Ennis’ Graham Harrell to be inducted in Texas Tech Ring of Honor

ECS Report

“He represents the best of the best of Texas Tech Football.”

LUBBOCK — Over his three seasons leading one of the top offenses in college football history, Graham Harrell orchestrated countless memorable moments inside Jones AT&T Stadium. The Ennis High School alumnus will add one more on Oct. 25 when he is formally inducted into the Texas Tech Ring of Honor.

Harrell will become the 12th member of the prestigious Ring of Honor when his name is unveiled on the West Stadium Building at Jones AT&T Stadium at halftime between the Red Raiders and Oklahoma State. Texas Tech will also host an induction ceremony in his honor on Oct. 24, with additional details to be announced later this summer.

“We are proud to celebrate not only Graham’s induction into the Ring of Honor this season but also his selection to the College Football Hall of Fame,” said Kirby Hocutt, Texas Tech Director of Athletics. “He represents the best of the best of Texas Tech Football, and we’re excited to add his name to the walls of Jones AT&T Stadium to live on in history.”

Harrell was selected this past January to the 2025 class of the NFF College Football Hall of Fame, where he will be inducted Dec. 9 in Las Vegas. He will become the seventh Red Raider in program history to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Harrell was a record-setting quarterback for the late, soon-to-be Hall of Fame head coach Mike Leach at Texas Tech from 2005-08, finishing his career with an NCAA-record 134 touchdown passes, the second-most career yards in NCAA history (15,793; now 5th most) and the third-highest career passing average (351.0).  He also set NCAA career marks for pass completions average (31.2), as well as most games gaining 400-plus passing yards (20), games gaining 400-plus total yards (21) and seasons gaining 4,000-plus total yards (3). 

To this day, Harrell remains Texas Tech’s career leader for passing yards, touchdown passes, pass attempts (2,062), completions (1,403), passing yards per game, 300-yard games (32) and 400-yard games (20). Texas Tech combined to win 28 games with Harrell behind center. He also still holds the Big 12 conference records for career completions and touchdown passes, and ranks second in conference history for career passing yards, career attempts and career completion percentage (69.4). Harrell is the only quarterback in history to lead the Big 12 in passing yards in three different seasons.

In each of his three seasons as a starter, his passing yardage figures placed in the top-25 all-time at the FBS level — 21st in 2006 with 4,555 yards | 2nd in 2007 with 5,705 | and 6th in 2008 with 5,111. He was also the first FBS quarterback with a pair of 5,000-yard passing seasons. The yardage in his 2007 campaign still ranks third all-time in NCAA FBS history and second in school history, only behind fellow Red Raider signal caller B.J. Symons. It also resulted in his winning of the Sammy Baugh Trophy.

In 2008, Harrell’s 5,111 passing yards led the nation. He also threw 45 touchdowns to only nine interceptions while completing 70.6% of his passing attempts en route to winning the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and being named a finalist for the Walter Camp and Davey O’Brien Awards. He was also an All-American first-teamer and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting, narrowly topping teammate and fellow Ring of Honor inductee Michael Crabtree, who was fifth overall after a memorable season that saw the Red Raiders finish 11-1 in the regular season and rise to No. 2 in the national polls.

For those who might’ve forgotten, it was a Harrell-to-Crabtree miracle touchdown with 8 seconds to play in the fourth quarter that upset then-No. 1 Texas inside Jones AT&T Stadium. See below for a refresher.

Harrell’s career average of 486.3 passing yards against Texas was an NCAA record against one opponent. Tech went on to play in the 2008 Cotton Bowl, while Harrell picked up AT&T All-America Player of the Year and Sporting News Co-Player of the Year honors along the way.

In the classroom, Harrell was a model student-athlete, earning three-time Academic All-Big 12 honors and being named a 2008 National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete, as well as a finalist for the NFF William V. Campbell Trophy. He graduated from Texas Tech with a bachelor’s degree in history in 2007.

Harrell played for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2009 and then served as a quality control assistant at Oklahoma State for several months in 2010, before heading back to continue his NFL career. He played three seasons with the Green Bay Packers (2010-12), which included a Super Bowl XLV championship (2010), and also had a brief stint with the New York Jets in 2013.

Following his playing career, he entered the coaching profession with stints at North Texas, Southern California, West Virginia, and Purdue. He is currently the offensive coordinator at Abilene Christian.

Harrell played for his father, the legendary high school football coach Sam Harrell, at Ennis High School, where he threw for Texas career records of 12,532 yards and 167 touchdowns.  He led the Lions to the 2001 Class 4A state title as a sophomore.  As a senior in 2003, he set state records for season passing yards (4,825), completions (334) and touchdowns (67).

Inducted into the Texas Tech Hall of Fame in 2020, Harrell earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Texas Tech in 2007.

ABOUT THE TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL RING OF HONOR

The Texas Tech Football Ring of Honor was established in 2012 with the purpose of selecting an elite group of former players and coaches who made outstanding contributions to Red Raider Football. Candidates for the Ring of Honor are chosen and screened by a selection committee. Once the committee has determined a suitable candidate(s) for induction, the group makes a formal recommendation to the Director of Athletics. The Ring of Honor is proudly displayed on the West Stadium Building at Jones AT&T Stadium, celebrating the accomplishments of inductees each year.

TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL RING OF HONOR