Harrison Hand at the NFL Combine

This week owlsports.com attended the NFL Combine to catch up with Owls' CB Harrison Hand. Here is a transcript of his interview with the gathered media:

How have the past few weeks been?
"I've been training in Carlsbad, California, at EXOS with Chapelle Russell. Everything is going smooth, great training facility."

When did you get in?
"I got in Wednesday about 4:00-4:30."

What have the last couple days been like for you?
"Talk to a lot of teams that first night with informal interviews. Did a lot of medical stuff yesterday and more medical today. I haven't had any formal's yet."

You coming out early after your junior year, what went into making that decision?
"I always had a plan to do that."

What's your best skill?
"In a 40 [yard dash] you got to demonstrate speed, show that you're fast. In the drills you got to show your quickness. In the position drills they want to see how smooth your feet are."

At what point did you decide that you were going to come out?
"I kind of knew I was going to come out. It was probably right before the season, early during the season."

Did you check with the league to see where they evaluated you?
"They told me to go back to school. It's either the first round, second round, or go back to school."

Everybody has their reasons…
"Yes sir."

What's been the weirdest part about this week so far?
"Nothing really has been too weird for me. I just pretty easily go with the flow, and taking advantage of this great opportunity."

Are you a pretty calm and collected guy?
"Yeah I'm pretty calm and collected. Not too many nerves."

Has there been a player that inspired you to play cornerback?
"Personally no. I really didn't [have someone]. My coaches moved me to the position when I was young. They just thought I had great potential."

Did you have a favorite team growing up?
"No I actually didn't. I was just all around NFL guy."

Did you watch the NFL when you were young?
"No, not when I was young. Because when I watch it I would get too anxious. I would just want to go outside and play. I was mostly playing outside."

Do you have siblings?
"Yes, two sisters."

Would they go outside with you and play football?
"No we used to play with a lot of the neighborhood kids."

Can you talk a little bit about the decision to transfer back to Temple?
"I had a lot of family issues back at home and one of my position coaches was Fran Brown. He got the job to go back to Temple around the same time that those things were going on. It was God's blessing that I can go back home to play for him, play in front of my family."

At the time it's possible you could've had to sit out a year but you were still willing to make that decision?
"Yes."

You must have been happy when you found out you didn't have to sit out?
"Extremely. It was great."

You had to wait five months for that decision though, you didn't find out until June?
"It was prayer, it was faith."

What are the strengths of your game and what do you need to improve on as a corner at the NFL level?
"I could cover very well, my speed, also I'm pretty good at coming up and making a tackle. I'm a really aggressive corner. I have to get better overall, you know, my back pedal, press, man, off man, tackling. I still need to work on a lot of things."

Who do you compare yourself to at the pro level?
"Not really anybody."

Do you study anybody?
"Yeah I study everybody. All the good techniques."

Who is the best corner you've studied?
"Oh I can't say just one."

What's your earliest football memory?
"I was pretty young, I forgot the age I was. One of my first football games I was at running back and I'm running down the field. I'm about to score and I heard my mom yelling my name. And right before I go to the end zone, I stopped. I just turned around and I stared into the crowd, and I got tackled right before the touchdown."

Were you mad at your mom after that?
"No."

How long after that did they move you to cornerback?
"Not when I was young. I was always a running back. I was moved to cornerback in upper middle school."

What are your expectations here?
"I have high expectations but I'm not going to [predict] numbers out there. We will have to see."

Tell me about the draft itself, are you going in with an open mind?
"Yes you have to. I'll just enjoy the process."

You mentioned Fran Brown earlier, he was a big influence?
"Yes he was a big brother to me, not just football on and off the field. He definitely crafted my game and made me extremely better player. But also off the field just trying to be a great man, a great brother, a great son. Everything that you do great off the field translator on the field."

You were going to transfer anyway, did his coming to Temple have any influence?
"What my situation was up in the air but it turned out to be a great situation that he was coming back home. But I didn't want to leave that great facility and great coaching staff."

What was it like playing in the Big 12 with all those wide receivers? It's like the wild, wild west offensively out there…
"It's a competitive conference because you have a lot of great receivers, a lot of great offenses. You know it's fast play, playing against some of those wide receivers in that conference."

That gets you ready for something like this?
"Yes, definitely."

Do you have a dream interception of picking off a certain quarterback?
"No I don't have a dream interception. I'd like to pick every single one of them off, though."

What's the main thing you've been telling teams about your skills?
"The main thing is I'm a fast corner. I could cover very well and I'm good at man-to-man and zone coverage. And I'm also aggressive I can come up and make a hit."

What was it like playing for Matt Rhule?
"He was a phenomenal coach. The process that he instills makes everybody buy in. You know you're doing great things off the field, community service, taking care of your business."

Were there any second thoughts at all about leaving Baylor after the season that they had in 2019?
"No, no regrets at all. If I was supposed to be there, God would've had me there."

Who is the toughest receiver you went up against this year?
"I'd have to say Gabriel Davis from UCF."

Coming back to Temple next year, who's the best player that nobody's talking about now but will be talking about a year from now?
"One I'd have to say is Christian Braswell. He works extremely hard on and off the field. He's always doing the right things. Making sure you do the right things off the field leads to doing all the right things on the field. Being on time, taking care of business, working out, doing the extra things."

Tell me about Jadan Blue…
"He's an extremely great guy and an incredible receiver who runs great routes. He was always trying to perfect them doing all the small things before practice perfecting his craft."

What has it meant to be invited to the Combine?
"It's been a great opportunity to be here and meet all these people. Learning different things. It's been a fun opportunity and I'm just trying to take advantage of it."

Temple University Athletics

Harrison Hand at the NFL Combine

Related News

Players Mentioned

Jadan Blue

Christian Braswell

Harrison Hand

Chapelle Russell

Related Videos