“Coming from a small town and a small school, it helped me put a chip on my shoulder.”
In 2015, Kelvin Harmon was a senior at Palmyra High School taking the football field for one final season before his high school graduation. After posting 54 receptions for 829 yards and 16 touchdowns the prior year, many expected an encore from the 6-feet 3 inch wideout.
Harmon delivered in the best way possible for Jack Geisel’s bunch, finishing the season with 66 grabs for 1,111 yards and 14 touchdowns. He helped Palmyra post a 10–2 record, claim a Freedom Division title and reach the Central Jersey Group 1 final, eventually falling to Shore Regional 56–28.
Even now, living in a new state and away from his friends and family, Harmon still credits the Palmyra as huge motivation to his success.
“It helped me a lot,” Harmon said. “Coming from a small town and a small school, it helped me put a chip on my shoulder. I still stay in touch with Coach Geisel and the team to see how they are doing and they text me good luck a lot as well.”
Fast-forward to 2017 and Harmon is showcasing his football talents at North Carolina State University under head coach Dave Doeren, and is a sports management major. As a freshman in 2016, Harmon was named to the Athlon Sports All-ACC Freshman squad, and earned the Philip Rivers award for freshman of the year. He finished the season with 462 receiving yards, the third-most by a Wolfpack rookie in school history, and had five touchdowns.
“What worked for me was the connection I had with our quarterback Ryan (Finley), and the rest of my teammates,” Harmon said. “We were able to become closer as teammates and we put in a lot of work in the offseason. Even with my fellow receivers, we try to push each other everyday to get better.”
N.C. State finished 7–6 a season ago, defeating Vanderbilt University 41–16 in the Camping World Independence Bowl. Despite defeats to eventual national champion Clemson, as well as Louisville and Florida State, the Wolfpack defeated Notre Dame, Syracuse and rival North Carolina.
In the offseason, Harmon made sure to get back to work for an even more productive season this year.
“I worked on my footwork a lot in the offseason, as well as my football IQ,” Harmon said. “I look to become quicker out of my breaks, better with my hands, and I try to evaluate opposing cornerbacks to learn how to beat them.”
In 2017, N.C. State sat at 2–1 as it began its conference schedule last weekend against Florida State. Harmon leads the team with 268 receiving yards on 24 catches and one touchdown and is averaging 11.1 yards per catch. With some big games approaching, the mindset stays the same for №3.
“As a team, we keep our mindset the same no matter who the opponent is,” Harmon said. “It may be a new week, but the work we put in will remain the same.”
Harmon’s hopes are the team continues to be competitive and gives its all every game.
“For myself, I would like to make All-ACC honors,” Harmon said. “Overall as a team, our goal is to win the conference.”
For more information on Harmon or N.C. State football, check http://gopack.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=4717&path=football.
