Hand ready to engineer life after football

Photo by Michael Patrick // Buy this photo

After giving pro football a try, ex-Vol defender Omari Hand (91) returned to Tennessee and is finishing a degree in Civil Engineering.

Omari Hand knew he’d be back.

There was never a doubt he’d return to the same cramped seats, filling page after page with notes and cramming for finals.

The former University of Tennessee defensive end just had to make sure of one other thing first.

He had to give the NFL his best shot.

He toiled away on practice squads with the San Diego Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars, played in NFL Europe and finished his career with two tackles in regular-season action.

It was all worth it.

He learned some real-world lessons, found out the NFL can be a cutthroat business and couldn’t wait to return to Knoxville and get his degree in Civil Engineering.

When the first session of summer school concludes next week, Hand will have fulfilled his promise to himself and his family. He’s officially job hunting as an engineer instead of trying to crush quarterbacks with his 6-foot-4, 265-pound frame.

“I think the RAC (Renewing Academic Commitment) program at UT is the best thing in the world,” Hand said. “I take my hat off to the University of Tennessee.

“You don’t want to be that guy who almost made it and then doesn’t have anything else to do, out on the streets or working a job you really don’t want.”

Hand persevered.

He made it through four years of football at Tennessee from 1999-2002 while taking a rugged schedule laced with engineering classes.

“I’m glad I put forth the effort at the beginning even though it was a struggle to be involved in football and engineering,” he said. “But being able to come back and finish up through the RAC program is really going to change my life.

“I’m going to have a lot of opportunities to go into the field of my choice and finish what I started.”

He does so with no regrets.

Hand left Knoxville as a San Diego free agent after being named a team captain his senior season for the Vols.

He had 40 solo hits and 28 assists with two sacks and three tackles for a loss that final season at UT.

“When I first got to San Diego it was a big transition period for me,” he said. “In college, I hate to say it, but people kind of hand feed you, making sure you go in the right direction. They help you grow up from high school to college.

“But when you’re a professional, nobody’s around to hand feed you anything. You’ve got to take care of business yourself and you’re held accountable for everything.”

Hand thought he had turned the corner and turned some heads when the Chargers changed defensive philosophies and tried to change Hand into a linebacker.

“You’re not given many chances and there’s not much of a learning curve as far as time goes when you get to the NFL,” he said. “When you’re growing up you’re taught that football is fun, but when you’re in the NFL the professional side takes over.

“You see guys who you know can play better than someone else, but a lot depends on who you know, how much money you’re getting and how much experience you have. That’s just the way it is. It’s the nature of the beast.”

Hand thought he had landed another chance with Jacksonville prior to the 2006 season, but the Jaguars cut him before training camp even started.

“I was in the best shape of my life, but they just never gave me a shot,” Hand said. “The average player doesn’t have anything else to fall back on, and they’ll keep trying to play, but I knew I had that option of coming back to school and getting my degree.”

Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer was another person who never doubted Hand would return and successfully complete his degree.

“I knew he would come back because that was always a priority for him and he comes from a background where education is important in his family,” Fulmer said. “I’ve never been so proud of a bunch of guys as when I had a picture taken with Omari, Jake Finlayson, David Yancey and all those guys who got engineering degrees while they were at UT or shortly after.

“That’s not an easy thing to do. It just speaks well of them, their effort and their determination.”

It also gave Hand a chance to return to the home of some of his favorite memories as a football player.

“Just running through the ‘T’ and playing at Neyland Stadium in that environment is one of my greatest memories,” he said. “It’s not too often you get to play in front of 100,000.”

In today’s world, it’s just as rare to get a second chance to complete what you started.

Hand took advantage.

“It speaks well of the support system at UT,” Fulmer said. “It was like Darwin Walker (another former UT standout), we worked around their schedules and understood when they sometimes had to leave meetings early.

“They would miss some things along the way, but we kept the priorities where they were supposed to be and that was with education.”