Stress fracture in leg ends Hardesty's spring

Running back's history of bad luck continues

  • By Drew Edwards
  • Posted April 10, 2008 at 6:31 p.m., updated April 10, 2008 at 9:53 p.m.

Dave Hooker audio:

Tennessee tailback Montario Hardesty hit another roadblock this spring.

And like the others before him, it has to do with injuries.

Hardesty, a junior, will miss the remainder of spring practice with a stress fracture in his lower leg, UT coach Phillip Fulmer said Thursday.

Fulmer said he expects Hardesty, a key reserve, to be back in time for fall camp in August.

"It's disappointing for everybody," Fulmer said Thursday. "But it gives us a chance to work those younger guys, and we know he'll be ready in the fall. He'll get himself ready."

Hardesty missed practice last Thursday and did not participate in UT's second major scrimmage of spring practice last weekend.

In UT's first scrimmage, he had 17 yards on five carries.

Yet even with limited work this spring, first-year running backs coach Stan Drayton saw enough to get a feel for Hardesty's talent.

"It didn't take long to really get a feel for Montario," Drayton said. "Just like Arian (Foster), he's a guy that has played the game before. We had an opportunity before he got hurt to put the ball in his hands and put him in a lot of different situations.

"So I definitely know what his strengths are, and I definitely know what his weaknesses are. We'll attack those when he gets healthy."

Hardesty, who was not available for interviews per UT's policy regarding injured players, is already working to get better.

Only for now, he'll remain on the sidelines, which isn't an entirely unfamiliar spot.

Hardesty missed all but two games in 2005 because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and he missed three games last fall with a nagging ankle injury.

"I wasn't around Montario in the past when he had these roadblocks. But the way he's handling it right now, he's trying to turn himself into a student of the game," Drayton said. "It gives him an opportunity to stand around practice and watch and pick up the script and read along with the script and learn and see what other positions are doing right now.

"I think that's all constructive and positive stuff that he can learn from and still help improve his play. That's the approach and that's the mindset that he's taking right now, and he chose to take a positive approach that way."

When healthy, Hardesty has shown plenty of talent. Last fall, he rushed for 372 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games .

In 2006, he played in all 13 games and rushed for 384 yards and four touchdowns, including a career-long 43-yarder against Cal.

Foster, UT's starting tailback, says he's impressed with how Hardesty has handled the injury setbacks throughout his career.

"A lot of young guys will get injuries and they'll kind of be down for a while a let their school (work) slip down," said Foster. "Like I did, my freshman year, I was upset, mad at the world. I didn't handle it well. I remember him as a freshman. He handled it great when he tore his ACL. He's doing the exact same thing now. He's encouraging the young guys and myself."

Hardesty's absence has given younger backs like Tauren Poole and Lennon Creer more practice repetitions.

"It allowed those guys to get out there and play, and it wasn't like they always knew what was going on or which way to go a whole lot of times, but they realized the bullets were flying around them kind of fast," Drayton said. "They realized they had to pick the tempo up. It was a great opportunity for those guys to get better."

With his experience, Hardesty won't be hurt as badly by missing spring practice, but any snaps, especially scrimmage snaps, have a way of paying off later.

"Right now, you're preparing to win championships, so any opportunity you get to scrimmage, that's priceless opportunities," Drayton said. "Montario's missing a lot, and he realizes that. When someone goes down, someone else needs to pick it up. That's an opportunity for us to learn something that you may not be able to learn if he was healthy. We're picking it up and we're rolling."

Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.

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Comments » 53

thesavageorange writes:

Monterio ,I hope to see one day what you are really capable of doing.

MrBamSeydu writes:

(This comment was removed by the site staff.)

GIVEHIMSIX writes:

thesavageorange,

keep dreaming. Hardesty will probably never play another down at full strength.

pdhuff#552644 writes:

true savageo-I thought he had tremendous potential. Sad, sad, well, others have to step up and take the role of hard-nosed N-S runner.

Dang! (patented by tngeoff-2008)

thesavageorange writes:

I say sit Foster the rest of spring and give the load to Creer, and end the Vereen experiment at safety.Foster is the only runner this spring to have any success against the D.We know what he's about, and these other guys need to find the lanes.

By the way, what was the Poole injury?I can't remember.

VolPride_13 writes:

I hate to see this over and over again cuz he is good player!!
Does anyone know if he has made it through a single Spring Practice without getting injured?

tngivem6 writes:

Coach Clawson said he favored a 2 back system, one pounder and another change of pace back..this just clears the way for Foster/Creer combo without trouble..

miamiVOL writes:

this injury shouldnt effect him come Fall, Hardasty has real potential and would like to see him healthy for a yr, but if it cant come together this year, he can NOT be the feature back next yr with that history, might as well start giving Creer an opportunity, thats all he needs

invisiblekid writes:

We need to keep our collective fingers crossed that Foster doesn't have any problems. Poole has the meniscus problem and now Hardesty is out, depth is getting a little questionable. If Foster goes down, we have Creer as the only RB with any game experience.

beachvol1 writes:

Still like to make fun when somebody gets injured is sick....if you are going to post, at least make it constructive to some degree...put yourself in Hardesty's position if you are capable..think he isn't frustrated...he does have tremendous potential, no doubt...

TommyJack writes:

Savage: Poole has torn meniscus. Will get scoped after spring.

thesavageorange writes:

Thanks TJ.

GerryOP writes:

Interesting article on QBs:

http://tennessee.scout.com/2/745258.html

ncvol17 writes:

Hardesty picked IT over home state UNC. He ill always be a VOL. Good Luck Montario.

TommyJack writes:

Gerry: Good link...looks like the kid has a good head on his shoulders too.

gohawks1 writes:

Dadgummit. Get well soon, Montario.

Bigger_Al writes:

Fiddle faddle.

nicksjuzunk#646117 writes:

Relax fellas,

Montario will get better by fall. After that... who knows. Poole has a minor knee problem that will be cool by July. Creer and Foster are healthy. RB is not as scary as you think. We are still OK but I hope Hardesty can put together a season.

movol77 writes:

"Hey Hardesty, maybe cheerleading is better suited for you."

Wooooooo, I'm sure he's trembling now and hoping you don't show up to tell him that face-to-face. ;)

marinevol writes:

I am a little confused as to why people are slamming one of our players for getting injured. Hope we get him back this fall. Thanks for laying it on the line for Tennessee, Montario. Go Vols!

GR82BaTennesseeVOL writes:

Amen, marinevol!

midtennvolfan writes:

Ain't it great to see people who say they are Vol fans pick on to a player, who decided to come and play for Tennessee, because he has an injury... Makes me proud to be a Vol Fan. (it's hard to show sarcasm in text)

I would pay to see some of these "tough guys" that write stuff on here go through just ONE of the practices or scrimmages that these guys put themselves through.

These are the same people that, come September, will be cheering and hollering when Hardesty puts some in the checkerboards. Ain't it great...

DenmarkVol_aka_Mbumburu writes:

Montario, most of us out here know what you're capable of -- no doubt about that. Work hard, make good grades, and be ready for August camp.

WE NEED YOU. You have our best wishes and respect.

TommyJack writes:

Denmarkvol: dittos

IMAVOL2 writes:

montario , we are with you brother . stay strong !

vscebail#247785 writes:

Uh-oh, Here goes the injury bug again... Peerless Price, Jamal Lewis, Al Wilson --- Oh, that's right - those guys all won a national championship!

BOASoldier writes:

yemmusdarb: It would be awesome to see you on the football field getting nailed to the ground. Not because I necessarily wish you or anyone else ill will ... I just want to see how you hold up. If you are some superman that can with stand the beating that these guys go through then more power to you ... if not then shut the heck up. I love how panzies talk trash and can't back it up. Like the guys in the back rows of a fight booing someone for getting knocked out... at least the person getting knocked out has the balls to get in the ring... lol. panzy

orangebloodgmc writes:

Montario will be back, he's a tough kid.

fencevol writes:

GIVEHIMSIX
You are a GUTTLESS COWARD. I guarantee you have never worn a jockstrap in your whole life. You might have put one over your head so the you could smell a real athletes _alls. It is a disgrace what you have said about this fine young man. I appologize to Montario that UT has some absolute MORONS as "fans" Get a life you CREEP.

bkgunter writes:

fencevol
what are you smoking? givehimsix was defending hardesty.

fencevol writes:

I SINCERELY APOLOGIZE to GIVEHIMSIX !!!!

My rage was meant for yemmusdard. I was so _issed off that I wrote down the wrong name. Thanks for the correction.

bigbluevol writes:

It's sad the way Montario's career has gone thus far, but it's good to hear that he's stayed positive and is thought so highly of by his teammates and his new position coach. I just hope that we are finally able to see more than just glimpses of his talent. I truly hope he can get and stay healthy.

CoastGuardVol writes:

Here recently I have not even read the posts because of the fact that some people feel that it is their responsibilty to bag on our team. Why dont you guys go root for another team cause I for one hate hearing it. It sucks when the guys get injured, it sucks when the the stuff is hitting the fan, but I dont have the priveledge of living in my home state because of my job, and I come to this site to read about the team that my whole life I have supported and I hear nothing but a bunch of Sallys talking phooey about players, a coach and a team that they supposedly "love" sounds like fair weather fans to me. Get better Montario, good luck, and GO VOLS!!!!

MrBamSeydu writes:

uhh Why did they remove my comment? All I said was "Surprise surprise, Hardesty's hurt again". What is this The View? Can't hurt anyone's feelings?

Silent_Fulmer writes:

For the record this is Hardesty's 304th article written on him since being at UT.

King53 writes:

this poor guy has the worst luck I have ever seen....i wish him a speedy recovery and a strong heart to stay after it with all the obstacles he has faced.

VOLS85 writes:

An aside, but Mike Hamilton is on the money hungry move again. In an article released in the Daily Beacon today, it has been stated that students will be required to pay for football tickets next year.

A $90 charge for 7 games has been levied without the consultation of SGA or any other governing body. They have not removed the built in student activity fee, which was the athletic department's charge that's included in tuition, allowing students to enter games for free.

Sketchy behind the back move at best...

WorkinLikeHeck writes:

Students don't have pay enough tuition as it is? Going to UT and getting to go to football games for "free" was part of being a student at UT. Obviously, they still have that option at a discounted rate. Alot of students can barely even afford to go to UT much less come up with extra cash for football tickets.

Wasn't this part of the original student activity fee anyway? Make the grandfathered season ticket holders donate (there are more of them than they are students) what everybody else does and getting $90 bucks from every student isn't even an issue.

WorkinLikeHeck writes:

Vols85 just opened a can of worms:

So, you save $15 bucks if you get season tickets as a student? We're talking about students who wait until the last minute on everything. Back in the late 90s I knew some guys that would wait too long to get tickets when they were free. I'd think alot of students would go on game to game basis, so the football team better be playing well or games vs. Northern Illinois, Wyoming, UK after Thanksgiving are going to be lightly attended. I realize Hamilton and the UT AD is probably thinking that they can take the unused ticket student ticket allotment and sell them at face value so all I can say is good luck with that. I've never been able to sell ULL, Wyoming, HC game, Vandy/UK for face value. Sometimes I can't even give them away.

I also love how they decided to do this without coming up with a ticket distribution or seating plan.

VOLS85 writes:

This doesn't affect me, as I am an exiting senior, but if I were a student coming in next year, I would be really upset about the situation. I understand that some other schools in the SEC charge a fee for games, but some do not, and our biggest rivals follow as such:

Florida: $10 a game
Georgia: $8 a game
LSU: $12 a game
South Carolina/Vandy: Free

So how do you go from charging nothing for students to enter, to one of the highest fees in the country? My experience at UT has been the best time of my life, and football is an enormous part of that. UT needs to realize that these students are the ones that will be handing out donations and paying gross amounts for season tickets the rest of their lives, but if they don't get to experience that as a student because they are strapped for cash, how do you expect them to give back in the future?

Concerned_Mother_Focker writes:

Students should NOT have to use their gameday drinking money to buy "student tickets."
The Neyland noise level has dropped noticably over the last decade. We need to keep that decibal level up. The last thing we should do is sober up our homefield advantage.

johnlg00#206211 writes:

Wow, another piece of bad luck for a good guy and a good player! Glad he is keeping more of a positive attitude than some of our posters. Keep your chin up, young man! Thanks for becoming a Vol!
I REALLY hate to hear about the HUGE price increase for student tickets! There is no doubt that I would not have been able even to attend UT if it had cost as much then as it does now. (I probably couldn't have QUALIFIED for UT today based on my high school record then, but that is another story(;-P)!) I agree with MemfrisVOL that making it harder for students to go to games will hurt our home field advantage. I also agree with VOLS85 that the Alumni Association and the VASF will have a hard time getting contributions from the next few graduating classes after this insult. Talk about "taxation without representation"!

Concerned_Mother_Focker writes:

Hey Mike Hamilton, If you want to make more money, SELL BEER!!! We will have a 300,000 seat stadium with gold bleachers and diamond studded goal posts by 2010. It might help a bit with recruiting as well.

also sell crack so we can get the west side of Neyland (the geritrics) to quit sitting on their hands. No offense loyal Vol fans over 60, I love ya.

G'ARNGE!

Concerned_Mother_Focker writes:

sorry, geriatrics

G'ARNGE!!!

TommyJack writes:

Memfris: No apology needed. The geezers remember when we had it all figured out too. Stupidity is just part of the process. You'll outgrow it. If you live long enough.

Concerned_Mother_Focker writes:

TJ, When do I start sh%tting my pants?

jimr07 writes:

MemfrisVOL--please be kind to us geezers. i feel depressed enough without someone reminding me that i fall asleep around the middle of the second quarter.

Concerned_Mother_Focker writes:

yes, Sir

invisiblekid writes:

Just a reminder on darb, he was the same guy who argued that the tornado that hit downtown ATL during the SEC basketball tournament wasn't that big a deal and some of the folk who live down there were being overdramatic. Sensitivity doesn't appear to be a strong suit along with lacking a shred of intelligence.

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