Honors Keep Coming for ‘Level-Headed’ Hardy
By Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Glory won’t cost Rolijah Hardy perspective. Indiana’s third-year linebacker is too dialed in to what has to be done, has worked too hard to let anything -- whether opposing players or outside buzz -- ruin this next opportunity.
And you’d better believe -- seven months removed from a team national title and a month from individual Big Ten preseason acclaim -- that this 5-foot-11, 227-pounder is gearing up for something special.
“I always try to stay level-headed, always try to stay humble,” Hardy says. “I appreciate the recognition, but I try to just go day by day with the hot news things, try to be that same person that I came in as. Be someone who is going to work hard and put in the time.”
Consider this week’s practice inside the Mellencamp Pavillion. During 11-on-11 sessions, Hardy blitzes from the outside, defends the run from the outside, goes inside to attack the run, fakes a blitz to drop into coverage and then, finally, recovers a fumble.
This do-it-all approach makes Hardy ruthlessly effective in defensive coordinator Bryant Haines` offense-ruining scheme.
Hardy made second-team All-Big Ten last season after totaling a team-leading 102 tackles, including 15 for loss with eight sacks. He also had five passes defended.
That followed a freshman season in which he had 22 tackles, 5.5 for loss with two interceptions (returning one for a touchdown) and two forced fumbles.
The result -- Hardy is one of three Hoosiers to earn preseason Big Ten honors along with defensive lineman Tyrique Tucker and wide receiver Charlie Becker. Hardy has also made the Lombardi Award preseason watch list, which recognizes the nation’s top linebackers and linemen. IU teammates Tucker, Isaiah Jones and Carter Smith also made the Lombardi list.
In keeping with Cignetti’s stay-humble-and-hungry approach, Hardy downplays it.
“I appreciate the recognition,” he says, “but it is all preseason stuff. So, you just try to take that, use that as confidence that you have that ability, and then go from there for the season.”
That leads to the obvious question -- what’s next for a guy who honed his disciplined style at Naval Academy Preparatory School in Rhode Island after helping to lead Florida’s Lakeland High School to the 2022 4A state title, showcasing enough versatility to make all-state in basketball and participate in track?
“He’s played really good football.” head coach Curt Cignetti says. “As he gets older and more mature, his play should elevate even more. He plays his best in big games. He’s a good player. We just have to keep him on the field.”
With All-American linebacker Aiden Fisher now a rookie with the NFL’s Houston Texans, Hardy and Jones (78 tackles, 15.5 for loss, 7.0 sacks) must take on bigger leadership roles.
“Aiden is a great player,” Hardy says. “I definitely learned a lot from him for the past two years. He was a great leader.
“That leadership role between me and Isaiah has to be bigger this year. Also, it’s about making more plays without him. Someone has to make those plays, so it may as well be me and Isaiah at the linebacker position.”
Hardy credits Haines, who coaches linebackers along with his defensive coordinator role, for his elite emergence. It started, he says, during his freshman season, first against Western Illinois, when he had a tackle for a 14-yard loss, a forced fumble, and an interception. He followed that with an interception against Nebraska and two tackles for loss at Michigan State.
“That’s when things started coming around for me,” he says. “That's the thing with Coach Haines’ coaching. Any time, any player has got to be ready to step up.”
Has Fisher’s departure altered the way Hardy and Haines interact?
“I don't think our relationship has changed,” Hardy says. “We’ve always had a good relationship. He's a really good coach, one of the best coordinators in the country. Now, it's more film, trying to see what he sees as a D-coordinator.”
As for the season, IU will also need linebacker impact from players such as redshirt seniors Kaiden Turner (10 tackles, one interception) and Jeff Utzinger (16 tackles), and freshmen Jacob Savage, Henry Ohlinger and Ja’Dyn Williams.
“They are definitely getting way better,” Hardy says about the young linebackers. “They are good learners and we have been at them hard getting them ready for the season. Our coaches do a really good job of teaching. That’s one of the best things about our coaches: being able to teach the playbook and everything.”
IU figured to have one of the nation’s best defensive lines, and that was before last season’s standouts -- Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt -- returned following a Colorado district court judge’s ruling to allow players graduating from high school in 2022 to have a fifth college season. Both players had season-ending injuries last year.
Hardy says Daley’s 6-foot-1, 273-pound size along with his speed is impressive.
“It’s unreal to see somebody that big and that strong move like that,” he says. “That’s going to bring us depth into that defensive line room. That will help the linebackers perform as well as the back-end guys.
“They definitely make the linebacker job easier. They’re moving strong now, and it will only get better.”
With Daley and Wyatt, IU now returns its top five sack leaders. Add the transfers, and IU could surpass last season’s Big Ten games total of 26.0 sacks and 70.0 tackles for loss.
“It’s about getting after the quarterback,” Hardy says. “That's one of the best things of our defensive line. We try to help the back end and DBs with getting after quarterbacks so they don't get that much time. That will be really big for us.”