Why did you choose to attend UCF?
AH: I originally just went to UCF for school, for the education program. I transferred from FIU, because it was an hour and a half drive each morning and I had class at 7:30 in the morning. I thought about football, but they really weren't looking for punters at the time at FIU. I just focused on my education, got a job, but then I decided I wanted to play football and try to walk-on somewhere. I didn't want to stay in Miami.
With UCF gaining a lot of national exposure how has that impacted you?
AH: A lot of kids leave to play football where I come from and I'm one of them. I've had a lot of people from high school call me and say that they didn't know I was playing football here and it's really cool that I'm playing football. It got me connected with a lot of my friends back home again. A lot of people from where I lived went to school in Gainesville, so a lot of them saw me play against Florida and that was really cool.
How did you become a punter?
AH: I played soccer a lot growing up. I figured out that I could kick the ball really far, so I played a lot of goalie. I never played organized football before tenth grade. I broke my arm in ninth grade, so in tenth grade, they asked me if I could punt, so I picked up a book that taught me the basics of punting and kind just picked it up from there.
Have you ever tried place kicking?
AH: Not really, it's not something I'm all that good at. When I came to UCF, Coach O'Leary asked me if I could place kick and I told him to that if he wanted me to I would work on it. But mostly here, the punters punt and the kickers kick.
What's the biggest difference between punting and place-kicking?
AH: Kicking relies on a lot of different people. The snap has to be good, for the holder, the holder has to do a good job for the kicker and then the kicker still has to kick the ball. Punting, most people think is really easy, you just kick the ball as far as you can. But, here at UCF we do a lot of directional kicking. The two positions have two different leg swings that you have to perfect, practicing over and over.
There is a perception that punters and kickers are not really on the team, they're not really football players. What do you think about that?
AH: Football is definitely a team game. We win as a team and we lose as a team. Sometimes the kicking units play a greater role in the outcome of a game like last year against Nevada, no one person is responsible for winning or losing a game.
During practice, what do punters work on?
AH: In practice, primarily it's the way I drop the ball on to my foot to kick it, or the way I catch the ball from the long snapper. You can't really work on distance in practice, because that comes basically from your leg strength. It's a lot of the little things like balance that you work on in practice. You can't kick too much in practice or you'll wear your leg out.
Do the kickers and punters spend a lot of time with each other away from the field?
AH: We're real close, real tight. We went out bowling together, we're our own special unit. People sometimes believe that kickers and punters are a bunch of strange guys, but I don't believe that stereotype.
What kind of conditioning do punters go through, compared to the rest of the team?
AH: There is no difference in our conditioning. We go through the exact same conditioning drills. The coaches do not take it easy on us.What do you see yourself doing after graduation?
AH: I'm here to get an education first. Hopefully I'll teach, I want to teach history or physical education. Maybe, I'll coach a sport, but probably soccer more so than football. I'd coach football, but I'd probably only be able to work with the kickers or special teams.
When the team is playing well and scoring a lot of points then you don't punt too much. Does that create mixed emotions for you?
AH: Definitely, it can create a lot of mixed emotions. I'd much rather punt two times and the team win then punt nine times and lose. Fans may not want to see a lot of the punter, but my family does. My dad always says, "I want you to play a lot, but not too much". I'd gladly give punting the whole game to have us win.