purdue from West Virginia, where he was offensive coordinator for one season. Prior to that, he was OC at USC (2019-21) and North Texas (2016-18). Harrell also coached at Washington State and Oklahoma State. He was a star quarterback at Texas Tech (2005-08) for the late Mike Leach before a stint in the NFL.
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Salaries far exceeding $1 million are common across the college landscape. In fact, Ohio State will have five assistants make at least $1 million in 2023. Buckeye defensive coordinator Jim Knowles leads the way with a $1,975,000 salary, per FootballScoop.com. No assistant in the nation makes more. According to FootballScoop.com, the highest paid Big Ten offensive coordinator is Rutgers’ Kirk Ciarrocca, who will make $1.4 million in 2023.
MORE: How much will Purdue football assistants earn in 2023?
The previously highest paid assistant on a Purdue staff came under Jeff Brohm. His first defensive coordinator, Nick Holt, made a base salary of $645,000 in 2019 plus a $25,000 one-time retention bonus paid in September of that year to bring his compensation to $670,000.
The only other assistant ever to make over $600,000 in base salary at Purdue was Bob Diaco, a defensive coordinator who made $625,000 in 2020 under Brohm.
The highest paid assistants on Brohm’s final staff in 2022 were co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brian Brohm and co-defensive coordinator/secondary coach Ron English, who each made a base of $550,000.
