After starting in the SEC for two years at Georgia, Josh Harvey-Clemons transferred to Louisville in 2014. After two years with the Cardinals, he has emerged as one of the best safeties in the 2017 NFL Draft class.
At 6-4, 230 pounds, he's a physical specimen with loads of NFL upside and intrigue.
We'll follow Harvey-Clemons' NFL draft process with regular draft journals starting with this one, done just before he left for the all-important NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
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You were a five-star prospect from Georgia, went to Georgia out of high school before transferring to Louisville. Tell me about your college path.
Harvey-Clemons: I grew up in a small town in Georgia and everyone cared about football. I started playing basketball early, but in my town, football was everything. Football kind of grew on me, and I had a great coach in Coach (Randy) McPherson in high school and he helped me get recruited.
Coming to Georgia was awesome, but I unfortunately had some issues there and didn’t really show who I was. Coming from my area, I had a tough transition at Georgia and I’ve grown a lot since then.
From there, I left to transfer, and went to Louisville because of Coach (Todd) Grantham. He was always someone I had a great connection with since out of high school. He was at Louisville and he's given me so much knowledge. He’s always been a tough coach on the field and in the playbook and on film. He always gave me special attention and had GAs working with me, and he really helped make me into the man today. And at Louisville, despite having to sit out a year, it was great to get a fresh start and be with Coach Grantham. My family is big on education, so I stayed in school after my junior year, and I went back for one more year and try to improve my stock.
You were injured during your senior season, and you were forced to miss the Senior Bowl. Are you back to 100 percent?
Harvey-Clemons: Yeah, I hurt my left hamstring towards the end of the season. I won't be running at the Combine, though. It's not at 100 percent yet and I want to run my best for NFL teams. So I injured it in October, and I kind of played too early after the injury. I tried to rush my recovery to be with my team and I wasn’t really the same for most of the year.
I was supposed to be out for a month but came back after two weeks for the Kentucky game because it was a big game and they had a tough running back and a good offensive line. Then during the bowl game prep I re-injured it again, and that's what forced me to miss the Senior Bowl and now the Combine. Now, I just don’t want to re-injure it and set myself back again.
It's frustrating, but I just need to get this right.
You’re considered a linebacker/safety hybrid. Which position are you?
Harvey-Clemons: I can be whatever they want me to be, man. If they want me to put my hand in the dirt, I’ll do that too. I just love the game of football and I’ll really do anything.
Since high school I’ve played everywhere, running back, tight end, quarterback, defensive end, linebacker, safety, I’ve played it all. I just love the game, and I don’t consider myself a straight linebacker or a defensive back or whatever. I’m excited for where they want me.
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How have you prepared for the NFL Combine?
Harvey-Clemons: I’ve been training down at Bommaritos, working on some injury recovery and some testing stuff for my Pro Day. I’ve been going through interview prep and how to talk to teams and stuff. They've been pushing me a lot, getting my strength back and getting myself back. I’ve had to rebuild my strength and speed and technique from the ground up and I’m confident I’ll be in great position for my Pro Day, and I’m looking forward to talk to teams about everything.
What are you hoping to prove at the Combine?
Harvey-Clemons: I just really want to first show them that everything that happened in Georgia is behind me and that’s not who I am now. Since then, and thanks to coach Grantham, I’ve become a better player and a better person.
I also want to show them I can run, I can move my hips, my height and my size are valuable, and show them I'm an athlete they should want.
What’s something people should know about you as a person?
Harvey-Clemons: I'm from a small town. I'm a country boy. I hang out, play pool, hang with family. I don’t like the spotlight really. I just like to have a good time and just hang out.
Out of football, I watch a lot of movies. I’m a big movie guy, I saw Moonlight. But I’m big (on) comedy movies, Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence. Suspense and thriller movies, too, but comedy movies are my favorite. Blue Streak and National Security are two of my favorites. Comedies are what I go to after football.