After coming off a very impressive winning season this past fall with a record of 9-2, the Bison football team is in the transition of exiting their winter season and entering into their spring practice. Players participate in a combine during this time of the season.
The combine, which took place on Monday, is a series of physical tests where players can measure their physical abilities to get an idea of their strengths and weaknesses. Six-year head coach Ronnie Huckeba said he believes it is a great way to usher in the new spring practices.
“The combine is the culmination of our winter offseason,” Huckeba said. “We always like to have a testing time right at the end of the winter offseason before our spring ball just to give the guys an idea of where they are physically.”
Huckeba said that in his 27 years of coaching football at Harding, there has always been some kind of testing done to see where players are physically. According to junior and 3-year player B.J. Jones, the combine helps players see exactly where they are physically.
“The combine is really helpful because it evaluates our players and we get to see how much we have improved so far over the offseason,” Jones said.
The combine was not the only thing the football program had to look forward to this week, however. Senior Ty Powell had NFL Pro Day on Tuesday where NFL Scouts came out and evaluated his talent by having him go through a series of position drills. According to Huckeba, Harding has never had any kind of NFL Pro Day like this for any of their players in all his years of coaching here.
Powell was invited to play in the Senior Bowl recently and then two weeks ago participated in the NFL Combine in Indianapolis along with the best college football players in the nation.
“The NFL Combine is the measurement tool for the most part that the NFL scouts use to evaluate rising talent,” Huckeba said. “He did very well at (the Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine). Because he did very well at both, the interest level in him is very high.”
Huckeba said Powell’s success is something that Harding as a whole can really take pride in.
“Even though getting players to the NFL is no way our focus here, it’s still nice to know you can come to Harding University and get all the things we state are our core values and still get a chance to rise to the highest level in your sport,” Huckeba said. “Our priorities are our core values, and that’s not going to change.”
Seeing Powell’s success on and off the field has been something that has personally resonated with Huckeba.
“I’m proud to be the coach of all of my guys, but for Ty in particular it’s really rewarding to see the growth he has made since he has been here,” Huckeba said. “He really is an awesome young man.”
