Graham Harrell is not Kliff Kingsbury.
Yes, they're both former Texas Tech quarterbacks and Mike Leach disciples whose schemes are affectionately known as the Air Raid. Those are pretty strong ties. But for those unfamiliar with what Harrell's North Texas offense looked like, four weeks of practice at USC have presented a few distinct differences from what Kingsbury is known for.
Harrell, as coach Clay Helton has pointed out, prefers to run a bit more than his Air Raid brethren, though I wouldn't be surprised if that isn't the case this year. He goes four-wide a bit less -- Michael Pittman told me Tuesday they line up that way about 20 percent of the time. But where Harrell differs most is what he values in a quarterback. Whereas Kingsbury wants a dynamic playmaker who can operate in and out of the pocket and extend plays for opportunities all over the field, Harrell cares more about timing, getting the ball out quick and winning with your arm from inside the pocket.
In other words, he's not particularly concerned with one's mobility.
"It's an added benefit," Harrell said. "Here's the deal: If you got a quarterback, I don't want that guy taking too many of them [hits]. They're going to take plenty of hits throwing the football, so I don't want them taking too many hits running the football. I don't think it's a dealbreaker. It's just a great perk to have. If they can get outside the pocket and throw on the run well, that helps, if they can break contain when [the] defense don't contain them, or if they don't respect the quarterback pull on a zone play or a run play, if they can go get you yards with your feet, that makes defensive coordinators, it stresses them out and makes them worry. So, it's nice to have. But again, at the end of the day, we're asking that guy to make a lot of decisions and win with his arm.
"We have a few quarterback runs, but we're not going to call too many a game because at that position, it's too valuable of a position. If you're going to invest a ton of reps into your starter, I don't think you want them taking too many more hits than he has to. I like mobility, it helps. It's a nice bonus to have, but it's not a dealbreaker or the end of the world if he doesn't have it, or it doesn't give him a guaranteed spot if he does."
Suffice it to say, that's bad news for Jack Sears (and Matt Fink) and good news for JT Daniels (and Kedon Slovis). It's been hard to tell this spring how open the starting QB job is at USC, with most observers agreeing Daniels came in with and has maintained a commanding lead. Regardless of one's feelings about whether that should be the case, it's become evident that his style and strengths are more aligned with what Harrell is looking for.
