Graham Harrell back for Texas Tech football Ring of Honor induction

When Graham Harrell was a prolific-passing senior quarterback at Ennis High School, his college choice was coming down to signing with the Texas Tech football team or Georgia and he was leaning toward the Bulldogs.

Then-Red Raiders assistant Dana Holgorsen got on the phone with Harrell and told him to look at the stats of Texas Tech quarterbacks and look at the stats of Georgia quarterbacks.

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“At the time, they (the Bulldogs) were throwing it legitimately, like, 14 times a game,” Harrell said on Friday, Oct. 24. “And crazy thing, that was the norm for most schools at the time — 14 to 20 times a game was probably the norm, and (Tech coach Mike) Leach was throwing it 45, 50 times a game.”

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Harrell put his faith in the Texas Tech passing game, and it paid off. From 2005 through 2008, he threw for 15,793 yards and 134 touchdowns. In his senior season of 2008, he threw for 5,111 yards and 45 TDs, leading the Red Raiders to an 11-2 campaign and finishing fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

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Harrell, now 40, was set to be inducted into the Texas Tech football Ring of Honor during halftime of the Tech-Oklahoma State game on Saturday, Oct. 25, at Jones AT&T Stadium. He’s the 12th member of the exclusive club.

Harrell now is associate head coach, co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Abilene Christian University, which has an open date.

In December, Harrell is part of the 2025 class to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

During Harrell’s last two seasons, the Red Raiders’ Michael Crabtree was the back-to-back Biletnikoff Award winner as the top receiver in college football. Crabtree preceded Harrell into the Tech Ring of Honor in 2021 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2022. Harrell said they want to share the spotlight.

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“There was 120 guys on that football team,” he said. “Our hope, I think both of us, would be, like, not only will we get honored, but hopefully all those guys get remembered. The cool thing about getting to do it is it does bring back a ton of memories. You get to kind of relive some of those fun times. Hopefully for the fans and the team, it brings back good memories.”

In addition to passing to Crabtree, Harrell played behind one of Texas Tech’s best offensive lines. In 2008, tackle Rylan Reed and guards Brandon Carter and Louis Vasquez all received some level of all-America recognition, and center Stephen Hamby and tackle Marlon Winn earned honorable mention all-Big 12.

“That’s one thing that in coach Leach’s era probably gets overlooked quite a bit is how great the offensive line was,” Harrell said. “The group I played behind was obviously maybe the best of any of them. …

“My group was definitely special. I think they had a different attitude about them. Carter’s the one that gets remembered for painting his face and acting like a crazy person half the time, but all five of them were pretty special. They played really hard. Besides the center, we had a bunch of giant people up there in front of us, and with those giant splits it obviously helped.

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“In the air raid offense, especially coach Leach’s version of it, people kind of view it as a finesse offense. I think the difference between the 2008 team and a lot of teams that come before them that didn’t win quite as many games was how physical we really were, and that was in the run game, in pass protection, and it started with those five offensive linemen.”

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Graham Harrell back for Texas Tech football Ring of Honor induction