Orien Harris Press Conferences

 

Orien Harris
Defensive End—University of Miami
4th Round – 133rd Overall

What caused you to fall in the draft?

I don't know. I can't really answer that question. I'm happy to be in this position right now. I can't really live on the past, I'm looking forward to the future.

Do you prefer nose tackle or end?

I'm just happy to fit in. Wherever they want me to play at, I'll play at, either or.  Wherever will help the team go to another Super Bowl.

Have you seen the Steelers' 3-4 defense?

I've been watching the [Steelers] for years. I'm pretty sure I'm a fast learner and I will give it my all and try to pick it up as fast as I can.

Defensive end is not a glamorous position, is it?

No, it's really not a glamour position. I'm just happy that I'm going to an organization with great fans.

How might your time at Miami help you transition into the Pros?

Coming from one successful program to another, like Coach Mitchell said, with high expectations and high standards.  I'm used to winning and winning is the most important thing. I'm used to the situation that the Steelers are going through right now. They seem like they are a very good football team right now.

Is it a surprise that the Steelers haven't taken someone from Miami since 1992?

I didn't know that. I'm not surprise, I really didn't know that.

Are you worried about cracking the line-up?

That's my goal—to crack the line-up. That's what I'm working towards.

What type of advice did your brother give you?

Just tells me tips about the NFL—business and working hard. Every week is a tough week and a challenge. When we talk, we don't much about football, we mostly talk about what we are going through. I've seen him for 3 years and he's shared a lot of information with me, especially being from Miami. We always talk about it.

Your brother being an offensive player and you a defensive…who wins in the backyard?

We're about half-and-half right now. We need another one to really declare who's the better [player]. We're about even right now.

How much do you love football?

It's all I want to do. It's my first love.

 

 

 John Mitchell
RE: Orien Harris, University of Miami (Fla.)
Defensive End
4th Round – 133rd Overall

What do you like about him?

John Mitchell: The thing I like about him that we were able to get an athlete of the caliber in the fourth round. You look at some of the draft choices that we have had in the past in the fourth round to get a guy like Orien Harris, I'm excited about him. The thing that they did with him at Miami, they play a 4-3 and they played him inside and outside. Here is a guy that is a good athlete that we feel can play both inside and outside for us. And when you are a backup for us in our scheme you have to have some guys that can play both at the nose and the end and he fits that description very well.

He's not a big pass rusher, is he?

No, and in our scheme we aren't looking for a pass rushers. In a 3-4 we are not looking for pass rushers. He is a guy that can push the pocket, he has done a great job there. We are looking for guys like him who we can play the inside run games and stunts but no, he is not a big pass rusher and we didn't take him as a pass rusher. We took him a good athlete, who can stay on his feet, who can run, has quickness and can get to the ball carrier.

Will you start him at one spot or the other?

I'll work him at both when he comes in. We'll give him some at nose and we'll work him at end. So here is a guy that has got to be able to play both for the simple reason when we go into a game I don't know how many Coach Cowher is going to give me. So we have to have guys that are not a starter that is going to have to be able to both positions. We have done that with (Chris) Hoke and some other guys such as Kendrick Clancy when he was here and here is a guy that can play both nose and end. So we are looking for guys of that caliber.

You don't appear to have many openings?

I tell guys when they come here don't count the numbers. If a guy is going to get cut, I have been here with Coach (Cowher) for a long time and he has never let a good football player go. So if this guy comes in and plays the way that we think he is capable of playing we will find a spot for him. You never are going to let a good football player go. There are 45 positions and we are looking for 45 good football players.

Besides Hoke, did you do anything with Travis Kirschke?

In the past we have played other guys inside. Kirschke can play inside. When he was in San Francisco and Detroit he played inside. So here is a guy that is not a starter but we have to go into a game with a certain amount of guys, number wise so we have to have a guy that are flexible and that's what I like about Harris. He has a flexible player, a good athlete, he played in a climate conducive to being outside were he can run so here is a guy that can get to the ball carrier and play both inside and outside. I'm really excited about this guy and that you can get a guy like this in the fourth round. 

Was there anything about his makeup that was different from other Miami guys?

In the draft you can't say who you are going to take and where you are going to take him. They have to fall to you and he fell to us. And we are really excited about it. I like guys from Miami because they have been coached, they have a great tradition there and they have won quite a few college national championships. So you get guys that are coming out of a program that know what work is about and he is coming to a program where he knows he is going to have to work.

Is he experienced?

Miami is one of the teams in college football that get a lot of good athletes and they rotate a lot of good players. If you look over the players that have been drafted there, they have had players who have played quite a bit and they play a lot of players and that is why they are a good football team. And that's why we are pretty good because we play a lot of players. If we can get a guy to come in and fit in our rotation, this guy isn't going to have to be a starter his first year here. He is going to come here and learn from the guys that we got and down the road. Aaron Smith was a fourth-round draft choice so I'm happy with guys like this that we can find, a diamond in the rough, a guy that is going to come in here and have sometime to grow and progress. I'm really excited about him.