5 questions with Purdue football offensive coordinator Graham Harrell

WEST LAFAYETTE − As a quarterback at Texas Tech, Graham Harrell did things that hadn't been done in college football before and hasn't been done since.

He still holds several passing records from his days operating coach Mike Leach's air raid offense.

Harrell parlayed that into a three-year run as a backup with the Green Bay Packers, where he won a Super Bowl XLV rookie, before joining the coaching ranks.

Beginning in 2014, Harrell has spent time working with offenses at Washington State, North Texas, USC and West Virginia, being the offensive coordinator at the latter three schools.

Harrell now is in his first season as Purdue's offensive coordinator, tabbed to orchestrate the offense for new Boilermaker head coach Ryan Walters.

Q: How in tune is what you do offensively with what Purdue's offense has done historically?

A: Most offenses now, but especially ours and what Purdue has done historically, is very quarterback driven. It will be no different. That guy’s got to play at a high level to give you a chance to win.

Because I get to spend as much time with the quarterbacks as I do and get to coach them directly, we’re very confident that we can get them to play at a high level and execute what we need them to execute. The quarterback play at Purdue has been at a high, high level for a long time. We intend to keep it there.

Schematically what we do has probably always kind of been on the aggressive side here at Purdue. We want to stay that way.

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Q: Drew Brees has given you his seal of approval as a great hire for Purdue, which is probably worth something. What does that mean to you?

A: I actually came up here on an unofficial visit coming out of high school because they recruited me a little bit. Really the reason I wanted to come was because of Drew Brees, a Texas kid who came up here and had a lot of success.

I think he really changed the landscape of college football to an extent, but here at Purdue in particular. He was awesome to have around. A lot of the conversations just talking to him was fun. A lot of it was more mechanical than necessarily X’s and O’s or anything like that. Just getting to know him and be around him and see the type of guy he was was a lot of fun. If you walk around this building, if you walk around this campus, his fingerprint is all over it and this program. He was kind of throwing it around before people really threw it around and he made it popular. He made people believe it’s possible to go have success throwing the football.

Q: Will Purdue be running an air raid offense that you did under coach Mike Leach at Texas Tech?

A: Everybody that’s come from him has been tagged an air raid offense. If you look at anyone who has left him, myself included, if you turn the tapes on, none of them are going to look exactly the same. There might be a couple similarities schematically, but none of them are going to be the same offense.

What I think it has kind of become is the philosophy. The thing that everyone that coaches under Leach has taken from him or played under him has taken from him is kind of his philosophy of you better have an identity and be really good at what you do. You don’t have enough time to be good at everything. ...

You’ve got to be able to dress it up and present it differently, especially for the quarterback. Most of the things we do, you feel like he has a ton of reps built into it so when you call a play on Saturdays, he’s very confident he can execute it because he has a lot of reps into it. ...

We’ll just use tight ends and run the football a little more than he does. I think in order to win championships, at some point you’re going to have to be able to run the football at a high level. That’s where at times we used to get in trouble when I was playing and we’d try to throw it every down when I was playing, or coaching at Washington State. There’d be times we’d lose games because we weren’t used to running the ball. To win at a high level and win championships, you’ve got to be able to run the football, so we’re going to be committed to that and playing with the tight ends. But a lot of the pass concepts, we’ve tweaked to fit us. But at the same time, I think a lot of them have roots in Leach’s system.

Q: What do you like about the quarterback room at Purdue right now?

A: The quarterback is going to have to play at a high level to have any success. That is most systems anymore, particularly ours. We brought in Hudson (Card) from Texas and in our opinion, when I first got the job, coach Walters and I talked and we thought he was the best guy in the transfer portal. He was a priority. We felt like if we could get him, that could really help us. He throws it really naturally, the ball spins tight and he’s one of the more athletic guys probably in the entire program. ...

We have Brady (Allen) as well, a big kid with a big arm. It should be a fun spring with those two guys and see what else we have in that room. We will go into spring and let them compete. Coach Leach always said this and I thought it was accurate. The quarterback’s job, your main job is to make the guys around you better. Anywhere you’ve ever been, a team that has been successful, the best quarterback isn’t necessarily the guy with the biggest arm or the most talented. It’s the guy that when he steps on the field, the guys around him level of play rises because of the confidence they have in that dude and the presence that guy brings.

Q: Brady Allen entered the transfer portal, then returned to Purdue. How important was it to keep him at Purdue?

The better that room is, the better chance you have to win football games. I think that competition makes everyone better. Having talent in that room raises the level of play. The more talented guys you can get in there, it’s going to make the best one play better. Competition pushes them.

Having Brady back was big for us. I can understand the process. That’s what I told him when he was in the portal. I get it from a standpoint you sign with these guys and it’s kind of uncertain. A new group is coming in. At the same time, I am probably biased, but I thought this was still the best place for him. The things you fell in love with about the university are still here. It’s an offensive system that I think fits his skillset. It’s an offensive system he can thrive in. I told him that and hoped he believed it. We were fortunate to get him back. Since he’s been back, he has been awesome to have. He’s working hard, doing a lot of things right and trying to learn and continuing to improve.

The more talented guys we can get in that room, the better we will be. Every year we want to try and go out and find the best guys in the country and bring them in and push the guys ahead of them. Play the best player and play the guy that gives us the best chance to win. We understand that position is extremely important in recruiting. We want to do everything we can to sign the best guys we can sign. We’ve had success recruiting quarterbacks and we expect that to continue. The nice thing about recruiting quarterbacks to Purdue is the tradition they’ve had. There’s been a rich, rich history of quarterbacks playing here. That makes trying to get great players to come and play for you a little bit easier. The tradition of quarterbacks here definitely helps in the recruiting process.

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: 5 questions with Purdue football offensive coordinator Graham Harrell