FRISCO, Texas â Blake Harrell was the defensive coordinator at East Carolina in 2021, when the entire university's football staff's eyes were drawn to a 6'2, 170 cornerback from the junior college ranks. Little did they know at the time that he'd become the highest defensive back to be drafted in school history.
"We didn't know much about him, but his measurements, his vertical jump, broad jump, 40 [yard dash], kind of just caught your attention right away," Harrell said. "Obviously you could tell he was raw with some things he was doing at corner⌠but just his measurables and testing was out the roof, and we just knew that this guy, we needed to have as a Pirate."
Harrell, who is now heading into his first season as the full-time head coach of the Pirates, and the ECU staff offered Shavon Revel Jr. as soon as the camp ended, and 12 days later he committed to play for the Pirates. After plenty of long nights working at an Amazon warehouse with his father to get an opportunity to play at the division one level, it finally came.
Revel dealt with injuries in his first season with the Pirates in 2022, but was able to get healthy in the back half of the season and really showed his potential in ECU's 53-29 Birmingham Bowl victory over Coastal Carolina.
"Made some big plays, coming up and making some big stops and playing the ball down the field," Harrell said of Revel's performance in the bowl game. "We're like 'Man, we should've been playing this kid the whole time, what were we doing?'"
After realizing they had a special talent on their hands, Revel exploded onto the scene in 2023, tallying 53 tackles, 13 pass breakups, an interception and a fumble returned for a touchdown.
Revel played so well his sophomore year that elite programs around the country starting calling him and offering significant NIL money to enter the transfer portal and play at a higher level. That offseason led to a lot of restless nights for Harrell.
"Finally I just called one of the coaches, a friend of mine is the SEC, I said 'Hey, did you guys really offer him?'," Harrell said. "'Oh yea, we offered him $350 [thousand] and they told us no, so we didn't know if it wasn't high enough, if we were out?'"
"I said 'Well, we heard some other SEC schools around $500, $600 [thousand.] Is that true?' 'Oh yea, if it's these guys playing ball, that's true.' And so that's when I really didn't sleep."
That sleep finally was able to come a few days later when the portal window closed, and Revel turned down other opportunities to stick with the program that gave him a chance when nobody else would. In Harrell's mind, it solidified his legacy at East Carolina forever.
"Just the fact that he came back when he could've left so easily," Harrell said. "He could've left for almost ten times the money probably. In my mind, that makes him a legend, especially in this day and era, when a guy wants to stick around to finish out his career where he startedâŚ"
"For that young man to come back and what he means to Pirate nation, what he means to East Carolina and the loyalty he showed this place, you won't find that much anymore and you won't see that much in college football, but I'm sure glad he did."
Revel's third and final season at East Carolina started off hot, with two interceptions including a pick six during the first three games of the season. That momentum quickly came to a halt when Revel tore his ACL during practice, yet another devastating injury for him to overcome in his career.
He had already dealt with a serious car accident his sophomore year of high school where he suffered a fractured skull that required surgery and a broken nose, broke his collarbone in his junior year, and injured his hand in preseason camp going into his first year with the program. A lot of players would've been down and out after that much adversity, but Revel stayed true to himself.
"A lot of guys will get down about it, get down in the dumps and just be completely destroyed," Harrell said. "With him, he was always positive around the building, working on his next steps and working on how he can be more of a student of the game, how he could still get better by just watching film and learning, and didn't let it get to him."
All the hard work and overcoming adversity finally paid off last week when the Cowboys selected Revel in the third round of the NFL Draft with the 76th overall pick. Harrell has seen Revel every day for the last three years, and knows exactly what Dallas is getting with their newest corner.
"You're getting a guy that can cover, play up in somebody's face, deny coverage, take the easy access throws away, but also run guys down the field. Usually when you get up in a guy's face, you worry about giving up the deep ball and getting beat deep, but he certainly has the athleticism to turn and run with guys down the field."
He'll be a Cowboy through and through and give you everything he's got to this program."
Character and leadership are things that Brian Schottenheimer has been looking for as he builds his inaugural roster, and Revel received high marks in the character department. He isn't going to be the biggest voice in the locker room, but he's going to lead by example.
"He's more of a quiet leader as far as he's going to do what's right, he's going to always be doing the right thing, lead by example than he is be the vocal guy at the front of the room." Harrell said.
"Not a rah-rah guy, but he's certainly going to bring the energy in his own way. Just definitely going about his business, he's an all-business guy, studying the film, asking questions, and make sure that he's ready and prepared."
As he enters the next chapter of his career, Harrell said he wants Revel to improve his ball skills to come down with more interceptions and make an impact on special teams early on too so he can elongate his NFL career. All in all, Revel was Harrell's dream at corner, and the Cowboys hope it can be the same case for them in 2025 and beyond.
"I never had to call a defense to give Shavon help," Harrell said. "It was always 'hey, he's one on one, he's got that side locked down, let's make sure we protect the run or protect the other corner.' He was always that."
