Jahfari Harvey feeling at home with SMU

When Jahfari Harvey was looking for a new home there was one factor that played heavily into his decision to come to SMU.

Fellow defensive end, Elijah Roberts.

Not only were Harvey and Roberts friends during their time together at Miami. Harvey got to see what the transition to SMU did for Roberts on the field.

“Elijah Roberts, that’s my boy. That’s my boy at the last place and my boy now. In the back in my mind, it felt good to reunite with him again on the edges,” Harvey said. “But the pitch was, the city is great. I like what they’re building here, (winning the AAC) last year. I know Coach (Rhett) Lashlee’s a great guy, great coach. So it was almost a no-brainer.

“… Elijah Roberts is probably one of the biggest pieces that got me there.”

Harvey also joins fellow former teammates Brashard Smith, who transferred this year too, Romello Brinson, Jaylan Knighton, Key’Shawn Smith and Jakai Clark even though he plays on the other side of the ball from all of them.

“It’s been great. Just going out there, some of the guys that came from the last place I was at, even the new guys, it’s been great going out there working hard every day with this new team,” Harvey said. “Great energy every day. We’re having fun out there. I feel like that’s one of the most important things. Once you stop having fun with it, you’re really done with it. So, it’s great to be out there, working hard to have fun with these guys.”

While Roberts is more of a traditional defensive end, Harvey will play Bandit, or outside linebacker, at SMU. And with five years of college football already under his belt, Harvey brings experience and leadership to that room.

“He’s obviously a mature guy, he’s an older guy,” assistant coach Sam Dunnam said. “He came in kind of knowing what he wanted to do and we felt the same as well. He’s a bigger body, so he can stop the run, but he still gives you that pass rush ability that he had coming from Miami. So he gives us that and you’ve got Cam (Robertson) and Isaiah (Smith) behind him, who are going to be juniors, so we’ve really got a kind of a three-headed monster that we’re really excited about.”

Harvey played in 50 games, with 18 starts, for the Hurricanes over five seasons. He comes to the Mustangs with 99 career tackles, 22 for loss, 10.5 sacks, a forced fumble, an interception returned for a touchdown and four passes defended.

Being a leader is one of the biggest roles Harvey is excited about taking on at SMU.

“First, I want to show great leadership because the guys in the room are a little younger than me, so I want to make sure they don’t make the same mistakes I made and they’re ahead in the process,” Harvey said. “And me, I just want to show that I can get to the passer.”

There was more depth and experience coming back at end and Bandit than there was inside, but there was still a need for someone to come in and help out. That’s where Harvey fits.

“Obviously in my room, we had to replace Nelson Paul,” Dunnam said. “I felt like we did that with Jahfari.”

Harvey hasn’t wasted any time either. He has jumped right in and gone to work. He doesn’t mind that there are other talented players he will have to compete with for playing time and snaps. In fact, he welcomes it.

“I love competition because I feel like that’s what makes you better,” Harvey said. “We’ve got three guys that go out there and play. So, just going out there every day, everybody’s trying to make sure they’re going the hardest so the other guys show them out and everything. It’s great having a good competition out there.”

He has also enjoyed working with Dunnam who moved from senior quality control analyst to being an on-field coach working with the edges this offseason.

“He’s a great teacher. I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been here in a short time,” Harvey said. “Every day he’s on us making sure we’re extending and he’s making sure we’re reaching our best ability.”

Not only does Harvey bring experience, he brings experience playing in the ACC. As SMU joins the league officially on Jan. 1 and then plays its first conference game on Sept. 28 against defending conference champion Florida State, it has to be ready.

“It’s a grind. Most of the ACC games are usually close,” Harvey said. “Sometimes it comes down to a field goal. That just means that you gotta treat every day like it’s your last and grind hard because it ain’t going to be easy going in there.”