Blake Harrell was named East Carolina’s defensive coordinator and inside linebacker coach on January 29, 2020. Blake also worked with Mike Houston on two earlier occasions- Lenoir-Rhyne and The Citadel, which produced a combined four conference championships. He worked seven years at Lenoir-Rhyne and handled a myriad of responsibilities such as defensive run game coordinator, special teams coordinator, linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator from 2007 to 2013 . He is 42 years old. Harrell also coached at Fuquay-Varina High School in 2004 and McDowell High School in 2003 following his first stint at Franklin High School from 2001-02. FHS went 22-4 over those two seasons, and his ’06 defense held opponents to just nine points per game. Blake graduated from WCU in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education before following with an MBA from Lenoir-Rhyne in 2012.