2009 signee Jonathan Harrison wants to contribute early
January 21st, 2009 ║ Posted By: MrSEC.com ║ Permalink
Content provided by Swamp Things – Gators Blog.
Signing day is two weeks away, but six Gators were hungry enough to get started early. South Lake OL Jonathan Harrison (from left, #72) is one of six recruits who enrolled in the spring semester at the University of Florida, ready to reap the benefits of preparing with a national-championship team before the 2009 preseason begins.
Even the highest-ranked linemen often take years to develop (see Carl Johnson), but the 6-foot-4, 290-pound Harrison says he's absorbing all the wisdom he can to find a way to play early. Here's his plan.
On what he thinks UF coaches want out of a young lineman: “Somebody athletic. They love big size, but they don’t want somebody who’s huge but unathletic and lazy. I’m not sure. I guess I’m pretty sure I'm meeting the classifications. I’m more technical. And they are looking for somebody who will get after it.”
On using your head: “Mentally some guys might not be prepared for the challenge. I think that’s the main reason it takes awhile for some to play. I spoke to many people about this, just in general conversation, and they say most people that don’t participate until later on is because they’re not mentally tough and ready.”
On mind games: Being an lineman, you’re just not running around and knocking people around. You’re actually thinking about what to do, what the defense will do, it’s all a mind game. The defensive linemen, they know where they’re going before the play stats. They run full speed. But on the O-line, you have an idea where they’re going, but if your assignment goes in a different direction, you have to react. It gets real complicated after awhile.”
On his offseason focus: "Keeping my feet moving is something to always work on. If your feet stop moving, you're basically screwed. And if I'm staying up high with access to the chest and they get up under me, they won the game.”
On fighting high school complacency: "In high school you can just push people around if you want to, but you might not learn that much. I highly doubt I could just come out and push people around on the college level. Technique is a big deal.
On the football experience at UF: "We're at the point where the coaches have just started to settle down after the season.Coach (Steve) Addazio mentioned to just give it a little while, start working on stuff in the future and he'll get us with the O-lineman to start working on technique. All new enrollers have mandatory workouts every day. Nutrition wise, you can gain weight or lose weight. Basically they want me to stay where I am right now, at around 290.
