Report: All-CUSA DL Chris Hardie to Visit Oklahoma This Week
According to a report from On3’s Pete Nakos, Jacksonville State defensive lineman Chris Hardie is expected to visit Oklahoma this week.
Hardie was a first-team All-CUSA selection last season and was also named the 2023 Conference USA Defensive Lineman of the Year after tallying 61 tackles, 16 TFL, and 8.5 sacks on the year.
Listed at 6-foot-2, 270 pounds, Hardie lacks elite size but makes up for it with truly impressive production over his first four seasons. Over 48 career games, Hardie has posted 162 tackles, 46.5 tackles for a loss, 21.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, two passes defended and an interception
Hardie visited Ole Miss and UCF over the past week, but a trip to Oklahoma could be something worth monitoring, as they have something that the other programs in the running for Hardie’s services do not.
Brent Venables recently hired Zac Alley as the Sooners’ new defensive coordinator for the 2024 season after Alley spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons as the DC for the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.
Hardie and Alley have a preexisting relationship, and a veteran player of his caliber could be looking for a good program fit and a team that can get him to the next level–that could very well be Oklahoma.
OU has added several All-Conference level players in the trenches in this cycle, including Damonic Williams (TCU; DL), Caiden Woullard (Miami, OH; DL), Branson Hickman (SMU; OL), and Febechi Nwaiwu (N. Texas; OL). Getting Hardie would seem to be quite the cap to end an impressive haul ahead of the Sooners’ first year in the SEC.
