MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama assistant football coach Larry Hart sat down with USAJaguars.com to answer five questions entering his first season as a member of the Jaguar staff.

Hart was an all-state selection as a student-athlete both of his years at Holmes (Miss.) C.C., and after transferring to Central Arkansas he was twice chosen an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision All-American and the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year; he was later named to the league's All-Decade Team for the 2000s.  He was picked by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fifth round of the National Football League draft in 2010 — after being chosen with the 143rd pick overall Hart was the highest selection in UCA history — before going on to play for three NFL teams as well as in the Canadian and United Football Leagues.  Hart first worked as a graduate assistant coach at Arkansas State during the 2014 and '15 seasons, and after one year as a full-time assistant at Holmes C.C. he was hired by first-year USA head coach Steve Campbell as an assistant at UCA.  Hart is a 2009 Central Arkansas graduate, and he added a master's degree from ASU in 2016.

1: What led to your decision to become a football coach?
LH: I started playing football in the seventh grade, so it has always been a passion of mine.  I always just wanted to be around the game, whether that was playing or coaching; I enjoy football.

2: What is your coaching philosophy, and which mentor has played an influential role in your professional development?
LH: I would say my philosophy is playing hard overall and wanting it more than the guy lined up in front of you, that's pretty much the nuts and bolts of me.  I tell the guys that the difference between try and triumph is the 'umph.'  The defensive line coach at Arkansas State, Brian Early, had a pretty big impact on me in terms of helping my development as a coach."

3: What are your goals for the program and how do you go about accomplishing them?
LH: Coach Campbell says it best, the goals for the program are that we want to graduate every player — and not only graduate every player, but have high GPAs with that — and also win every football game.  And we want to do it the right way, too.  We do that with good old-fashioned hard work, nothing complicated day in and day out but just try and get better every day.

4: If you were not a football coach you would be a ___, and why?
LH: I would be a salesman because I feel that I would be good in sales.  I don't know, that's a tough question.

5: What is the most interesting personal fact about you that can't be found in your bio?
LH: My parents thought that I was going to be a girl when I was born, they thought for sure when they looked at the ultrasound that the doctor told them I was a girl so they had names picked out.  When I came out as a guy, they didn't have any names for me so I was named 'Junior' even though I'm the youngest of all of the boys.

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