Harrison LB Ovie Oghoufo Will 'Be One Of The Leaders'
Farmington Hills (Mich.) Harrison legendary head coach John Herrington will be counting on rising junior linebacker Ovie Oghoufo to lead the charge on defense and help secure his 14th state championship and add to his 400-plus win total.
The 6-foot-2, 207-pound Notre Dame commit will play both ways this season and attempt to build on his solid sophomore campaign, which was a bit of a rarity for Herrington during tenure at Harrison.
“He started for us as a sophomore which is pretty unusual for our school,” Herrington said. “He did a great job. He’s very big on effort. He gives 100 percent. His athletic talent is there and he’s had real good double sessions [since] we started last Monday. He’s done really well out at outside linebacker, he can play down and he’s also going to play tight end for us because of his blocking and he can catch the ball also.
Herrington expects to see continued growth in Oghoufo’s game and 2015 season that saw the linebacker rack up 66 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, eight sacks and three forced fumbles.
“For this season, we think we’ve got a very good team and he’ll definitely be one of the leaders. I think he will be an all-state player….I think he will be the leader of our defense….and we should really have an outstanding defense.”
Herrington raved about Oghoufo’s best skill—his ability to rush the passer.
"He’s very fast off the ball and gets to the quarterback,” Herrington said. “He has a real good motor, he just goes all the time.”
Oghoufo’s commitment during his visit to Notre Dame last month caught Herrington off guard.
“I was surprised when he committed,” Herrington said. "He just got the offer from Michigan and Michigan State and most of our kids will go that way. He didn’t really ask for advice on what school to go to. We don’t really tell them that anyway other than to pick a school you would like to go to if you weren’t playing football.”
Herrington described Oghoufo as a “fun-loving kid,” “good kid on and off the field” and a good student. He believes the three-star linebacker maintains around a 3.5 GPA.
“We’re very proud he’s made his decision,” Herrington added. “Now, he can just play Harrison Hawk football, he doesn’t have to worry about college.”
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