1-on-1: Former UCLA DE Owa Odighizuwa

Q: Take us behind the scenes of your family background and of course your name. Is there any meaning behind your name?
A: My name means love, peace and joy. Obviously, it’s of Nigerian ethnicity and so are my brothers’ names. My family is from Nigeria. My mom and dad were born there so all of our names have a unique meaning behind it.

Q: Football not being big in Nigeria, what kind of response do you get now from your parents knowing that you have a professional football future?
A: My mom has been around football for a while now. I’ve been playing since middle school – 8th grade – so she’s well aware of football by this point. So, there’s no shock to her or surprise. She’s very used to it like any other parent watching their kid play 

Q: You’re still working out every day and when you came down here and we saw you outside of your pads, you think ‘now that’s a football player right there.’ Take us through your workout.
A: It really consists of what our strength and conditioning coach here at UCLA has for us depending on the day. His name is Sal Alosi and he worked with the New York Jets and Atlanta Falcons. His workouts are usually some type of conditioning and then some type of weight room stuff. That’s what I do every day at least after the combine and Senior Bowl, I went back to UCLA and started back up on what we did at UCLA during the season and during the offseason. He knows my body and he always knows how to address different muscle groups and condition me the right way to get me ready for football so that’s really what I do day to day.

Q: It’s been a four-month process now and the NFL Draft is right around the corner, what has this whole process been like for you?
A: The process has been awesome. Something that I’ve really relished and embraced. It’s been a positive one. I think just all the hard work that goes behind it is what makes it very special to me. I’m looking forward for the draft now. It’ll be exciting, it’s time to finally know which team you’re playing for and you can start getting back into football mode again. 

Q: Do you have any big plans for draft weekend?
A: Yeah I’m going to spend it with my family out here in LA. I’m going to have friends too come and just do a celebration at the house.

Q: What about when your name gets called, what’s that reaction at the party going to be?
A: It’s going to be big excitement. Everybody’s going to be excited. I’m going to be excited as well.

Q: Take us back to January when it all started for you at the Reese’s Senior Bowl. Walk us through that week and what experiences you took away from it.
A: That week honestly was a very fun week for me. I got to compete against the best and showcase my ability in front of all the scouts and coaches. My whole goal was to just separate myself as much as I can and erase any doubt that coaches or scouts or question marks they had, I wanted to eliminate it that week and I felt like I did that in a pretty big way. I left with a lot of respect for the Senior Bowl because it definitely is a very prestigious bowl that gives players a platform to showcase what they have and really increase their stock in the eyes of coaches and scouts.

Q: Here’s another question that you had to answer that week, are you a defensive end or an outside linebacker?
A: I honestly feel like I am both. My athleticism and versatility allows me to do both a 3-4 definitely an NFL outside linebacker rushing type of guy and then in a 4-3 defense, I’m a defensive end, an every down defensive end; a guy who can play against the run, a guy who can pass rush. That’s what the coaches see as well and I’m definitely very confident that whatever team defense is being ran I’m going to be a fit for that. 

Q: Let’s talk about the different defenses you ran at UCLA. You went through a coaching change, finishing your career with Jeff Ulbrich being the defensive coordinator. Take us through the differences, changes and the things you learned form those changes.
A: Between (Rick) Neuheisel and Coach (Jim) Mora, it was different because Coach Neuheisel’s D-coordinators he had were 4-3 guys. So, we ran over and under defense a lot, which means I was playing defensive end. And when Coach Mora got here, his coordinators that he hired were 3-4 guys and still I was playing defensive end in that system but the scheme was different. Our edge guys were outside backers and so we had different guys who fulfilled those roles and I still played the 3-4 defensive end which was different. But it really prepared me to be versatile. It challenged me to learn different schemes and what that means, coaching philosophies like why they like a particular type of defense and the positives and benefits of that. Even though I didn’t necessarily play the outside backer role for UCLA, I felt like I was definitely capable of doing it with my speed and athleticism. I learned a lot regardless because I like to know what other guys are doing on the field so I feel like I learned a lot in that respect like what the outside backers were asked to do in our defense. And so when it came to interviewing wish teams that ran a 3-4, they were very impressed with how much I understood about coverage and different drop responsibilities and things like that because usually guys in my position who are just playing that gap control type of 3-4 end aren’t really aware of things outside of that responsibility. So for me I was happy that I was able to showcase that knowledge at that position but also back it up with the drills that they put me through at the combine and pro day and the private workouts. So, long story short I learned a lot with just the different schemes that I’ve been through at UCLA.

Q: There are two things I love about you: I love saying your name and your relentless motor. The way you play with such high energy was always so much fun to watch when watching a UCLA game. What do you feel are your best assets and your best traits?
A: I think like you said I’m very much a motor type of guy even though I have all the physical tools and attributes. I feel like it’s important to play relentless because good things happen when you’re playing fast. So that’s always my mindset is playing fast and getting to the ball. That’s one thing I do well at, I think I’m very physical, very strong and don’t get moved back at all and so I think that’s something that coaches get to look forward to. Whoever feels that I’m going to be valuable to their team, they’re going to get a guy who’s going to play hard, going to play physical and I’m going to be very coachable. I think those are some of my best traits.

Q: During your time at UCLA, who was the best tackle that you faced?
A: There are a few that come to mind. I remember my sophomore year playing against Matt Kalil, who played at USC. He’s with the Vikings now. He’s very good. This year, Andrus Peat, the guy from Stanford, he was a good tackle. And then there was guys at the Senior Bowl that I thought were very good. I remember rushing a few times against the tackle from Penn State. I thought he was a really good tackle: strong and athletic. I feel like when I was at UCLA those are the two that come to mind. Obviously there’s a lot more than that. We played against great tackles week in and week out.

Q: In 2013, you were set to start and finally have a breakout year but then you ended up missing the whole year with hip surgeries, how difficult was that to go through for you?
A: It was difficult. Because like you said I had high expectations and I had a lot of things that I wanted to prove and show and leave UCLA accomplishing. And then when I had to go through the surgery, it was the first time I was sitting out of football for a whole year and the first time I had to deal with a surgery of this kind. It was difficult but definitely it taught me a lot and I felt like in the long run it was better for me because I learned a lot from it. It made me a better person, made me a better football player because I spent a lot of time in the film room, a lot of time just studying. 

Q: The medical evaluations are a big part of this NFL Draft process. Do you feel like you’re over it? How do you feel now?
A: I feel great. I checked out on everything. I’m glad that everything is all positive. There’s no negatives when I did all the medicals at the combine. I was cleared by all the doctors. I have no worries. Even before the combine, my hip felt great during the season. I obviously take care of my body. I didn’t worry about anything being a problem because again this is my first time having any surgery. Prior to that I never got hurt and I was a take care of my body type of person. I was confident things were going to work out and it has worked out and so it’s a thing of the past in my opinion.

Q: I read your UCLA profile and it said LeBron James is the athlete you most admire. Why?
A: I think on every level he’s an elite and he’s a professional that it just blows my mind. I think a guy who’s one of the most prolific athletes in the game and his ability to balance his talents and I guess the prestige of being a guy like him with being an ultimate teammate. I think he’s a guy that you can plug into any situation and they’re going to have a chance to win because of the type of player obviously he is but the type of leader he is. I always admired that and he’s just a beast so it was easy. And he’s from Ohio. I’m born in Ohio so that’s kind of my claim to being a fan of him. He’s a great player, he’s a great person. Obviously I’ve never met him but I plan to. 

Q: How about in football? Any football guys stand out to you that you look up to?
A: There’s a lot of guys. If we’re talking just player regardless of position, Adrian Peterson’s been my favorite football player for a long time. I like how hard he plays the game. He’s obviously a very gifted athlete. He’s a guy who when he was playing for Minnesota, when he plays you can just feel how hard he plays. He plays with so much passion. I always admired that. There’s a lot of other guys like Greg Hardy, who’s with the Cowboys now, who I think is phenomenal. Obviously, J.J. Watt, Tamba Hali, I like to study different guys. Not only what they’re doing on the field but their demeanor, their approach to preparation and stuff like that.

Q: Your bio also said you were an undeclared major so I’m just curious, what did you end up graduating with?
A: I graduated with philosophy. I don’t know if that was necessarily undeclared. I’ve had that in my mind for a while.

Q: We’re glad that you had a great experience down here in the Reese’s Senior Bowl. Thank you for coming down here and competing, it was great to have you.
A: Oh, absolutely. Thank you for having me.