It is all official now. Harrell even changed his twitter account. We did not see much of GH in the day-to-day, as he was in the box and all we got was the Beyond The Green stuff.
The players — Mason Fine especially — will miss him most. Our number one QB is going into his senior year without the whisperings of a guy who had seen and done most of everything at the FBS level.
Sure, Fine has had enough experience thus far have a good idea of what is what, the effect is more compounded for the new QBs who are without three years of Harrell advice and coaching.
It remains to be seen what, exactly, the direction will be for the next season. Any decent coordinator would jump at the chance to coach this offense next season, as a good number of weapons return — save for Jalen Guyton, of course — helmed by the best returning G5 QB in the country.
Harrell was an easy target for the couch-bound second-guessers. The obvious struggles this team had in the three years were easy to question. Graham’s first season calling the shots saw minimal improvement. His second year was (program) record-setting. His third was less heralded, but exceeded his second year in a number of categories.
Mean Green fans can cite all of the failed short yardage plays, the questionable choices to send Mason Fine into the line or around the edge, the meltdowns, all those sacks allowed, and well, the lack of bowl wins, I suppose. Those are all valid, but really cannot all be chalked up to something so difficult as play-calling.
Often, NT had good ideas and poor execution. Or bold choices, but second-best talent. He shouldn’t get all the shine nor all the blame.
Harrell coordinated and coached the best North Texas offense in program history by a number of measures. He should be commended and lauded for this contribution. It has been a very long time since someone wanted to poach a coach from Denton.
