Graham Harrell goes in-depth on the hiring of new USC OL coach Clay McGuire

USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell went in-depth with TrojanSports.com earlier this week on a variety of topics, and as the conversation steered toward the change in offensive line coach, Harrell was first and foremost deferential to former position coach Tim Drevno.

The Drevno situation was an interesting one in that he certainly has an accomplished track record in the role and has proved himself at a high level both in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers and in the college ranks under Jim Harbaugh at Stanford and Michigan. Those results say plenty -- but so too did the performance of the USC offensive line the last couple years.

Something just wasn't working. While Drevno helped develop likely back-to-back first-round NFL draft picks in left tackles Austin Jackson (the No. 18 overall pick last year) and Alijah Vera-Tucker, who is widely projected as a first-rounder in the upcoming 2021 draft, USC tied for 84th nationally in sacks allowed (2.5 per game) and ranked a dismal 120th in rushing (97.3 yards per game) this past season.

The struggles up front severely capped the overall upside of an offense loaded with playmakers at every other position. Something had to change, and the decision was made to replace Drevno.

When USC then chose to fill that spot with Clay McGuire, who has extensive experience in Air Raid offenses working for Mike Leach at Texas Tech and Washington State and also for Kliff Kingsbury with the Red Raiders, it was only logical to conclude that there had simply been a difference of philosophies between what Drevno has coached his whole career in much different offensive systems vs. what fits best with Harrell's offense.

Again, Harrell wasn't going to put it in quite those terms when asked if that sort of fundamental difference was a contributor to the struggles up front, but one can read enough into his comments to support that conclusion.

"I'm excited to have Clay because I think he does a heck of a job in all aspects of it. But with Drev, honestly I thought this past year Drev did ... Year 1 when I came in, I think, you know like everyone, everyone is kind of trying to feel each other out and figure out what kind of people they really are. And I thought honestly Drev did a good job of buying into us this year," Harrell said. "He was good on staff, did good things, and circumstances happened how they happen. I feel bad for him. But like I said, we are excited to have Clay here.

"One, he knows a lot of what we do. He works his tail off in everything he does. He does a good job in recruiting and, like I said, I know he knows what we do offensively and philosophically really fits what we do. So, excited to have him here."