Daequan Hardy

Early life

Hardy attended high school at Penn Hills. In Hardy's senior season, he amassed a total of 22 touchdowns. Hardy helped lead his team to a Pennsylvania state title, as in the game he scored four touchdowns, two receiving, an 84-yard kickoff return, and a 100-yard pick six, as he also intercepted three passes in the game. Coming out of high school, Hardy was rated as a three-star recruit, where he decided to commit to play college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions.

College career

In Hardy's first career season in 2020, he tallied ten tackles, three pass deflections, and a sack. In 2021, Hardy had 15 tackles, with three going for a loss, a sack, six pass deflections, two interceptions, and a touchdown. During the 2022 season, Hardy notched 13 tackles with half a tackle being for a loss, half a sack, four pass deflections, an interception, and a forced fumble. In week seven of the 2023 season, Hardy returned two punts for touchdowns in a win over UMass. His two touchdowns, was a single game school record for punt return touchdowns. Hardy finished the 2023 season totaling 22 tackles with three going for a loss, a sack, seven pass deflections, and two interceptions, while also returning 17 punts for 248 yards and two touchdowns. For his performance on the 2023 season, Hardy was named third team all Big-Ten. After the conclusion of the 2023 season, Hardy declared for the 2024 NFL draft.