Who Will Replace Mike Kafka As Chiefs’ QB Coach?

Graham Harrell

The most interesting hire the Chiefs could make is to bring a fresh young mind into the building. Graham Harrell is a guy that has a background at the quarterback position and current root in the college football world. A former quarterback at Texas Tech University and multiple years at the professional level, Harrell has seen his coaching career begin to take off. Having stops at five different universities (Oklahoma State, Washington State, North Texas, USC, West Virginia), he has worked in different positions along the way from a quality control coach to a wide receivers coach and currently has worked as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for his past three teams.

Now thirty six years old, Harrell has improved teams drastically when taking over control of the offense. During the 2016 to 2018 seasons at North Texas, he took a team that was averaging 341.8 yards and 24.8 points a game to a team that averaged 460.5 and 34.6 a game. Moving on to his time at USC, He led offenses in the top nationally in passing, including two top fifteen finishes during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Now moving into the 2022 season, Graham Harrell has taken his talents to West Virginia University.

Graham Harrell’s track record speaks for itself as a coach. While the coaching accolades continue to develop and follow him, it is his previous football history that is also appealing. Harrell would come in as a former Johnny Unitas Golden Arm winner (2008), a fourth place Heisman finalist (2008), and has spent time in Green Bay learning off of Aaron Rodgers.

While his professional career doesn’t look appealing, it’s his time he has spent as a coach that stands out. Having been to multiple locations and gaining experience along the way while growing as a coach is what is seen. Though it may be a downgrade in title, it is the excitement of getting his foot in the door at the next level that could pull him out of the NCAA ranks. Moving him under the wing of a man who knows how to run a winning football program could be exactly what Graham Harrell could be looking for to further his coaching career.

While the list for potential candidates could be all over the place, these are a few names that the Chiefs could consider bringing in to give a fresh look in the quarterback room and help Kansas City make their next Super Bowl run.