Oklahoma Safety Jaydan Hardy Primed for Larger Role as Sophomore

Jaydan Hardy made himself known in his first game as a Sooner.

Hardy, a true freshman safety in 2024, saw his first game action in OUs season opener against Temple last year.

With the Sooners leading 44-3 in the fourth quarter, Hardy and other freshmen got the chance to play late in the game.

Hardy made the most of his limited snaps, intercepting a pass in the fourth quarter.

That interception was Hardys only of the 2024 season, but he continued to make an impact, playing in all 13 of the Sooners games.

He finished the year with the Temple interception, four solo tackles and a pass breakup.

Altogether, Hardy played 291 snaps as a true freshman and posted a defensive grade of 71.3.

Hardy spent the entire 2024 season under the wing of OUs most experienced defensive players.

I got to learn a lot from Billy ( Bowman Jr .), Hardy said.

Just seeing how stacked the program is from Ethan Downs, Danny ( Stutsman ), great leaders last year.

We just need to carry on.

Its like we say, DTS every day Defend The Standard.

A lot of great teachers, so we just gotta go and carry it on.

Hardy came to OU as an elite prospect, ranked the No.

179 overall prospect in the Class of 2024 by 247Sports.

One of the primary reasons Hardy a Lewisville, TX, native chose Oklahoma is Sooners coach Brent Venables .

In Hardys first season in Norman, Venables taught him about carrying the right mindset on and off the field.

READ MORE OKLAHOMA SOONERS Greg Sankey Impressed with Oklahoma's First Year in SEC: 'Fundamentals Are There' Oklahoma Defensive End Taylor Wein Hoping to Contribute to Deep D-Line Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy Explains Why OU Won't Overspend for 5-Star Recruits Coach BV says it all the time: just reach your highest potential, Hardy said.

What is your floor? Every day just get to your floor and raise that floor up, because you never know what your ceiling could be.

So I just try to use that every day, just be my best version of me.

Just help the guys out next to me and like I said, just be the best me at the end of the day.

Hardy will have the chance to learn from Venables in a greater capacity this year.

After 2024 defensive coordinator Zac Alley left for the same role at West Virginia in December, Venables took over the coordinator duties at OU.

Venables served as Clemsons defensive coordinator from 2012-2021, helping the Tigers win two national championships and winning the Broyles Award given to college footballs top assistant coach in 2016.

You know how BV is, Hardy said.

Hes intense.

But all of us, we love that.

It perfects the details.

For him to be really focused back on us and trying to take that next step as a defense, I feel like thats huge? Hardy will likely start the season as the second-string at strong safety behind junior Peyton Bowen .

Others at the safety position include senior Robert Spears-Jennings , sophomore Michael Boganowski and sophomore Reggie Powers III .

After Hardy appeared in every game as a true freshman, Spears-Jennings expects the rising sophomore to play an even larger role in 2025.

Just seeing him grow up on and off the field, he's one of the smartest guys I've been around, Spears-Jennings said.

Just knowing we have a guy like that on the team is helpful..

This article has been shared from the original article on si, here is the link to the original article.