The Daily Toreador - Student Newspaper of Texas Tech

Issue date: 1/9/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: File photo

Allegiant Management, a sports agency based out of Tennessee, announced the signing of Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell Thursday.

Also, according to the press release, Harrell and teammates Eric Morris and Daniel Charbonnet will train with Competitive Edge Sports, the same place where former Tech receiver Danny Amendola trained.

In January and February, the release states Harrell will spend 10 to 12 hours a day working with "technical mechanics" and tuning his fundamentals in hopes of becoming an NFL quarterback.

Kim Detwiller, a representative for the agency, spoke on behalf of Allegiant Management and its decision to sign Harrell.

"Graham Harrell is a very talented and consistent player who possesses the size, poise, intelligence and athleticism to be successful as an NFL Quarterback," she said. "Allegiant Management looks forward to guiding Graham through the business side of the game and we are confident he will have a long and successful career in the NFL."

Harrell will be training for the Under Armour Senior Bowl on Jan. 24 and the NFL Combine, which takes place Feb. 20 to Feb. 26.

Chip Smith, one of the main trainers with Competitive Edge Sports, said one thing Harrell will work on over the next few months is taking snaps under center rather than from the shotgun formation. He said Harrell also will work with former Cal head coach Roger Theder, who Smith said is one of the best quarterback coaches in the country.

Smith said Harrell, Charbonnet and Morris all have criticisms against them, but working with a performance coach is a good start to eliminating those criticisms.

"What we do is, we identify those (weaknesses)," he said. "We get reports from the NFL, they say what your strengths are, what your weaknesses are. 90 percent of the time, the things that they say are weaknesses might be quick hands, quick feet, might be change of direction, might be hips, might be arm strength. All those are things we isolate and that's the great thing about working with a performance coach."

Harrell became the NCAA's all-time leader in touchdown passes at the Cotton Bowl Classic on Jan. 2 with 134 touchdowns thrown in his career.

Harrell led Tech to an 11-win season while earning numerous awards such as The Sporting News 2008 Co-National Player of the Year honor and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. He also was a finalist for the Heisman Memorial Trophy, as he finished fourth behind Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, Florida's Tim Tebow and Texas' Colt McCoy, respectively. He was a finalist for the Maxwell and Davey O' Brien Awards as well.

Morris finished the 2008 season with 64 catches for 682 yards and eight touchdowns. Charbonnet was tied for third in the Big 12 with five interceptions on the year.

Harrell and his agent were unavailable for comment. His agent, whose name also was unavailable, was in Miami Gardens, Fla., for the Bowl Championship Series National Championship game at the time of the release, according to Detwiller.

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