Daequan Hardy

Daequan Hardy was a three-time letterman at Penn Hills High School in Pittsburgh, PA. During the 2018 PIAA Class 5A Championship game, he scored 4 touchdowns, including a 100-yard interception return and a 84-yard kickoff return, leading the Indians to their first state title since 1995. Hardy won several awards for this exceptional high school career, including Mr. PA Football Big School, named to the All-USA Pennsylvania Football Team, and collected Big 33 Honors as a senior. As a senior, he scored 22 touchdowns 5 different ways (receiving, rushing, interception return, kickoff return and punt return), this included 10 scoring plays of over 60 yards. 247Sports rated Hardy as a 3-star prospect and the #16 overall recruit in Pennsylvania. Hardy committed to Penn State over several other offers, including Cincinnati, Michigan and Michigan State. In 2019, Hardy took a redshirt after only playing in 2 games. He was named the Penn State Developmental Squad’s Defensive Player of the Year, so it was not a total loss for Hardy and it opened the eyes of the coaches for the 2020 season. He saw his playing time improve in 2020, playing in 9 games for the Nittany Lions, collecting 10 tackles, 3 pass breakups and 1 sack in his limited time, playing mostly late in games. In 2021, Hardy began seeing the field regularly and was Penn State’s nickelback throughout the season. He played in 13 games, including 1 start and made 16 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 2 interceptions and 7 pass breakups. 1 of his 2 interceptions were returned for a touchdown. The 2022 season saw pretty much the same from Hardy. He appeared in all 13 games as the starting nickel corner and tallied 13 tackles, a half sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception and 4 pass breakups. This season, Penn State finally used Hardy in the return game and it paid off. He averaged 14.6 yards per return and took 2 of his 17 returns to the house. Beside punt returning, Hardy had his best season on defense. He played in 11 games and collected 22 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 2 interceptions and 7 pass breakups.