April 14, 2015
Aaron Suttles
TideSports.com Senior Writer
Jarrod Hickman can't help but smile and let loose an "I-told-you-so" laugh these days.
The head football coach at Florida High in Tallahassee, knew the physical talents and football smarts his star player Ronnie Harrison possessed. But he was always a bit puzzled why Harrison, the 2015 finalist for Mr. Football, wasn't ranked among the best players in the country.
Now it's not as if Harrison wasn't rated a very good prospect, he was. However, he wasn't the top player at his position. Heck, he wasn't even in the top 10 high school safety prospects in the country.
Ronnie Harrison has already been praised by three starters and the head coach.
No matter, though, because Hickman always knew when coaches and talent evaluators saw Harrison in person their response was always the same: "Wow."
So it comes as no surprise to Hickman these days that Harrison's name is the most-talked about among the University of Alabama's freshman class, a group hailed as tops in the country.
"It's not. I don't want to sound boastful, but it's not to us because Ronnie's such a humble kid," Hickman said. "I think in this day and age, kids get lost with all these stars and crazy things.
"Ronnie's a kid that was probably one of the best players in the country that maybe not everyone knew about unless you physically got to come see him. I think he's proven that day to day. It's impressive what he's doing up there, and we're just glad that he's doing a really good job up there."
What he's doing is no easy feat for a true freshman just a couple of months removed from high school. The 6-foot-3, 218-pound safety is earning valuable reps in the Crimson Tide's defensive backfield, while at the same time garnering praise from his coaches and veteran teammates.
With less than a week remaining of spring practice, Harrison has been singled out by UA head coach Nick Saban and three starters, including Reggie Ragland, Cyrus Jones and Derrick Henry.
That's pretty salty stuff for a guy that should probably be getting ready for his senior prom.
"I'd say Ronnie's impressing me a lot," Jones said. "He's just showing a lot of instinctiveness out there on the field. He's still getting it mentally, and that's going to take time, but he's definitely a football player. So he's one of the guys that's impressed me a lot."
There are two main transitions a high school player must make in the leap to college ball: the mental and the physical.
Though it's still early, Harrison is proving a quick study. Oh, and he's nearly 220 pounds, too, showing he's physically ready for the demanding SEC.
"He's got all the physical tools, toughness, he's starting to pick up the defense," Ragland said. "He's learning. He's not being frustrated. When I first came here I was frustrated and I stopped learning and I just let it get to me. But him, I keep telling him, 'You've got a chance to be coming in and getting a job and playing. Just keep fighting through it and keep working hard.' And he's very smart and very physical, too - and he's built for it."
He began impressing the veterans right away.
"I like how he came in," Ragland said. "He was full-speed the whole time in the Fourth Quarter (program). You could tell that what he was going through that he was just dying, but he still came back the next day going hard the whole time. I like the way he's doing it."
Even the offensive players notice him.
"…he plays really well, like he's been here before," Henry said.
Harrison played both ways in high school, a dual-threat quarterback on offense and a physical safety on defense. He amassed more than 3,000 combined passing and rushing yards his senior season, accounting for 29 total touchdowns. On defense, he recorded 39 tackles with five pass breakups and two fumble recoveries.
That performance was good for runner-up in Mr. Football, but he still remained a little under the radar given a player of his caliber.
"If you're not in the right place at the right time sometimes people miss you or don't see it," Hickman said.
To his credit, Saban didn't miss Harrison, as Alabama pried him away from his verbal commitment to North Carolina.
He enrolled in Tuscaloosa for the spring semester and hasn't missed a beat since. Now he's just trying to find his role in a defense annually ranked as one of the best in the game.
"He says there's a lot of information to learn," Hickman said. "Ronnie is a tremendously smart football player, so when he says it's a lot of information, it is. He's trying to catch up to speed as quickly as he can."
Saban took notice of Harrison right away, too, speaking highly of his freshman safety following the first scrimmage of the spring.
"Ronnie is a bright guy, for a guy that's a new freshman in the system," Saban said. "He's done extremely well. He does have a lot of athletic ability and got great size and speed. Really has done a nice job."
But perhaps what his teammates appreciate the most in their new teammate is his willingness to put his head down, do the work, strive to get better and just fit in.
"My favorite thing about him is he's always wanted to be one of the guys," Hickman said. "He obviously stuck out like a sore thumb around here because of his physical stature and how good he was, but he never tried to step outside of the team. Guys loved him because he just fit in so well. He meshes well with whatever team he's with because he just likes to be one of the guys."
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1757194#sthash.7CxeS0rl.dpuf
Aaron Suttles
TideSports.com Senior Writer
Jarrod Hickman can't help but smile and let loose an "I-told-you-so" laugh these days.
The head football coach at Florida High in Tallahassee, knew the physical talents and football smarts his star player Ronnie Harrison possessed. But he was always a bit puzzled why Harrison, the 2015 finalist for Mr. Football, wasn't ranked among the best players in the country.
Now it's not as if Harrison wasn't rated a very good prospect, he was. However, he wasn't the top player at his position. Heck, he wasn't even in the top 10 high school safety prospects in the country.
Ronnie Harrison has already been praised by three starters and the head coach.
No matter, though, because Hickman always knew when coaches and talent evaluators saw Harrison in person their response was always the same: "Wow."
So it comes as no surprise to Hickman these days that Harrison's name is the most-talked about among the University of Alabama's freshman class, a group hailed as tops in the country.
"It's not. I don't want to sound boastful, but it's not to us because Ronnie's such a humble kid," Hickman said. "I think in this day and age, kids get lost with all these stars and crazy things.
"Ronnie's a kid that was probably one of the best players in the country that maybe not everyone knew about unless you physically got to come see him. I think he's proven that day to day. It's impressive what he's doing up there, and we're just glad that he's doing a really good job up there."
What he's doing is no easy feat for a true freshman just a couple of months removed from high school. The 6-foot-3, 218-pound safety is earning valuable reps in the Crimson Tide's defensive backfield, while at the same time garnering praise from his coaches and veteran teammates.
With less than a week remaining of spring practice, Harrison has been singled out by UA head coach Nick Saban and three starters, including Reggie Ragland, Cyrus Jones and Derrick Henry.
That's pretty salty stuff for a guy that should probably be getting ready for his senior prom.
"I'd say Ronnie's impressing me a lot," Jones said. "He's just showing a lot of instinctiveness out there on the field. He's still getting it mentally, and that's going to take time, but he's definitely a football player. So he's one of the guys that's impressed me a lot."
There are two main transitions a high school player must make in the leap to college ball: the mental and the physical.
Though it's still early, Harrison is proving a quick study. Oh, and he's nearly 220 pounds, too, showing he's physically ready for the demanding SEC.
"He's got all the physical tools, toughness, he's starting to pick up the defense," Ragland said. "He's learning. He's not being frustrated. When I first came here I was frustrated and I stopped learning and I just let it get to me. But him, I keep telling him, 'You've got a chance to be coming in and getting a job and playing. Just keep fighting through it and keep working hard.' And he's very smart and very physical, too - and he's built for it."
He began impressing the veterans right away.
"I like how he came in," Ragland said. "He was full-speed the whole time in the Fourth Quarter (program). You could tell that what he was going through that he was just dying, but he still came back the next day going hard the whole time. I like the way he's doing it."
Even the offensive players notice him.
"…he plays really well, like he's been here before," Henry said.
Harrison played both ways in high school, a dual-threat quarterback on offense and a physical safety on defense. He amassed more than 3,000 combined passing and rushing yards his senior season, accounting for 29 total touchdowns. On defense, he recorded 39 tackles with five pass breakups and two fumble recoveries.
That performance was good for runner-up in Mr. Football, but he still remained a little under the radar given a player of his caliber.
"If you're not in the right place at the right time sometimes people miss you or don't see it," Hickman said.
To his credit, Saban didn't miss Harrison, as Alabama pried him away from his verbal commitment to North Carolina.
He enrolled in Tuscaloosa for the spring semester and hasn't missed a beat since. Now he's just trying to find his role in a defense annually ranked as one of the best in the game.
"He says there's a lot of information to learn," Hickman said. "Ronnie is a tremendously smart football player, so when he says it's a lot of information, it is. He's trying to catch up to speed as quickly as he can."
Saban took notice of Harrison right away, too, speaking highly of his freshman safety following the first scrimmage of the spring.
"Ronnie is a bright guy, for a guy that's a new freshman in the system," Saban said. "He's done extremely well. He does have a lot of athletic ability and got great size and speed. Really has done a nice job."
But perhaps what his teammates appreciate the most in their new teammate is his willingness to put his head down, do the work, strive to get better and just fit in.
"My favorite thing about him is he's always wanted to be one of the guys," Hickman said. "He obviously stuck out like a sore thumb around here because of his physical stature and how good he was, but he never tried to step outside of the team. Guys loved him because he just fit in so well. He meshes well with whatever team he's with because he just likes to be one of the guys."
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1757194#sthash.7CxeS0rl.dpuf
