FOOTBALL

Graham Harrell Promises Open QB Competition

New USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell said this morning the QB position is open.

“Every position is open because I don’t have any preconceived notions about any of them,” Harrell said.

Sounds like Harrell will also choose the left guard, etc.

But what happens after Harrell meets with Clay Helton before they announce who starts?

Harrell said his offensive philosophy was “keeping it easy and letting your guys play.”

On the Air Raid offense: “To me, it’s more of a philosophy than a scheme and the philosophy is keep it easy and let the guys go play. Put your guys in a position to be successful. It’s an execution-based offense.”

Harrell said he would run the ball more than a typical Air Raid offense.

““We’re not exactly what (Mike) Leach is and no one is exactly what Leach is so if you want the true Air Raid, you’re going to have to find Mike Leach.”

61 thoughts on “Graham Harrell Promises Open QB Competition”

  1. IF the offensive coordinator who gave this morning’s interview is given the latitude he needs, USC WILL have the stellar year it’s players were capable of having last season. Harrell is smart and has real intensity —-not manufactured intensity (e. g., Helton). When you listen to Harrell you hear someone who doesn’t give a shit about saying the right things or towing the USC line —- you hear a coach who was raised on Mike Leach’s philosophy: “I’ll call the plays —but I depend on the QB to be smart enough to see if something else opens up —-and, if it does, attack it.”

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      6. Wow! tebow got there before my reply even posted…..
        #He’sQuick…
        #YouHaveToHandItToHim…IDidn’tMeanActuallyHandItToHim…..
        #…Oh,YouKnowWhatIMean

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      7. Pudman: Welcome back. So while all of us kids are taking in the “truth”, I.e., the banana, you are over at the masseuse parlor taking into your mouth the “truth” that isn’t a banana (Lol). 🖕🏼u and the horse u rode in on hahahaha.

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      9. Actually Michael, right up the good “doctor’s” alley. Who really believed he had any sort of graduate degree?
        Hey jess, Trump’s still President, and there ain’t shit you can do about it. Hahahahaha

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      2. Aw shucks partner, it’s amazing how much you know about fisting..always sticking up for your little friend like a good little guy. Never ceases to amaze me how homophobic you pretend to be while being so in tune with their sexual proclivities.

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  4. Harrell has been “eclectic” in picking up some good things from other successful coaches during his young life in preparation for a career path in coaching. He believes in “open competition” (Pete Carroll); being flexible with letting his QB seize opportunities on the playing field (Mike Leach). Furthermore, the thing that makes Harrell unique is he was a very good QB in college and has solid leadership skills; and is familiar with the ebb and flow of leading a team during the course of a game. Its my sincere hope that what he does as an OC will translate into a great winning season for the SC squad.

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    1. That’s the million $ observation, drjess: Harrell actually starred at the position he’s teaching and in the offensive philosophy he’s installing. We don’t have to guess at whether he knows what he’s talking about —he’s proven it (big time).

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  5. MG: Sorry for being “unworthy”. When I was an undergraduate at Davis (UC), I heard the trite expression, “Fu..k em if they can’t take a joke”….It was just a joke, nothing serious and/or personal with the “Tinman”…

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    1. Glad you replied, my friend. You’re smart and you’re observations are always worthwhile. tebow is our ‘dick joke’ guy. One of him is invaluable. Two is one too many.

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  6. I truly HOPE that Harell chooses who he believes will be the best at each position. Get rid of the “favorites” and have them earn it. If they don’t like, well, don’t let the door hit them on the way out. If Helton gets involved, SC will lose 7 games again.

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  7. Most people don’t realize that in order to Go Airraid…you have the O on the field for 26 minutes. Ergo the D has to go 34 minutes.
    I’m afraid this year, SC doesn’t have the DB’s for 34 minutes & by the time Nov 16th rolls around… I’ll be holding the net for you 4th story sunshine pumpers.

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    2. USC football 2019 —-Score fast throughout both halves, find ways of slowing (not stopping) the opposition….
      #It’sGonnaBeAllAboutPoints…
      #…AndGuessWhichPac12NorthTeamThatLeavesOut

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      2. Um, with all of these other distractions…let’s not forget that the Architect in Chief of all this bad in the USC defensive record book is still the DC…and has done little to suggest any reason for optimism…

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      3. James —Good point.
        #We’reNotGonnaWinGamesOnDefenseIn2019….
        #…ButItSureWouldBeGreatToScore6xForOtherTeam’s5x

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      4. MG

        You aren’t wrong either…won’t be losing games like last year due to inability to score, at least not against most of the schedule…but not exactly looking at a renaissance either….

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      5. James — Yeah. Well put. 2019 isn’t gonna be the the year we prove anything to the world. But we’ll finish a lot more of those drives that stalled in the red zone in 2018.
        #AndThat’sGoodFor3Or4MoreWins

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      6. MG:

        Even though I am a total skeptic with respect to the “Air Raid” approach, dispassionate logic overwhelmingly militates in favor of a significant improvement on the offensive side (with the caveat that I don’t believe it will be meaningful against top competition)…more experienced quarterback with something to prove…some degree of improvement in the offensive line…good collection of skill position weapons…and GH will be a huge improvement over what we’ve had…

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      7. James —Not to belabor my earlier point (fuck it —it’s too late for that!) but I don’t believe it’s possible to overestimate how much energy a young turk (who believes in himself and his system) can bring to a team looking for leadership and direction. I loved what Harrell said about simplifying things —teaching our skilled guys how to do a few things really well and getting them to buy in on the notion they can win football games doing them. It’s probably apples and oranges but I know from boxing that you need to have a simple battle plan that you believe in —-you don’t want to be trying to do so much you have to think about it during a fight. USC under Helton has no clear identity on offense —it’s almost like, deep down, he doesn’t believe in what he’s doing (and, as a consequence, the team doesn’t either). Harrell believes in what he’s selling —and that’s infectious.
        btw —-it’s 6pm Hawaii Time and Scott has like 60 replies to this piece. It’s amazing the amount of response he still gets by goading us a little (with a bit of dick talk back and forth from Pudly and tebow to boost his numbers).

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      8. MG
        That’s a big part of why I (reluctantly) admitted agreement with your argument (although I still think it will fall flat against better teams because the Air Raid is fundamentally a flawed approach invented as a “leveler” or “equalizer” for less talented teams)…he believes in it, and the players will indeed pick up on that…plus I think he’s competent…they will run a hurry up when needed…they will run plays designed for the down/distance/time…they will execute more crisply…they will not dabble like Clay./Tee did,…they will exploit opportunities and weaknesses detected during film study and game planning…I still can see this being a 3-9 to 5-7 disaster…but I can also see up to say 8-4 with a middling bowl…

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      9. MG

        Also gotta credit you on this one – it hasn’t escaped my attention either that whatever Wolf’s bait and click game is, this crowd is full of a bunch of suckers (me included)…but it’s nice to see that there’s still some passion…

        James

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      10. James — Very solid analysis. I agree with the win/loss range you projected. It could actually be that bad —or that (fairly) good. I still say we’ll know a lot by how physical spring practice gets. No matter how many good reasons there are for soft practices (installation of new system, some guys getting over nagging injuries, etc.), if the players don’t see a new (and tougher) approach this spring, it’s gonna carry over into fall and the season.

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  8. Hey Pudman:
    If you are on the SC campus, you can meander on over to the records office to see that my doctoral degree is legitimate. You seem to always be questioning whether I do in fact have an earned doctorate. It’s important not to bring it up to bolster my ego; rather to dispel the notion that I have one, and not just masquerading around on a blog with a handle and trying to impress someone. If you can cease and desist with the questioning of whether or not I possess my degree, I will agree not to align with some other posters on this blog who are wondering if you in fact matriculated for at least an undergraduate degree at an accredited university. I will now bury the “axe” and “banana” and move on…
    I will end on this note: When people ask me where I did my doctorate, I always respond with proudly, “USC”. And then I say, “the University of Spoiled Children”…(Lol)..

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    1. DrJ,
      Pudinski is just projecting his inferiority complex. It’s intertwined with his sense of humor.
      No offense P76, you’re loved. You just never know what you get on any given day w/ P76. Sweet or sour?

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    2. Yeah right.. you don’t know the difference between then or than, and you’re hardly an educator nor educated. Your certainly not leader of men or women.

      #Sayin so don’t make it so.

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      2. Pudly wrote: “Your certainly not leader of men or women.”

        Pud doesn’t know the difference between your and you’re…he wears his ass hat too tight.

        LOL!

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    3. What’s with the put down at the end? the same old idiocy by bel-air tech and that goof Holtz used to giggle about….are you truly an actual graduate of USC? Leave that nonsense for the envious clowns that roost here because no one gives a damn about what program they root for let alone where they actually went to school…’blank’ bel-air tech and ‘the princess’ and esp. that place some 400+ miles NNW of here that hasn’t won a ‘nc’ in football in almost 80 years

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      1. Little testy aren’t we Beauregard? Did you fall down & hit your head today? Southern Comfort is good stuff.

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  9. TBow: Pud will blame all of those differences he mentioned regarding various words on the auto-spell and grammar check feature not available on Wolf’s website. LOL

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    1. drjess—- it WOULD be nice to be able to edit stuff on this site (haven’t you ever looked at one of your posts and said to yourself, “oh fuck —I screwed that sentence up!”)? I sure have. #Wolf:TheManWhoTeachesUsHowToLiveInAnImperfectWorld

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      1. MG: You know how to put things in the proper perspective. Should I ever get a chance to scurry out to Maui, I will look you up. If you are nowhere to be found, I will go to a nice watering hole and then go see about some of that stuff called “Maui Wowie”..(unless they changed the name over the years) Lol.

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  10. Well ‘cal 75 octane’ more like you being that patented female pig doggie ‘la pasionaria’ and her regaling all with her addiction to all things ‘progressive’….as Barcelona was falling to the nationalists in 1939 said pig dawggie scampered to France via Oran and then to her home and yours the good ole ‘CCCP’ where her sonny boy fought for the ‘Krasnayas’ at Stalingrad……she was on the rostrom at ‘koba’s birthday fete in 1949….kind of what you’d be attending for Bernie or OCP

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    1. My friend Alv (Soviet to you) specializes in the Spanish Civil War.
      #WhichIsKindOfAMicrocosmofThe20th(&21st)Centuries

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    2. My dustup with you was due to your entering the fray that I was having with drjesscamacho….do yourself a favor flyboy and ‘stand down’. A recommendation is read Piers Brendon ‘The Dark Valley’ or Viktor Suvorov’s ‘The Chief Culprit’…..learn how foolish so many are that inhale the idiocy and mendacity of the left and their acolytes – Hollywood elites and the LA Times

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  12. Soviet came home drunk one night, slid into bed beside his sleeping wife, and fell into a deep slumber. He awoke before the Pearly Gates, where St. Peter said, “You died in your sleep, Soviet.” Soviet was stunned. “I’m dead? No, I can’t be! I’ve got too much to live for. Send me back!” St. Peter said, “I’m sorry, but there’s only one way you can go back, and that is as a chicken.” Soviet was devastated, but begged St. Peter to send him to a farm near his home…The next thing he knew, he was covered with feathers, clucking and pecking the ground. A rooster strolled past. “So, you’re the new hen, huh? How’s your first day here?” “Not bad,” replied Soviet the hen, “but I have this strange feeling inside. Like I’m gonna explode!” “You’re ovulating,” explained the rooster. “Don’t tell me you’ve never laid an egg before?” “Never,” said Soviet. “Well, just relax and let it happen,” says the rooster. “It’s no big deal.” He did, and a few uncomfortable seconds later, out popped an egg! He was overcome with emotion as he experienced motherhood. He soon laid another egg — his joy was overwhelming. As he was about to lay his third egg, he felt a couple of hard smacks on the back of his head, opened his eyes and heard…”SOVIET, wake up! You elmoed the bed!”

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      1. Soviet,
        FYI, I sell guns & ordnance & have a fair amount of experience with both. You come see me at the Costa Mesa gun show.

        Now go study Trotsky.

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