Texas contacts Graham Harrell as USC retains Clay Helton

Texas Longhorns head coach Tom Herman is reportedly moving fast in his pursuit of a new offensive coordinator, honing in on Graham Harrell, who is set to finish his first season with the USC Trojans in Los Angeles.

Anwar Richardson of Orangebloods confirmed a previous report from Sunday about mutual interest in Harrell replacing Tim Beck as the Longhorns offensive coordinator. Inside Texas took the reporting a step further, with sources indicating that Herman will interview Harrell in Houston on Wednesday.

Harrell was confirmed as in the greater Houston area during Wednesday afternoon after USC offensive tackle commit Case Collier tweeted out a picture of Harrell on a recruiting visit at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu.

Meanwhile, USC’s ability to keep Harrell arguably improved as Harrell was in Houston when new athletics director Mike Bohn announced on Twitter that Trojans head coach Clay Helton will return in 2020 after days of speculation about his future, including erroneous reports of Helton’s pending termination.

But staying at USC or taking the Texas job aren’t the only options for Harrell, who is becoming a head coaching candidate — UTSA fired Frank Wilson on Sunday morning and Harrell’s name has also come up in the UNLV coaching search.

So the former Texas Tech quarterback will have plenty of options, but all four opportunities have their risks. Helton may not lost past the 2020 season. Herman may not either. And UTSA and UNLV are both difficult places to win. If Harrell continues to have success as an offensive coordinator at Texas or USC, he could parlay that success into a better head coaching job.