Antonio Morales (The Athletic) — Mason Fine was a bit starstruck. He knew exactly who was visiting him at Locust Grove high school (Okla.) that day.

With only about two weeks remaining until 2016’s national signing day, North Texas’ pursuit of Fine, who was a two-star prospect at the time, had intensified. Then-Mean Green offensive coordinator Graham Harrell showed up to Locust Grove with the intention of making his sales pitch to Fine and verifying something else.
“Looking back on it, he wanted to come meet me to make sure I wasn’t 5-foot-8, 135 (pounds),” said Fine, who is listed at 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds by North Texas. “I remember him telling me that.”
The Mean Green gave Fine his only FBS scholarship offer. His alternative likely would have been becoming a preferred walk-on at Oklahoma State.
Obviously, Harrell faces a drastically different set of recruiting circumstances as USC’s offensive coordinator. It’s highly improbable he will recruit a 5-foot-8 quarterback or a signal caller with just one FBS scholarship offer while with the Trojans.
Now that Harrell is five months into the job, has gone through a spring evaluation period and just wrapped up several weeks of on-campus recruiting camps, what kind of first impression has he made with prospects on the recruiting trail?
Four-star 2021 quarterback prospect Miller Moss was pretty frank about his goal heading into USC’s second Elite Camp, which was held on June 19. The Bishop Alemany (Mission Hills, Calif.) signal caller’s sole objective that day was to make sure he left campus with a scholarship offer.
Moss performed well enough that Harrell asked him to stay a bit longer afterward, and the Trojans’ first-year offensive coordinator extended the offer Moss had sought for so long. Now that opens the door for Moss to build a relationship with Harrell.
When asked what makes Harrell different than other coaches he’s interacted with, Moss pointed to the way Harrell approaches the game — through his Air Raid philosophy and principles. But he also repeated the dialogue Harrell has with his players.
“He’s not just strictly rules guy,” Moss said. “He’s open to different things and really develops a relationship with his players.”
That falls in line with what Harrell’s former quarterbacks at North Texas had to say about him as well. Since Fine was a part of a transition recruiting class and they offered him late, he said his relationship with Harrell didn’t really grow until training camp of his freshman season. But he praised Harrell’s people skills and said he does a good job of understanding his players.
“(He’s) like a friend almost,” said quarterback Kason Martin, who signed with North Texas during the 2018 recruiting cycle. “Someone who has a lot of wisdom. He’s been through it himself so he knows what he likes, what he doesn’t like.”
Martin received an offer from the Mean Green during the spring of his junior year and committed two months later. He estimates Harrell called him once a week to check up on him during the season.
Like Fine, North Texas was Martin’s only FBS offer. Per his 247Sports recruiting profile, Moss holds offers from Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Georgia and Michigan, so the competition for Moss’ services will be tightly contested.
But USC — and Harrell — should have a pretty big say in how it all plays out.
“That’s one of the schools I grew up loving,” Moss said. “It’s definitely going to be a place of interest to me down the line.”
While Moss is just beginning to build a relationship with Harrell, USC’s 2020 quarterback commit, Bryce Young, the No. 1 dual-threat QB in the upcoming recruiting cycle who recently competed in the Elite 11 Finals, has spent the past five months developing a rapport with Harrell.
“First impression was how personable and cool of a guy he was,” Young said. “Especially in college football, it’s their job and livelihood as far as being coaches. Because of that, not everyone in the coaching world is as relatable or personable. Meeting Coach Harrell for the first time and knowing we don’t have to talk about just football stuff … We could talk Xs and Os all day but we could talk about stuff off the field, which you don’t find with every coach at the college level. I’m extremely excited to play for Coach Harrell.”
Young said he and Harrell text practically every day, which makes sense. Even though Young is currently committed to the Trojans, it won’t stop schools — like Alabama — from making a strong push for him.
It’s Young who is a priority for the immediate future. Moss and players like St. John Bosco receiver Beaux Collins will be highly-coveted prospects in the 2021 recruiting cycle.
It doesn’t seem like Harrell has done anything to hurt the Trojans’ chances so far.
“Just coming in as a new offensive coordinator, he had a lot to prove and he stepped up to the plate so far for me,” said Collins, who received an offer from Clay Helton after one of USC’s Rising Stars camps last summer. “(Harrell is) just a laid-back, genuine coach who wants to teach you before you even get there.”
Collins participated in USC’s Elite Camp last month and said the Trojans were “pretty high” on his list right now. He seemed impressed by Harrell’s energy given the situation he stepped into.
USC’s offense struggled last season and lacked a clear identity. That played a big part in the Trojans’ 5-7 season, and is one of the reasons Helton’s status seems so uncertain at the moment.
Harrell has stepped into a rebuilding situation with the Mean Green in 2016 and took over an offense that wasn’t producing. Over the course of three seasons, he turned North Texas’ offense into one of the best in Conference USA.
Make no mistake, Harrell hasn’t been under the same type of microscope he’ll be under in Los Angeles, but he’s had to sell an unproven product to players before.
“He’s probably more of a laid-back type of guy,” Fine said. “More (about) out the facts, more about the turnaround of the program and selling their culture. What they wanted to establish, how the foundation of the offense was going to be.”
USC’s been known as a pro-style offensive program for decades. So this shift to a wide-open, up-tempo attack is quite dramatic and will be interesting to watch unfold. But the Trojans, whose strength is at receiver, appears to have the personnel to make it work.
“His philosophy is USC has always had dudes on the outside,” Moss said, “but it’s never thrown the ball all over the place. That’s what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to utilize all the ridiculous athletes they have, get them in space and score points.”
Harrell spent two seasons coaching at Washington State, but most of his ties are in the state of Texas. He grew up there. His father Sam is a legendary high school coach there. He set records as a high school and college quarterback there. His reputation across the state — which was a plus in recruiting — is one of the reasons why Mean Green coach Seth Littrell handed him the keys to his offense despite the fact Harrell had never called plays before.
But this is obviously new terrain.
“The accent,” said Collins’ St. John Bosco teammate and four-star 2020 receiver Logan Loya said when asked for his first impression of Harrell. “Just noticing the accent first. (But) it was cool just his knowledge of the game, his passion for the game because I have that same passion for the game.
“He’s easy to talk to and be around. He’s a dude you want to play for.”
It sure sounds like GH has made a great first impression with the 2020 and 2021 recruits at the Elite Camps! That is the best news as it gives the Trojans strength for future recruits…word gets out that everyone wants to play for GH….so USC gets top recruits!!
Moss’s statement about USC having the dudes outside but never threw the ball all over the place? When Kiffin was HC, I thought he had Barkley throw it all over the place. But it was out of a pro-set spread offense. GH is a pretty cool customer in relating to recruits & team players alright. I just hope the other position coaches he has to work with will up their teaching effectiveness giving him the confidence to run his offense without any limitations caused by poor execution. That should be the #1 priority.
Tim Drevno has totally fallen in line with what changes Graham Harrell wanted to the OL blocking. Huge simplification, from what came out publicly. Good sign. It seems to me that Harrell is a very commanding coach in a natural, or less than heavy-handed way, which is one of the reasons he has been so impressive IMO.
Will USC (or even UCLA) be joining the L.A. sports scene fun in 2019? NBCSports.com — The Los Angeles Rams are coming off their first Super Bowl appearance since arriving from St. Louis. The Los Angeles Dodgers are running away with the NL West Division at the all-star break. LeBron James is welcoming Anthony Davis in a Lakers uniform on one side of the Staples Center and Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are about to suit up in Clippers uniforms on the other side of the arena. The sports scene in Los Angeles is boiling right now with a lot… Read more »
I really think USC will be better than last season. The coaching changes and new attitude among the players will make us a better team. If not, then Helton is done.
I would probably say “vastly better.” Of course, USC was so bad in 2018, a major improvement from five wins shouldn’t be difficult. I think Helton will keep his job because I figure eight reg season wins gets him out of the danger zone, into a bowl and at least another year with Swann. That’s unless USC loses to UCLA again. Then, all bets are off for me!
Continual losses to Notre Dame won’t make the fanbase or boosters happy even with beating that team across town.
At least ND had a good team. UCLA was pitiful, and still beat USC.
As has been said many times before, there’s nothing better than beating ND and nothing worse than losing to UCLA. That kind of rings true with me, as far as the rivalries go. Beating STAN has become a very big deal too.
You forgot the Chargers.
You confuse me with NBCSports.com. Big difference.
USC football used to be the top game in town but that was with a HC that put the program on his shoulders and ran with it. It could happen again under the right circumstances lead by Dr. Folt.
CBSSports.com — Our deep dive into conference title odds rolls on this week to the Pac-12, a league known for wide-open races in recent years. Keeping in that spirit, the 2019 Pac-12 championship odds have plenty of interesting options on which to place your bets. FanDuel released the early odds for this year’s championship and two favorites — Oregon and Washington — are tied at the top. Another four teams have 10-1 odds or better. So, yeah, the Pac-12 race could once again be anyone’s game. Let’s take a look at the full slate of odds before we move on… Read more »
Down South guys are often quite personable, and perhaps this is what impresses the California boys. But this air-raid offense runs counter to my ingrained love for a balanced run-pass attack. Passing 2/3 of the time seems like sandlot football. You know the type: “Go long and I will get it to you.”
Harrell didn’t pass 2/3rds of the time at NT. I think he’ll only do that at SC this Fall if our O-line does not improve and he has to. Otherwise, he’s been much closer to 50/50 passing and running than the media likes to portray. The air raid as Harrell sees it is not about passing constantly, it is about each play presenting the possibility that the ball could go to several different places on the field, and to several different players, depending on the opportunities the defense provides. As Leach said last season, “balance” in an air-raid mindset is… Read more »
And Rock, in order for that possibility to happen, GH has to get the other position coaches to up their game or he probably will have to throw the ball most of the time. I hope not….
It is focus. Do you run to set up the pass, or do you pass to set up the run? In Mike Leach’s system, the QB has the option to call a run on every plan if the D backs off and covers the pass. It is a numbers game. If the OL outnumbers the front 7, then run (as you have the numbers). IF the D has the numbers in the front 7, then pass. Most of the time, the D covers the short zones and makes the run not viable. Given the quality of the SC receivers, IF… Read more »
Ya, I don’t think “Y’all Go Deep” is quite what Graham Harrell has in mind.
Ball control using the pass gets a little boring and the receivers get beat up. I would hope that doesn’t happen….. Passing or not, the OL still has to execute enough to keep the opponent guessing where the ball is going.
Well put and insightful RJJ. Your analogy to Lombardi and McKay is right on. The key is not deception, which seemed to be something Clay and Tee were always struggling to pull off with their Gumbo Offense. But everything was so poorly executed and timed that the deception (if there ever really was any) never could overcome that. Harrell is aiming to bring real speed back into the equation and overwhelm defenses. If it works the way it is drawn up, it will be a thing of beauty. I do remain concerned on the offensive side of the ball about… Read more »
Rock I think our D-Line will be vastly improved this year. The front seven should be able to overwhelm the OLs and get some serious pressure. My concern is the secondary.
Yes, the quality of the USC receivers should get the opponent’s DC attention alright. But using a numbers game up front to give JT/Sears a quick idea where the meat of the D is concentrating will only go so far IMO as the opponent will no doubt stunt in showing one look before the ball is snapped and move into another just as it is snapped. The PAC-12 is considered a passing league, so you are not going to greatly surprise anyone, especially since Mike Leach has been at WSU with his version of the Air Raid, with a state-of-the-art… Read more »
The truth is I just don’t see Helton as much of a “demand” coach, not with his players or his coaches. Accordingly, I’ve never seen any killer instinct in him whatsoever, which McKay, Robinson and Carroll all had.
Former USC CB Josh Shaw makes good. He and his wife, Angie, host their second annual A&J Foundation Backpack Drive.
avpress.com
After due consideration, I have decided that I was wrong in my skeptical evaluation of the Courtright lawsuit and Allen was correct. Allen’s point was the lack of a denial is telling. I now think it is. What changed my mind was considering the process that SHOULD have been in place to handle the Complaint. This is a lengthy email, but I wanted to set out my reasoning: POINT 1. One has to assume that Rick Courtright has evidence that he filed the complaint with the USC Compliance Department. Without solid evidence showing that, no competent attorney would take his… Read more »
I appreciate the thought that went into this RJJ, but as far as I am concerned all of the possibilities you list above may be true (and that’s why you meticulously catalogued them as possibilities!). Unlike you and Allen, I do not believe that the lack of an immediate affirmative public denial of merit to this lawsuit equates to a high likelihood that the lawsuit has merit. This lawsuit was filed — intentionally — on the day that Carol Folt walked in the door. It is a precarious time at SC during which there will be much organizational “feeling around”… Read more »
Rock, I think we are talking about “apples and oranges”. I agree that SC may have a defensible case. The problem is that IF it is a near defense “summary judgment” case. I use that language between you, me and Allen as I think we are the only attorneys on the Board. As Allen stopped practicing about 25 years ago and I stopped 5 years ago, that leaves you as the only one “in the game”! LOL My point is that administratively, the case cannot be allowed the linger. If I am the new President, I want to know why… Read more »
RJJ — Clearly there are numerous triable issues of fact here. I don’t remember ever successfully motioning for SJ. Back all those years ago, it seems like it was a burden very difficult to achieve and easily defeated via simple declaration. Parties would usually just concede and agree to uncontested facts.
I have no doubt USC and those named are responsible for at least some degree of malfeasance here. The only question for me is, how severe and exactly by whom? While USC football twists in the wind, time is on Courtright’s side. Ah, the luxuries of discovery!
I would add LawyerJohn to the list of law school victims — unless he has the most deceptive user-name ever!
Okay all you lawyers, would you mount a case that accused your former employer of malfeasance knowing that the loss of said case would ruin your career? I can see Rock2112’s point because the timing of this action seems very calculated. With the changing of the guard, parents but admissions and departments stealing research program or Doctors getting a little to much joy in their work the timing is not good for the school. But a hole has opened up in heritage hall, you’d think Swann would be looking into it. Although, many people think the only hole our A.D.… Read more »
Any lawyer worth his salt would wait for the right time to file a case, if there is one. The sooner-the-better doesn’t always apply. Courtright’s lawyer waited to go public until USC had a sitting president so he can start getting results from negotiations that weren’t going anywhere with the last crew. I like Courtright’s situation a lot. Courtright’s complaint even gratuitously mentioned USC’s ongoing legal problems on several fronts at this time. Courtright’s under no pressure to get his lawsuit over with quick, while USC has all the negative publicity concerns — like always. Every other legal situation USC’s… Read more »
Someone higher up had to tell Helton to get Courtright to resign or get fired. But if Helton did do this all on his own, then he is in big trouble along with Pendergast. Whoever was responsible, was trying to kick the dirt under a rug and that was a big mistake. They should have bit the bullet and gone along with Courtright in announcing the infraction and dealt with it. I’d like to believe if Haden was still AD, this would have been dealt with differently. He bragged that he worked with the NCAA to set up a state-of-the-art… Read more »
Often it takes having people under penalty of perjury before the truth comes out. It’s amazing how much changes when that happens and the ability to evaluate them visually and cross-X them often does a world of good in bringing a resolution about.
Either party can petition the court with motions, the movant could just as well motion for discovery, yes…no?
There are allegations, yet no affirmative response from the defendant…why?
Should an inquisitive Judge not want to hear initial oral pleadings ?
It appears there are material issues and triable fact, ie. Plaintiff alleges he notified compliance department with fact, if he has proof of that communication, then his immediate dismissal has merit as vexatious reprisal. Triable fact.
Then a motion for discovery has standing.
Interrogatories of course, can really make things interesting or even lead to settlement.
What say you Counsel.
Dan Webber kinda goes into detail on the outcomes of this on their podcast and puts it into perspective to a degree. The majority of this complaint seems to be academic violations which fall under the school not the ncaa just like the North Carolina incident. So if it does come back true usc would handle it not the ncaa. The other thing that was mentioned was the unsafe practices which I see being the major thing that gets usc. If it comes back true I think that’s a whole coaching staff in trouble that were there not just one… Read more »
Yeah, I love that a guy whose job is defensive “quality control” is pointing the finger at other defensive staff. Before games, a DC should have a lot on his mind and a lot of distractions — seems like a “quality control” underling could do things like make sure players have the right equipment for what they are doing.
Rock, I feel like that’s the problem is people are just seeing the headline of usc back in the news again before they go and look into the accusations.
It just seems like the things he’s saying could’ve been easily prevented by just stepping in. Just comes across as a very spineless person with the accusations he’s making.
I agree. If this guy really intended to “blow the whistle,” we know there are plenty of ways to do that. And it usually involves reporting something OUTSIDE of your organization. That’s kind of what it means to blow the whistle. You don’t wait until a year after you are fired or you resign or whatever to raise your issues externally, unless you are doing it for the wrong reasons.
The good thing about this is Carol Folt was at UNC during the academic violations that happened there so if there’s one person suited to handle this it would be her.
GH sounds like a guy who is personable with the players and well respected. The ultimate test, IMO, is what results SC will produce on the field. I hope it’s not a mantra of we’ll just try to outscore the opponent with the Air Raid offense. Most of us who played the game, even at the High School level, know that a solid defense and running game mixed in with the pass produces championships. A successful season this year, however you choose to define it, will pay huge dividends in the recruiting wars to come. I’m looking forward to seeing… Read more »
Graham Harrell sounds like a coach who is going places. Another Air Raid coach
like Kingsbury.
Hope he stays for at least two years.
I don’t quite know how USC somehow managed to improbably trade-up from Kliff Kingsbury to Graham Harrell, but it happened IMO.
Clay Helton takes a lot of grief everywhere on the Internet for what he did with the Trojans in 2018 and earlier this year, but give him some credit. He landed Harrell, USC’s most important asst coach/coordinator addition by far since Pete Carroll brought in Norm Chow. We all know what that produced.
I just posted and now am in your camp on the Courtright suit. The failure to see a prompt denial from SC (not Clancy) is very telling. If this cased has legs, GH may well be the HC for SC THIS SEASON. If the Courtright Complaint file shows Clay Helton actively “covered up” academic fraud that Clancy participated in, then both must be terminated “for cause” as soon as the facts become clear.