Ole Miss suspends DE Hardy

OXFORD, Miss. — Less than three weeks ago, Greg Hardy pieced together one of the finest defensive efforts of the new millennium for the Ole Miss football team. Hardy, a sophomore defensive end, dominated play against Alabama, finishing with a career-high 13 tackles, three sacks, two forced fumbles, two quarterback hurries and a pass deflection.

He was named the SEC’s defensive lineman of the week, and coach Ed Orgeron offered some muted praise: “He’s been a pretty good player.”

Orgeron appeared to be saying a lot by not saying much at all. That there was festering tension between Hardy and Orgeron was self-evident: Orgeron had already benched him for the first half of Ole Miss’ loss to Georgia on Sept. 29, having hinted that Hardy’s practice habits lacked consistency. Soon came whispers that Hardy’s punctuality at team functions left much to be desired, and at least one teammate implied he was a loner.

“He skips to his own beat,” linebacker Tony Fein said last week.

On Monday, all that strain surfaced when Orgeron announced that he had indefinitely suspended Hardy for what Orgeron described as a “violation of team rules.” Hardy, who leads the SEC in sacks and tackles for loss, did not make the trip to Auburn over the weekend for Saturday’s 17-3 loss to the Tigers.

Orgeron declined to elaborate on the suspension, and Hardy was unavailable for comment.

Lan Hardy, his mother, said she was informed of the penalty by Kyle Strongin, Ole Miss’ coordinator of football operations, and by assistant coach Hugh Freeze, who coached Hardy at Memphis Briarcrest Christian.

“He will not play anymore this season,” said Lan Hardy, who spoke by phone with Strongin and Freeze on Monday morning. “They said they’d re-evaluate the suspension at the end of the semester. That means no team functions, no team workouts, no team anything. He is not even allowed in the Indoor Practice Facility.”

Lan Hardy said Strongin told her that her son had missed meetings, practices and training sessions. Freeze told her that if Hardy were to decide to transfer, Ole Miss would not release him to any schools within the SEC or t Memphis.

“If they don’t want him there, they should tell him they don’t want him there,” said Greg Hardy Sr., his father. “My point is, it sounds like they’re forcing him to leave and putting him in a position where he can’t do anything. I wish they’d tell us that they’re done putting up with my son — if that’s what they call it — and we’d all move on.”