After its third straight subpar offensive effort, Purdue fired offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, head coach Ryan Walters announced on Sunday.
“Decisions like this are never easy,” Walters said in a statement. “After evaluating our start to the season, I felt that it was best for our team to make a change now. We are appreciative of Graham’s contributions to our program and wish him the best going forward.”
Purdue dropped to 1-3 with a 28-10 loss at home to Nebraska on Saturday. The Boilermakers managed only 224 yards of offense in the loss and are averaging 235 yards in three games against FBS competition. They had 583 yards in a 49-0 win over FCS foe Indiana State in Week 1 but have failed to top 319 yards against FBS opponents.
Been wild to see Graham Harrell’s trajectory over the past five years. After the 2019 regular season, he turned down OC opportunities at Texas and with the Philadelphia Eagles. After the 2020 season, he was in the mix for the Boise State head coaching job. https://t.co/KaZBxdBTVa
— Antonio Morales (@AntonioCMorales) September 29, 2024
Harrell, a Texas native, threw for 15,793 yards and 134 touchdowns playing for Mike Leach at Texas Tech from 2005 through 2008. He later coached under Leach at Washington State and went on to stints as the offensive coordinator at North Texas, USC and West Virginia before joining Walters’ staff at Purdue in 2023.
Walters has not addressed who will handle play-calling duties for the Boilermakers going forward.
When Walters was Illinois’ defensive coordinator, he saw firsthand how difficult it was to stop an up-tempo passing attack when Jeff Brohm was Purdue’s coach. Walters wanted to blend his defensive scheme with an Air Raid attack, and Harrell was considered a perfect match. It never worked out.
Harrell and former Texas quarterback Hudson Card were expected to continue the high-flying offense that carried Purdue to a Big Ten West title in 2022. Instead, the Boilermakers slumped badly in almost every statistical category in 2023 and have been even worse in 2024.
Purdue averaged nearly 400 yards of total offense in 2022 but is down to 322 per game this fall. Even worse for Harrell, who has built his offense around the passing attack, the Boilers averaged 278.8 passing yards per game in 2022 and fell to 211.2 last year and 172.3 through four games in 2024.
Next to Ohio State, Purdue perennially had the Big Ten’s most explosive offense with Brohm, which adds to the scrutiny in this situation. Harrell’s short tenure wasn’t helped by the offensive attrition. Purdue lost 10 receivers and a tight end to the transfer portal in the offseason and signed only three pass catchers.
The offense also was negatively impacting Walters’ defense, which has allowed an average of 44 points over its last three games. Purdue ranks last in the Big Ten in turnover margin (minus-1.5 per game) and 126th nationally in time of possession. Both of those issues showed up in losses against Notre Dame and Nebraska.
(Photo: Alex Martin / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
