Purdue dismisses offensive coordinator Graham Harrell from coaching position

Purdue's head coach, Ryan Walters, quickly realized after just three games that a change was necessary.

On Sunday, he took action and fired offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Graham Harrell.

\"Decisions like this are never easy,\" stated Walters. \"After evaluating our start to the season, I felt it was best for our team to make a change now. We are grateful for Graham's contributions to our program and wish him the best in the future.\"

The Boilermakers suffered a 28-10 loss to Nebraska the day before, scoring their only touchdown with just a minute and a half left in the game. This was their third consecutive loss, bringing their record to 1-3 this season.

After defeating FCS team Indiana State in their first game, Purdue was crushed 66-7 by Notre Dame on September 14th and then lost 38-21 to Oregon State before their defeat to the Cornhuskers.

Hudson Card, a transfer quarterback from Texas who joined Purdue when Harrell was hired last season, has yet to pass for 200 yards against an FBS team this season. The Boilermakers are currently ranked 110th in the FBS with an average of 172.2 passing yards per game. They are also tied for 105th in the FBS with an average of 21.8 points per game and their rushing yards per game are at 149.8, ranking 79th.

The team has not yet announced any plans for a new offensive coordinator.

Harrell, 39, reportedly has two years left on his three-year contract and is still owed nearly $2 million.

He played under the late Mike Leach at Texas Tech from 2005-2008, leaving the school as the NCAA's all-time leader in touchdown passes with 134. He also ranked second in career passing yards with 15,793 and finished fourth in Heisman voting during his senior season.

Before joining Purdue, Harrell was the offensive coordinator at West Virginia for the 2022 season and held the same position at USC from 2019-2021.