During his coaching travels, offensive line coach Herb Hand had the opportunity to compete against UCF with four different schools: West Virginia, Tulsa, Penn State and Auburn. He says those past experiences, including the trust he has in Gus Malzahn, made it a "no-brainer" to come to Orlando.
"I've seen UCF at its very best and what it can be and what it will be," Hand said. "Coach Malzahn said the future of college football is here in Orlando. We're excited about being in the process of taking UCF, where the foundation is already built, and taking it to that next level and be consistent. Take it and stay there."
On Thursday, local media had the opportunity to speak with Hand for nearly 20 minutes. Here are the highlights of that wide-ranging conversation:
I asked about his early days with Gus Malzahn. The pair worked together at Tulsa under Todd Graham in 2007-08 as co-offensive coordinators. Malzahn had been making a name for himself in the high school ranks with his offenses, generating quite a buzz in the coaching world via his "Hurry-Up, No Huddle" book that was published in 2003. Hand had spent the past several years at West Virginia under Rich Rodriguez.
"We were both cut from the same cloth in terms of philosophically wanting to be in that tempo world," Hand said. "We took the zone concepts that we ran at West Virginia and the gap game concepts that Gus had been running at Springdale High School and the one year he was at Arkansas. We married those together. Put together a really neat package. We had some really good players at Tulsa that executed it well and built things from there."
Hand said they've remained close since then, obviously later reuniting on the Auburn staff from 2016-17.
"He's one of my core dudes," Hand said. "When he called me when this opportunity came up, it was kind of a no-brainer for me to come."
As someone who has known Malzahn for a long time, Hand was asked about a comment Gus made recently about UCF getting the "best version" of him.
"He seems to be more relaxed is the best way to put it," Hand said. "The time period he was off, he says it was a great time for him to reflect and look back on the things he's accomplished in his career. All of us realize how blessed we are to do what we do. You're always motivated. As a coach, you're wired that way. Players the same way. We're very competitive people... The great thing (about UCF) is the expectation levels are really high here. That's awesome. That's where you want to be. Nobody rises to low expectations. We have very high standards and expectations. That's what's exciting being at a place like this. The last couple weeks, it seems to me that Gus was the guy I first got to work with when we were at Tulsa together. That's awesome. His creative juices are going. He's looking forward to really getting back into spring practice mode."
Asked about UCF's current offensive line, Hand says he "loves" the unit. He's met with the group several times in "get to know you" type sessions as well as one-on-one.
"I'm looking forward to coaching these guys," Hand said. "We've got basically six of our top offensive linemen back. I think I did the numbers the other day, looking at how many snaps between those top six guys. There's like 4,800 snaps of experience from last year alone. That excites me. Any time you can have a veteran group, you cannot put a price tag on experience. We've got some really good young guys as well. Guys that I'm looking forward to seeing on the field. How we can improve and develop. When you have a veteran group like that, it's an exciting opportunity. I'm looking forward to the start of spring practice."
What does Hand want in an offensive lineman? He joked that he didn't have all day, but summed it up the best he could. He likes to "look up" at guys. He's 6-2, or at least he used to be.
"You want guys that can bend, that are flexible. Guys that can move their feet. They're not heavy-footed. I want guys that play with fast feet. Good change of direction. Physical enough at the point of attack to reestablish the line of scrimmage. Guys will hear me say all the time about denting the defense. Coming off the ball and reestablishing the line of scrimmage. You want guys athletic enough to get out and block in space. We have a variety of screens and reverses, outside run concepts where we're asking our guys to block second and third-level defenders, so they have to be athletic enough to do that."
Linemen also need to be able to think quickly.
"The defense can shift, the linebacker can slide or the safety comes down," Hand said. "You have to process that information quickly and communicate with one another. That aspect sometimes gets overlooked compared to the physical capabilities of guys. The best players are the ones when the ball is snapped can think on their feet."
Hand spoke more about developing relationships with his players. That was his No. 1 priority when he arrived. He says because of Gus' high school roots, that's obviously important to him. It's important to Hand too, who came up through the lower levels. Hand says he'll have to earn their respect, which takes time.
"We haven't even talked one bit of X's and O's," Hand said. "We've talked about who I am as a person and my family, just so they can get to know me. Then we had one-on-one meetings. I was probably in there for a half hour or 45 minutes with each guy. Just trying to find out about their family. Where did they come from, what has their experience been? Those relationships will bond us together."
I had kind of a long-winded question in which I recounted UCF's 2007 C-USA Championship while Hand was at Tulsa and then mentioning the three New Year's Six bowls, asking about what his view of UCF had been and what his vision is going forward.
"I've been coaching 30 years," Hand said. "I've been at four different schools and competed against UCF. When I was at West Virginia in the early 2000s, we had a couple games. Mike Kruczek's last year and George O'Leary's first year. Then when Gus and I were at Tulsa we came here in 2007 twice and got kicked. They beat us in the regular season and in the championship game. They had a real defensive line, man. I can still hear the crowd out here in the Bounce House screaming, "DOOOOUUUUZZZ! ," every time Leger Douzable made a play. It still haunts me as the old o-line coach. Great teams, great players.
"In 2008, UCF came out to Tulsa we got the best of them then. In 2014, I was at Penn State and we opened up with UCF in Ireland. That was a heck of a ballgame. Came down to the last play and we kicked a field goal to win. Unbelievable players on the field. The athletes that you see out there. The way they play for each other. They strain. I think a lot of that comes with guys having a chip on their shoulder too.
"And when I was at Auburn, we got kicked in the Peach Bowl. UCF had an unbelievable team that year. Even the buildup to that game, you can see the way they played on defense. They played extremely hard for each other and took a lot of pride in what they were doing on the field.
"I know the pride, tradition and history of this program having competed against it so many times. That's what made it a no-brainer to come here. I've seen UCF at its very best and what it can be and what it will be. Coach Malzahn said the future of college football is here in Orlando. We're excited about being in the process of taking UCF, where the foundation is already built, and taking it to that next level and be consistent, take it and stay there. Our goal is to be in the national championship hunt and the playoffs. We feel we can accomplish that here. We have an unbelievable fan base. Got a great location. Unbelievable weather... Got a lot to offer. Great history and tradition. We're excited about continuing to build it."
Off the football field, Hand is renown as a food aficionado, even appearing on an episode of Food Network's 'Chopped.' He was asked whether he's partaken in the Orlando culinary scene.
Hand was quick to point out he was already very familiar with the local offerings because he's always recruited the area. He mentioned his relationship with longtime college football writer and Central Florida native Andy Staples, who shared with him his list of must-visits.
"As soon as I got the job here, (Staples) was texting, 'Oh, you gotta eat here!' I will say this, Pom Pom Teahouse and Sandwicheria. Mama Ling Ling's Thanksgiving Dinner sandwich. That's all I'm saying. Mama Ling Ling slaps. That's all I'm telling you. Anybody in the Orlando area, go there and get that sandwich and you can thank Andy Staples because he's the one who turned me on to it."
March 05, 2021 at 07:04AM
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Herb Hand talks UCF potential, offensive line, food and more - UCFSports.com
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