MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama football long snapper Jake Harwell recently sat down with USAJaguars.com to discuss becoming a long snapper, the relationship of the special teams players and what area of medicine he wants to go into one day, among other things.

Harwell, a senior from Semmes, Ala., has been a member of the program since 2016. Harwell redshirted his first season with the Jags and took over long-snapping duties at Oklahoma State in 2018 after starter Andrew Zink suffered a season-ending injury, going on to appear in 11 games. He participated in the role in all 12 outings last season and the first four contests of 2020. He has excelled in the classroom earning Sun Belt Conference Academic Honor Roll recognition as well as being named to the league's Commissioner's List each of the last two years.

How did you become a long snapper?
"It's actually something that I didn't do until my junior year of high school. I had never done it before and my head coach made me do it. I don't know how he picked me, but he did and told me that I was going to learn how to become a long snapper. I learned it on my own because I didn't have anyone to teach me. Learning that skill got me to where I am today."

What are some of the keys to being a good snapper?
"It's like with most positions. You have to have discipline because you have to recreate something perfectly every time. It also takes a lot of confidence. Long snapper isn't a position that you can go into feeling that you can't do it, that's the last thing I try to have in my mind when I go out there. I just tell myself 'You got this'. So I would say, discipline, repetition and confidence are the big things."

Many people often focus on the pressure or the kicker in punting or field goal situations, but there is also pressure on the holder and the snapper as well. How do you deal with that pressure and what is your mental approach in those situations?
"Anyone who has ever asked me what the most nerve-wracking position is out there, I've always said it was the holder. You wouldn't think that there would be a lot of pressure on my position because it's the same snap every time, but the pressure can really get to you as the field goal goes back farther or the punt is closer to the end zone. I get a lot of my confidence from practice. We've tried to calculate it before, but I'll do 100-200 snaps every week. Our coaches do a good job of putting us in situational things. You try to simulate things the best you can in practice, but nothing is like the actual game situation. I've been snapping in games for three years and all the practicing has made me confident in my abilities."

What other positions did you play on the field prior to becoming a long snapper?
"I played a lot of different positions in high school. I mostly switched between fullback and linebacker. I played outside linebacker during my senior year and that was probably one of my favorite positions to play. I really enjoy tackling people and learning offenses. When I got to college, they actually told me that I could possibly play linebacker in addition to long snapping. I just decided to stay with long snapping."

If you could play another one of those at this level, which would you pick?
"It's funny because as specialist we talk a lot about if we could play another position what it would be? I feel that it would be fun to be a deep-threat receiver like Jalen Tolbert. I wish I had the skill-set to be able to make big catches."

The kicking unit is usually a small, close group. What is the relationship between you guys here at South?
"We're an extremely close-knit group. It's toned down a lot this year due to the pandemic, but last year we did a lot of stuff off the field together. We're all really good friends. Andrew Zink is one of the best friends I've ever made. Every holiday, we usually all get together. The fact that we're close helps us on the field when it comes to critiquing, because you would rather take criticism from your friends. One of the people who has helped me most is Zink, especially with snapping, because he knows a lot about it. All of our kickers try to help each other as well. Us being close has definitely attributed to the success of our group."

Describe to me a routine day at practice for your group.
"The kickers and snappers usually get out there about 20-30 minutes before practice to stretch and get loose because we know when the rest of the team gets out there, we don't have a lot of field to work with. We work on our snapping, kicking and holds during that time. We also have a period at the beginning of practice where we will kick to the returners and hit live field goals. Throughout practice, we'll have three of four team kicking segments. During the first hour to hour-and-a-half of practice, we're usually drilling and getting as many live reps by ourselves. If the team is in the covered facility, we'll go up top to the turf field and work on field goals and punts. Once we've put in our work, we'll come back down and watch the rest of practice."

Being a local player, what has it meant to you to be able to continue playing football so close to your family?
"It's nice that not only my parents are able to come watch me play, but other family and friends have also been able to come watch me play throughout the years here that wouldn't have been able to if I'd played somewhere far off. It's really fun to play in your home city and represent the city of Mobile."

You already hold a biology degree and you're now working on a second degree in communications with a minor in chemistry. What led you to go after those degrees?
"I'm actually pursing the opportunity to get into medical school. You have a few routes that you can take when doing that. I went with biology and a related science minor in chemistry, so that's where those two things game into play. Heading into my fifth year of eligibility, you could either do grad school or pursue a second degree. Graduate school is a little tricky for biology students right now because of everything going on. I wanted to be able to do research and unfortunately, because of COVID-19, that opportunity was taken away. I looked at some other things. Communications has been interesting to me and one thing I've struggle with is public speaking, so I felt that pursuing that would kind of push me and strengthen a weakness of mine that I have. Hopefully when I go into a medical school interview, that experience will help me and make me a little more diverse in what I'm able to do."

What area of medicine do you want to go into?
"Right now I just want to get into med school, that's the first step. Anesthesiology is something that has always interested me and I've shadowed a few people. Some people call them the sleep doctors. I know an anesthesiologist and after talking with him and a couple of surgeons, that is a field that is an interest of mine."

How did you decide that you wanted to go into medicine?
"It's funny. When I was in high school, medicine wasn't really an interest of mine. I wanted to be a pilot or an engineer. I was fortunate enough to go to a high school that had a career-learning program. I joined the engineering one, because that's what I thought I wanted to do. Just going through those classes and working with those programs in high school showed me that that field wasn't what I wanted to do. Sitting behind a desk and designing things didn't really appeal to me. My mom was a nurse, so I had connections to some doctors. After watching how they help people and save lives, which really appealed to me, as I headed to college that's what I decided I wanted to do."

Being someone who aspires one day to enter the medical field, how have you been affected by the pandemic, and how has it confirmed that this is an area that you want your career to be in?
"It has definitely solidified the fact that I want to go into this field. Once the virus hit, everyone was looking at doctors, no matter what kind of specialty they had. They were helping everyone. I know that there have been several others from different fields help, but I don't know anyone who has helped more than doctors. It definitely solidified me wanting to become a doctor."

Who has had the biggest influence on your life?
"I would have to say my dad. Everybody tells me I look, sound and think like he does. I get a lot of who I am from him. My mom has also been a huge influence in my life, but as far as sports go, the mentality of being the best and doing my best comes from him. He wouldn't ever let me quit a sport or anything that I started; I had to finish it. He only let me quit one thing and that was only because it was too much for me and I had to pick one. Both my parents have given me the mentality that I can do pretty much anything I set my mind to."

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