WCG’s lead draft analyst spoke with Boise State’s standout running back.
Boise State running back George Holani quickly rose from the shadows to turn into a key contributor at the collegiate level.
Under-recruited coming out of high school, Holani is now a two-time All-Mountain West performer who finished with 3,596 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns from scrimmage in his five seasons with the Broncos. Now, the bruising runner looks to make the jump to the NFL level. He’s overcome the odds before, and he hopes to do it again.
Windy City Gridiron spoke with Holani about his collegiate career, his role as a leader in his community, his Combine performance, and more.
JI: You broke out right away to top 1,000 rushing yards as a freshman. What was it like, putting up big numbers in your first year?
GH: It meant a lot, especially coming in as a freshman. I was humble and hungry, and I just had the opportunity to go out there and start playing. Then, being able to hit that 1,000-yard rushing mark my freshman year, it was awesome. I didn’t think I could do that coming in the collegiate level coming out of high school. I didn’t know what my role was, but getting into college and being able to build trust with the coaches and put my head down and go to work every day, they continued to trust me, and then they put me in that role where I could thrive.
JI: What would your favorite moment from your time at Boise State be?
GH: Winning conference championships, 2019 and last year. Those two, and then also graduating, I got my degree in business, so that was also another achievement. I’m really excited that I finished college, and I also get to go have an opportunity at the next level.
JI: You’ve had the chance to go down to both the Hula Bowl and the Combine. What were those experiences like?
GH: It was pretty awesome. The Combine, [it was great] just being there. I got the late call — it wasn’t early, I didn’t know I was going until later — so it was a great experience for me, being able to go over there and just live out my dreams, being able to go out there and perform at the Combine. I got there, and it was so busy. From day to day, we would have so many meetings, formal and informal. It was mainly all informal meetings with teams, and I talked to almost every team there. It was really exciting being there, and then going out there and actually competing, being able to place top-five, top-three numbers in some of those events like the broad jumps and vertical jumps, being able to place top three on that, it was pretty good. Showing scouts and other coaches what I can run, as well — they were predicting I was gonna run like 4.6, somewhere around that, and I ran a 4.5. It was a great experience overall, and I was just grateful to be a part of that and take it all in.
JI: You mentioned you were the top performer in multiple tests. When did that become a realization that it would be a reality?
GH: It’s always been expected out of me. I’ve been coming in, my freshman year at Boise State, I benched 225 [pounds] 18 times as a freshman as a freshman, so being able to prep myself, I’ve been training for this moment all my life. Growing up, my dad, he trained me: 300 sit-ups a night, chug Muscle Milk, and be able to continue to prepare and get my body right, get my mind right. I’ve been doing this since I was a kid, and I’ve been dreaming of going to the NFL since I was a kid. It’s actually exciting that that’s a week away, and I get to see where I’m going. I’m excited for the opportunity to come.
JI: I want to break down your approach out of the backfield. What goes through your mind pre-snap, and what are the first actions you’re looking to take after the snap?
GH: As a running back, taking the field is start after the kickoff return, when the offense huddles up on the sideline, and then the quarterback gives us a play, we go out there run the first play. Whatever it is, as always, we call it FBE. FBE stands for: First off the ground, Ball to the umpire, Eyes to the sideline. That’s how you win the pre-snap: being able to to get out there and know your alignment, know your assignment, know where the read is, being able to go out there and know what run plays we’re running. If we’re running a mid-zone — which is one of my favorite places to run — it’s more of a stretch play. It’s just placed in between inside zone and outside zone; that’s like my favorite play, and you can really cut it up anywhere. For me, if it’s under center…my aiming point is the outside leg of the tackle. The read is the end man on the line of scrimmage, and then the main thing for me is pressing my aiming point. Something takes me off track, and then finding those vertical lanes and being able to go upfield and be explosive. For a running back, we’re trying to create one-on-ones and get up the second level and make safeties miss and be a playmaker. That’s what I love to do.
JI: How do you like to spend your free time outside of football?
GH: Personally, I like to spend free time playing video games, or even if it wasn’t video games, I like hanging out with the guys. But [I also like] giving back to community, doing community service events. I go on an app — it was called Helper Helper — and we went on the app and found like different events throughout the week and found different ways to be productive and influence and have an impact on other people’s lives.
JI: That’s cool you’re involved in the community. What sort of events do you participate in?
GH: There were a lot of events that I did. There was one, it was Tim Tebow’s event. It’s called Night to Shine. We go, and it’s basically kids with autism and different types of disabilities, where we went, and they had their own prom, so we kind of hung out with them. There was a lot of different things like that, as well. I also did another event. It was CAS, which was athletes with disabilities who were in wheelchairs, actually. We were out to get into wheelchairs, we’d go play some basketball. It was hard to move around that way, so having that experience and seeing what they go through from day to day, it’s tough, but it just puts a lot of perspective for me to never take anything for granted.
JI: Let’s say I’m an NFL general manager. What would I be getting if I drafted you to my team?
GH: You’re gonna get a humble and hungry player who’s also confident and going out and attacking whatever opportunity comes my way. I’m a guy who’s gonna be a playmaker when I’m on the field, whether I’m on offense, special teams, whatever it is. I’m gonna star in my role, and I’m gonna continue to impact others and do my job whenever my name is called. If you get me, you’re gonna get a player who’s gonna come in every day with the right attitude and effort and continue to put my head down, be humble, and go to work.
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