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Newcomer Profile: Oklahoma DB Jaydan Hardy Eager to Contribute to Oklahoma's Secondary
The former Texas preps star and Under Armour All-American is ready to lend his cerebral playmaking talents to the Sooners.
NORMAN — Jaydan Hardy, Oklahoma’s 4-star freshman safety, is ready to see the field as soon as the Sooners defensive staff will let him.
“Just showing the coaches and the team that I’m a guy that’s going to have a lot of effort on the field and just knowing his job and just communicating with everybody, those are my three big things (this spring),” the 5-foot-11, 182-pound DB said at OU's Spring Media Day last month.
WATCH: DB Jaydan Hardy Interview
Hardy was an Under Armour All-American selection after an illustrious career at Lewisville High School (TX) and was ESPN’s No. 150 prospect regardless of position in 2024. He collected 42 tackles, seven pass breakups, two forced fumbles and an interception en route to an all-state honorable mention last fall. As a junior, Hardy caught nine passes for 147 yards and totaled five touchdowns offensively while earning District 6-6A Co-MVP honors.
His versatility makes him ripe to play in Oklahoma’s secondary.
“There ain’t nothing he can’t do," Sooners head coach Brent Venables said Tuesday. "He can play corner, cheetah, safety. Football is easy for him.”
His father, Darryl Hardy, was an NFL journeyman. He played linebacker at Tennessee and was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 1992 and had stints in Seattle, Arizona and Dallas, where he earned a Super Bowl 30 ring.
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Only about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Dallas, playing in Norman was a priority to Hardy for reasons outside of football.
"That's big, just being able to go see my family on a weekend that I might have down time, it's big. Or them coming to see me," Hardy said. "My dad has been a big part of my football journey and just, ever since I could remember, he was either on the sidelines coaching or in the stands watching, you know, supporting me.
"It's just a big thing to be able to know that he'll be at all the home games and, you know, any away games that he's able to make," Hardy said.
Regardless, it's been a challenge for Hardy's parents to adapt to him leaving home. It's not the first time. Hardy spent his sophomore spring semester at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL.
"It was mainly hard on my mom, but I've been through it before, when I want to IMG, so they understand," Hardy said.
Hardy believes his talents will allow him to be an asset in Venables' secondary.
“I love (Venables’) defense, just the complexity and the adjustments that they put onto the safeties and allow them to, you know, take control of this defense and just be out there and play free,” Hardy said, “just be the player that they say they recruited. ... I love hearing that from my coach.”
Hardy’s relationship with OU’s staff has already blossomed. He was first recruited to Norman by co-defensive coordinator Jay Valai and safeties coach Brandon Hall.
“Just going back to the first relationship I feel like I ever got through college football, coach Valai, and just seeing him every day and just him keeping me motivated, staying in touch with me and making sure my head’s focused, it’s just good to have one of those guys who you can always have in your corner,” Hardy said. “And then, you know, coach Hall becoming a mentor to me now, just learning the game from him and just being able to understand it from his eyes. ... It’s just great.”
Special teams could provide Hardy's first opportunity to leave his mark on the field and fulfill his desire to see playing time early. As a recruit, he displayed excellent playmaking speed on both sides of the field at Lewisville, particularly as a vertical threat on offense, and is a sticky pass defender in the flats with tremendous lateral speed. Hardy also long jumped a commendable 22-1 as a junior.
“Just being able to understand everything, first, that’s why I have all those big brother/mentors in my position group, just being able to mentor me through the process to get me ready for that,” Hardy said. “Definitely Billy (Bowman), RJ (Robert Spears-Jennings) and Peyton (Bowen), just being those guys you can lean on. They’ve been in the defense already. And them telling me their stories of how stuff has happened to them, watching film with them and just re-explaining stuff like that just to help me see different perspectives and help me understand stuff more thoroughly.”
