OWNER SHAD KHAN, GENERAL MANAGER TRENT BAALKE, HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON, AND
OFFENSIVE TACKLE ANTON HARRISON INTRODUCTORY PRESS CONFERENCE
FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2023
SHAHID KHAN: Thank you very much. Welcome, everyone. Good afternoon. I’m Shahid Khan. Some of
you I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting.
Let me just start off by welcoming Anton Harrison. Welcome to Duval.
ANTON HARRISON: Appreciate it. Happy to be here.
SHAHID KHAN: Enjoy the day. Pressure will come later (laughter).
Q. Anton, what does this day and moment mean to you and your family, everything that goes along
with it?
ANTON HARRISON: Yeah, it means a lot for me definitely. Since being young, all the sacrifice and work
that we put in, me, myself, my family, the love and sacrifice they did for me helped me get here. It’s big
for all of us.
Q. Anton, could you talk a little bit about only starting one game at right tackle, how do you imagine
the adjustment, particularly on a much higher level of football, is going to go if you start out at right
tackle?
ANTON HARRISON: For me, I would say it wouldn’t be big. It’s a great O-line coach here, definitely help
me out.
When I did it in college, I did it with not one practice at right tackle. It’s a smooth transition for me. I
don’t think it will be that big of a transition.
Q. Anton, when was the first time that you talked to some of the folks with the Jaguars and did you
have an idea they were really interested in you?
ANTON HARRISON: We had some talks at the Combine, then like a Zoom after. It was all good
conversations, all good talks. Just good vibes and energy.
I feel like the energy was always there. Definitely it was a big surprise last night, but I’m glad to be here.
Q. Anton, if you could walk us through who is here with you today, who flew down with you, what it
means to have them here.
ANTON HARRISON: So I got my mother, my aunt, my two brothers, my father here. Those are people
that are always with me no matter what, the bad and good throughout my whole life, help me to
become the man I am today. That’s why they’re here with me now.
Q. Coach Bedenbaugh (Oklahoma Offensive Line Coach Bill Bedenbaugh), what he meant to you and
your development as a tackle.
ANTON HARRISON: Yeah, he was big. That was one of the main reasons I went to OU. I wanted to be
coached hard, develop as a player. Just going to OU being coached by Coach B was big for me and
helped develop my game.
Q. Shahid, what is it like for you these days where you get to meet a new family and see such a big
part of the American dream realized for a young man?
SHAHID KHAN: I think it’s awesome to be able to share that. Frankly it’s part of football. All of us
certainly sitting here, I mean, we’re blessed by the NFL. For someone else who gave their life to the
sport and has worked hard, to see the rewards, I think for me obviously it’s very satisfying. I feel great
about it.
Q. Doug, why will Anton’s skill set be such a great fit for the offense?
DOUG PEDERSON: Have you seen him (smiling)?
It’s the reason we took him in the first round. Everything about him: his skill set, how he fits, how he
moves, the transition from right side to left side. His ability to not only pass block but come off the ball
and have that mean streak in him as an offensive lineman in the run game. That’s what you see with
him. That’s what we got excited about, obviously.
Coach Rauscher spent some time with him at the Pro Day, the Combine, different places. We felt very
comfortable with him. I met him for the first time at the Combine. Had a really good 20-minute
interview. It was something that for me, it raised the eyebrows that this is a special young man. It’s the
reason why we took him in the first round.
Q. Anton, you graduated high school in 2020. At that point there was a lot of uncertainty with COVID.
You appeared in nine games as a true freshman. How did the adjustment and uncertainty, adjusting to
a higher level of football, how did all of that prepare you as you go into a higher level of football from
college to the NFL?
ANTON HARRISON: Yeah, I say it definitely helped me a lot. Coming into college, that was the COVID
year, a lot of things going on. Couldn’t be at the facility with the team. Things kind of came slow at first.
I’d say it definitely helped me become better with a lot of things. I feel like the transition to college to
this level, it will be definitely smoother. I’d say it definitely helped a lot.
Q. I know you’ve talked a lot about wanting to bring the right people into the organization, the culture
that you want to build here. What is it about speaking with Anton, meeting with him, that assured
you he is the right kind of person?
DOUG PEDERSON: Again, for me, when I met him for the first time at the Combine, listening to him
speak and talk about his teammates, talk about his family, those are the type of men that we want on
our football team.
He checked all those boxes for me.
TRENT BAALKE: Ditto (smiling). Everything coach just said. That’s the thing that impressed us the most. It
wasn’t just about football, it was about his family, it was about his teammates, what he did during the
week with his teammates to kind of build a bond.
It’s the same thing we’re trying to build here, so it was a natural fit.
Q. Anton, what did you know about Jacksonville and the team before 14 or 15 hours ago? What have
you learned in the short time you’ve been here?
ANTON HARRISON: Yeah, so I watched Jacksonville a lot last season. I know it’s a young team, exciting
team. A lot going for them. I’m excited to be a part of it.
I say I learned a lot just being here, since I been here, the family environment. Everybody loves being
here, loves working here. I’m just glad to be here.
Q. Mr. Khan joked about the pressure. Is it a good feeling coming into a place where the expectations
are high?
ANTON HARRISON: I’d say yeah, definitely. I say really just strive under pressure. Pressure makes
diamonds. Strive under pressure. Take it day by day, do what I did to get here.
Q. Anton, your dad coached you during your high school years. What was that dynamic like? How did
he impact your success?
ANTON HARRISON: Yeah, so I’d say that was big. He was on the defensive side, I was on the offensive
side, so I was able to talk trash to him (smiling).
He was always on us. He was hard on us. It helped us develop as men, on and off the field. I’d say that
was a bonus to have my father out there coaching, just being able to see two different sides of him.
Q. Trent, when you’re evaluating a prospect, particularly somebody along the lines, offensive lines
especially, how much does the component of him having played basketball help with footwork, et
cetera? Does it bump somebody up if they have that basketball background?
TRENT BAALKE: Well, I don’t know that it necessarily bumps people up. What you like to see is guys that
are multi-sport athletes because the one thing you can’t replicate is competition. So guys that are just
concentrated on one sport, if it’s football, let’s say in high school they’re getting 12, 13 games, and that’s
it. That’s their competitive. If they play other sports, they’re constantly competing.
There’s no substitution for competition.
Q. Anton, on the basketball thing, when you were a freshman, sophomore in high school, did you
have greater visions for the NBA than you did the NFL?
TRENT BAALKE: Say no (laughter).
ANTON HARRISON: Well, coming into high school, I definitely loved basketball. I knew that football was
going to be the thing I loved to do, the thing I’d do in the future. I would say definitely football took
over. I definitely loved playing basketball.
Q. Have they given you ice cream yet? What is your favorite flavor?
ANTON HARRISON: I’d probably say Oreo.
Q. Do you know about the ice cream? Have you been informed?
ANTON HARRISON: No, not yet (smiling).
DOUG PEDERSON: Get ready (laughter).
Q. When was it that you figured out football is going to be your sport as opposed to basketball or any
other sport?
ANTON HARRISON: I’d definitely say it’s probably my sophomore year of high school. I played both
sports throughout all my years of high school. Really going out there and playing football every day, I
started to really have a love for the game, loving it way more than basketball. Then just being real with
myself, knowing I could really do this at the next level, football instead of basketball.
Q. Growing up in the DMV area, what does that do for a young man but also a football player?
ANTON HARRISON: I’d say it does a lot, especially seeing the guys that came up. You got like the Diggs
brothers (Buffalo WR Stefon Diggs, Dallas CB Trevon Diggs), guys you grew up watching, came from the
same place you came from, it’s big. I’m just glad to be a part of the list, to be someone that kids under
me look up to, want to be.
Q. Anton, back to the basketball theme again. When you walked in, I noticed your two brothers,
they’re about your size as well, talk about some of the battles I’m sure you had on the court.
ANTON HARRISON: So, I’d say my little brother, we didn’t really play one on one. He’s younger. Two
other brothers, one brother is not here, but we always played basketball, battled, competed with
everything we did. I’d say I definitely got the best of them (smiling). They’d definitely say different.
We always competed, made each other better, had fun.
Q. You’re coming into an organization that has one of the best offensive linemen to have played in the
NFL, Tony Boselli. How eager are you to meet him? What do you want to hear from him?
ANTON HARRISON: I’m really excited to meet him, just learn from him, take some nuggets from him.
Obviously he’s a Hall of Famer. I want to be there one day. Try to learn as much as can I from him to get
there. Anything he’s able to tell me, I’m going to take in and keep it with me.
Q. Were you one of those kids that was always an offensive lineman playing little league football or a
quarterback that all of a sudden got big?
ANTON HARRISON: Well, I was always big. When I first started playing football, I thought I was a tight
end. I played tight end a little bit. Tried seven-on-seven things like that. My coach was like, You’re
playing offensive line. That’s when I started offensive line. I always tried to run some routes, catch the
ball, score some touchdowns.
Q. Did you play any tight end at all in high school, a couple snaps?
ANTON HARRISON: Not in the game. I did seven-on-seven in the summers, but not in the game.
Q. Mr. Khan, you had a quote a couple months ago that you feel like you’ve cracked the code. Is that
just personnel around you or maybe in year 12 you’ve kind of figured a lot of things out through the
trials and tribulations of drafting, putting a team together?
SHAHID KHAN: I think all of the above. But also let me remind you about my prediction last year. I think I
got it right this time, so please reflect on that (smiling).
But there’s a lot to it, I think. But certainly Trent and Doug are a big part of it, along with Trevor. Those
are the components. I think that’s the human element on all three. This is a very competitive league.
When you have those, you’ve got a fighting chance to win.
Q. Does this feel different than maybe even 2018 in terms of going into a season?
SHAHID KHAN: Yes, because I think I have a great sense it’s sustainable. We knew our success then was
based on really defense. There was question marks, which obviously got answered.
I mean, what we have is something. I hope we’re going to win, but we know what we have to do to win,
so… It gives us a fighting chance. That’s what the NFL is: highly competitive, so…
