Canes DE Jahfari Harvey, 17, misses ‘best wings’ back home, but he still attacks QBs
University of Miami defensive end Jahfari Harvey, 17 years young like his equally talented roommate Jeremiah Payton, misses the good eating way up the road back home around Port St. Lucie.
“I live two hours away, so, like, it’s not too bad,’’ Harvey said Thursday in his first interview with UM football beat writers. “But, I mean, other than my family and friends, I miss the food. JoJo’s Wings in Fort Pierce, Florida. Best wings you can get.’’
What he doesn’t miss often, or at least is trying not to, are the three scholarship quarterbacks at the U this spring practice.
“I love it,’’ Harvey, a gifted freshman early enrollee who turns 18 next month, said of his new journey with the Hurricanes. “Coach [Blake] Baker is really dynamic,’’ he said of his new defensive coordinator. “We’re attacking a lot. Everything is pin-your-ears-back and go.’’
Which quarterback is the hardest to catch?
“Tate is a little shifty,’’ Harvey said of Ohio State transfer Tate Martell. “He’s small, too. So, he’s quick. I’d probably say Tate.’’
Harvey, listed as 6-4 and 225 pounds, graduated from Vero Beach High, where he was a consensus four-star prospect rated as the No. 11 defensive end and the state’s 23rd-best player, regardless of position, by Rivals.com. He helped lead Vero Beach to the 2018 Class 6A regional semifinal, and chose Miami over offers from Georgia, Michigan, Georgia Tech, Boston College, Louisville and Syracuse, among many others.
But this highly touted pass-rusher was virtually unknown before the Hurricanes offered him a scholarship in January 2018. He flourished his senior year at Vero Beach, finishing the season with 85 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, a forced fumble and three fumble recoveries.
“Jahfari, you have to remind yourself the guy should be sitting in English 4 class right now, because he’s really done some nice things coming out here early on,’’ UM coach Manny Diaz said recently. “He’s a guy that we couldn’t believe in recruiting that there weren’t more people busting down his door to try to get him. We’re really thankful he’s here.’’
Added co-defensive coordinator Ephraim Banda after signing day: “I talked to coaches during the recruiting process. They [would] come to see him and say, ‘Have you seen that D-end from Vero?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, he’s committed to us.’ They’re like, ‘Dang, he’s going to kill every tackle in our conference.’’’
Harvey said his biggest challenge in the transition from high school to college has been the time management factor.
“You got practice,’’ he said, “workouts, study hall, class — a whole bunch of things going on. You’ve got to learn to manage your time or you’re going to get lost.’’
He said “the older guys,’’ citing Jon Garvin, Scott Patchan, Greg Rousseau, Patrick Joyner, “are putting me under their wing. If I need anything I ask them to help me out.’’
Passing the rusher, he acknowledged, is “a little different’’ from high school. “They’re a little bigger and a lot of them are quick with their feet. I feel like my bend helps a lot getting around that edge.
“...When I see a quarterback get past the lineman, I get excited. I’m just like tracking their shoulder. I’m trying to get him.’’
New defensive line coach Todd Stroud, who replaced NFL-bound former assistant Jess Simpson in early March, described Harvey on Thursday as “exceptional.’’
“You know, he ought to be worrying about going to prom right now, Stroud said. “It’s amazing coming in here and plugging in to this system, doing what he’s doing.
“Our install kind of had his head swimming now that we’ve got a few more practices in, which is normal. He’s leveled off the past couple days and he’s starting to get the assignments and do what he’s doing. But what an exceptional talent. He’s certainly the right guy to step in and play that position and carry the torch at some point.”
Added Baker: “He’s going to be a problem...whenever he can playing confidently knowing what to do every snap. He’s a physical kid [and] doesn’t blink to put his face in the fan.’’
When told he was kind of young compared to some of the upperclassmen, Harvey said, “Yeah, but I feel like I’m mature. Me and Jeremiah are both mature, so I feel like we both fit in well.’’
Harvey said that “every chance’’ he gets, he reminds his roommate that his Port St. Lucie Pirates dominated Payton’s Jacksonville Pop Warner team when they were about 9, which sent the Pirates to the national championship game at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World.
“We killed him,’’ said Harvey, who wasn’t formerly friends with Payton — a wide receiver who wears the same jersey No. 12 as he does — and obviously never knew the two would one day be teammates at Miami.
Speaking of the Orlando area, Harvey gave more than a hint that Miami Hurricanes fans should attend the spring game April 20 at Camping World Stadium, where the Canes also will open their season Aug. 24 against the Florida Gators. The first scrimmage, closed to the public and media, is this Saturday. But the spring game is free and open to everyone.
Have you been back there a lot? Harvey was asked regarding getting to the quarterbacks this spring.
“Uhhh, you’ll see,’’ Harvey replied. “Everybody, go to Orlando. If you go, you’ll see.’’
This story was originally published April 4, 2019 at 5:22 PM.
