LOS ANGELES — James Morton had this all planned out. He’d covertly bring Graham Harrell into Midland Lee High School for a quick interview, offer Harrell the offensive coordinator job on his staff and then quietly exit with the former Texas Tech quarterback without anyone noticing. What he didn’t expect is for one of his own football players to recognize Harrell in the school’s field house, snap a photo of him and post it on social media. “News stations,” Morton chuckles, “started calling.”
Harrell didn’t accept that job in 2014, because a day later, Mike Leach, learning of Harrell’s interest in coaching, offered him a gig on the staff at Washington State.