Ferentz on Hardy

For Iowa coaches, it always has to be gratifying to go into Wisconsin and pluck a recruit. Mike Hardy played for Kimberly High School, near Appleton. His school colors were red and white. And, yes, he had an offer from the Badgers. So, you could see how this would be satisfying for coach Kirk Ferentz and his staff.

Hardy set his sights on Iowa and committed last summer. He never wavered, either, telling HawkeyeReport.com, "After I visited Iowa, I knew and my parents knew that it was the right place for me. Coach Ferentz is one of the best college football coaches and the rest of the coaching staff is awesome. Their strength and conditioning coach is one of the best in the country and that's kind of what I'm looking to go for is I want to be a strength and conditioning coach. It's a great place and after we took our second visit there, I knew right away."

Links -- Hardy received the inaugural Krumrie Award, given to the outstanding senior D-lineman in Wisconsin by Wisconsin Sports Network. Krumrie was a Wisconsin Badger and played for the Cincinnati Bengals. . . . Here's a signing day story from the Appleton Post-Crescent's Dan Vanderpas. . . . I like this story, from Madison.com's Benjamin Worgull. It's mostly about Wisconsin recruit Jake Irwin, but it has quotes from Hardy about their battle when Irwin's Waunakee beat Hardy's Kimberly in the WIAA title game last fall.

Bio -- From UI sports info: High school honors - - Earned first team all-state honors as a senior . . . was WFCA state Defensive Player of the Year and Fox Valley Association Defensive Lineman of the Year . . . earned Tim Krumrie Award . . . earned first team all-conference honors as a junior and senior . . . Career - - earned three varsity letters as defensive end and was team captain as a senior . . . collected 20 solo tackles and 64 assists as a senior, including eight QB sacks and two forced fumbles . . . recorded 10 tackles for loss and six QB sacks as a junior, with one punt block and a forced fumble . . . helped prep team post three-year mark of 40-2, including perfect 14-0 seasons as a sophomore and junior . . . team won state titles his sophomore and juniors seasons before falling in championship game as a senior . . . also earned three letters in track and two in basketball . . . won individual state championship in discus as a junior.

Personal - - Born 3/8/92 . . . Kinesiology major . . . member of prep Honor Roll . . . parents are Brenda and Steve Hardy . . . high school coach was Steve Jorgensen.

Ferentz on -- On how the five D-linemen in this class might fit in: "Donavan Johnson, Mike Hardy are guys I think that are going to grow, they have great growth potential. We're excited about that."

Projection is fun -- Hardy comes in listed at 270 on his 6-5 frame. He's got some explosion to him, too, with a state discus title under his belt. I would think -- given Hardy's interest in strength and conditioning, there are a ton of those outfits in the Appleton area -- he's a solid 270 with room to grow.

My guess here is redshirt with an eye on the depth chart in '11 as a D-tackle. He could also develop into a mauler inside on the O-line, but Iowa will need inside help in '11. That will be Hardy's first shot at the depth chart.