Not many people are familiar with Ryan O’Hara, however with his 6-foot-6, 230-pound frame and solid athleticism (4.69 40-yard dash, 4.2 short shuttle) he is certainly a player that NFL scouts are surely intrigued by even though he went to a smaller school. O’Hara originally committed to play at Arizona, but ended up transferring to Central Oklahoma, a Division II program.
Talk to us about your career with Arizona and why you ended up transferring to play at Central Oklahoma.
“I started as a very highly recruited quarterback for John Mackovic and ended up red-shirting. I played in four games as a red-shirt freshman and also played on the basketball game that year. I played football against UTEP, LSU, Oregon and Purdue and thought I did some good things, but I was still young and trying to learn the position while rotating with Nick Costa at the time. Then in the middle of the season Coach Mackovic was fired and he was the guy that brought me in and really believed in me. When a new coaching staff comes in they like to bring in their own guys or have a different opinion of what they want, so there was that to deal with a bit.”
“Then going into the next season my little brother needed a kidney transplant because he had multiple cystic kidney disease and I came home for that and I ended up staying for a little bit longer then I was planning on, so I decided to take the next semester off to be with him. At that point Coach Stoops had come in and I didn’t see myself playing at Arizona anymore, so I figured I’d go to another school. I went to junior college for a semester at Scottsdale Community College and made first-team All-Conference and then was highly recruited again as a JUCO prospect with schools like Toledo, Michigan, Wyoming and Western Michigan showing interest, but I wanted to be a mid-year transfer and a lot of these guys were scared that I would only have one year left. That made me go play for an old friend at Central Oklahoma. I really just wanted to participate in spring ball and a lot of coaches weren’t willing to take a chance on me getting my year of eligibility back from the NCAA for some reason, so I just went to Central because the NFL is going to find you if you’re talented.”
Sometimes in life we have to made priority based decisions and obviously family comes first. No matter what happens to you in the future will you always take pride knowing you were there for your brother?
“I’ll always take pride in that because he loves sports and football, I mean this kid wakes up and knows every stat in the newspaper. The fact that he can’t play, I mean I know this sounds cliché, but literally I do play for him because he can’t. That was the only option I had in my mind was to go home and be by his side because family definitely comes before football.”
Do you at least take him on in some Madden?
“Oh, we play Madden all the time, but his favorite is playing NCAA. He likes to get the mobile quarterbacks and try to run the spread on me. He beats me a good bit, he likes to throw the deep ball on me and in those video games you can jump up and get those deep balls, so he’s pretty good at it. He plays online all the time.”
Obviously coming from a small school it is hard to get your name out there and you really have to market yourself. How has that process been going for you so far and what kind of contact have you had with NFL scouts up to this point?
“Actually to this point I have done one workout with the Houston Texans. I ended up getting that by networking through an NFL player who I met through my quarterbacks coach. Hopefully more things will start to come, but to me if you’re a small school guy you have to get out and aggressively network yourself. I mean, that’s how I got in contact with you guys is by sending you an email with my highlights and asking you to check me out and obviously you guys saw something you liked. I have to do a lot of this stuff for myself because I don’t have a big-time agent right now.
The only player that has ever been drafted from Central Oklahoma was when Jack O’Donnell went to the Green Bay Packers in the 16th round of the 1971 Draft. What would it feel like for you being the second player from your school ever drafted?
“Oh my God, I don’t even know what I would do. If I got drafted that would be the most amazing that happened to me. It would be such an honor I would be ecstatic. If I get drafted or not I’ll just be happy to get into a camp and show what I can do because I think I’m a pretty smart quarterback and I think I can pick up offenses pretty well and show what I can do.”
Central Oklahoma named themselves the “Bronchos”. What’s with the H in there? Do you guys think you’re special or something because I’ve heard horses all over the country are offended by it.
(Laughing) “Horses all over the country are offended by it. Especially the bucking broncos because we’re the only ones to do it. I guess they just wanted to be unique with the H in there.”
Have you been attacked by any broncos because of it?
“Yeah, actually I was walking down the street and a bronco just jumped on me…nah…” (Laughing)
Back to the small school topic for one minute, do you have any player that you use as a role model? Have you talked to any small school quarterbacks who made it like Jon Kitna, Kurt Warner or Tony Romo?
“Um, as far as that I’ve always looked at Tony Romo’s story and even guys that go to the Canadian League like Jeff Garcia and Jon Kitna. I’ve always believed that if you’re an NFL player that it will show itself true enough in time. I work out with Troy Polamalu in Orange County and he was telling me that he’s been burnt by guys in the preseason that don’t even make the team, so he said it doesn’t matter where you played in the NFL.”
Speaking of that, are you willing to make the sacrifices those guys did? I mean, Kitna played anywhere he could get the chance, Warner bagged groceries and Romo had to wax Vinny Testaverde’s eyebrows. Talk about how committed you are.
(Laughing) “Yeah, I’ll wax Vinny Testaverde’s eyebrows too if it gets me into the NFL man, that’s easy. I’d probably do a lot worse then that. I’m willing to do whatever it takes man. If it takes five years, two years or four years, I’m just really committed at this point in my life to get in the NFL and make it my career. I’ve never lost the hope or love for the game since I was in high school because that’s what I want.”
Right now what do you think your best attributes are as a football player and conversely, what do you need to get better at?
“I’d say my best attribute is my work ethic. I think if guys see you as a quarterback being the first guy in and the first guy out guys look at you and begin to respect that and rely on you. If you have that drive to continue to get better guys look up to that and it’s contagious. I’d also say I am a playmaker. When the play breaks down I have good, quick feet for a bigger guy and see the field well while scrambling. I definitely need to work on my release. I want to get it a lot smoother and a lot quicker. I’ve been working on my mechanics a lot with my quarterback coach right now. I know I can make all the throws, but I need to fix those little things to become a more complete player.”
How confident are you that you can become an NFL quarterback and if you were a team, where would you rate yourself as a prospect?
“I’d rate myself as a 7th rounder or free agent guy. I don’t know if I’m as good as Matt Ryan or those guys, but who’s to say if I was at Boston College with those guys I couldn’t have done the same things? I can’t say that though, but I’m definitely 100-percent confident that I’m an NFL quarterback no matter if I get drafted or have to prove it as a free agent.”
Last question, Dennis Rodman actually went to Southeastern Oklahoma which is near you guys. Is there any chance you become the Dennis Rodman of football? Also, have you ever tried on a wedding dress?
(Laughing) “Hopefully I can become the Dennis Rodman of football and maybe when I pop off my football helmet I can be sporting an afro or something crazy. I have not tried on a wedding dress, but if it gets me into the NFL I’d be more then willing to do it.”
So you would wear a wedding dress while shaving Vinny Testaverde’s eyebrows?
(Laughing) “Yes, and sporting a fro with different colors like Rodman.”
Ryan came off as a great young man in the interview. He was very laid-back and knew how to carry himself, but at the same time you could hear the passion in his voice when talking about things like work ethic, drive, commitment and sacrifice. These are all very important intangibles in a quarterback. Whether or not he will be drafted we’ll find out in April, but we certainly wish him the best of luck in his future. To watch a short highlight reel of him at Central Oklahoma, click play below.
