COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥 New Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy knows how to work with horses. He鈥檚 got three of them: two males named Chaotic and Jet, plus a female named Coco.
During the first week of the Tigers鈥 fall camp, for example, Hardy posted a video of himself riding Chaotic along a gravel road.
He鈥檚 one of the most eagerly anticipated newcomers to the 2025 Mizzou roster and seems likely to deliver on the hype. Is he MU鈥檚 next high-volume workhorse tailback?
It seems possible 鈥 so long as Hardy stays healthy through the process of getting pummeled by Southeastern Conference defenders.
Missouri, out of sheer coincidence, has alternated using running back committees and clear No. 1 tailbacks in recent years. Last season, Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll split carries, in part because the former dealt with a foot injury. In 2023, Cody Schrader set the program record for rushing yards in a season. The year prior, he鈥檇 been part of a committee. And in 2021, Tyler Badie set the rushing record for Schrader to beat.
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If that pattern holds true, 2025 will be back to one dominant option out of the backfield.
Hardy, a sophomore, has only one season of experience under his belt, but it sure was a capital-S Season. As an underrecruited freshman at Louisiana-Monroe, Hardy put up 1,351 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, including eight 100-yard games, two 200-yard performances and 1,000 rushing yards after contact. The only running back to force more missed tackles than Hardy was Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty.
The caveat is that Hardy鈥檚 output came in the Sun Belt, which is a rather far cry from the SEC.
Still, 鈥渉e played a lot of football last year,鈥 running backs coach Curtis Luper told the Post-Dispatch, which is a good sign. Hardy adjusting to the SEC is more about doing the same thing at a different level than it is about doing something new.
Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy catches the ball out wide during practice on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at the Mizzou Athletics Training Complex in Columbia, Mo.
What鈥檚 also helpful 鈥 and exciting 鈥 about Hardy is that he鈥檚 fresh, as far as running backs go. That position tends to take a literal bruising because of how much contact and how many tackles running backs absorb over the course of a game and a season. Their pro careers, for example, are often quite short.
Yet compared to some other recent MU tailbacks, Hardy鈥檚 mileage, so to speak, is low.
He has 245 career touches 鈥 that鈥檚 rushing attempts plus receptions 鈥 to his name, all from that one season at ULM. If he鈥檚 a true workhorse at Mizzou, that volume could tick upward by a few dozen more. Schrader led the SEC with 298 touches in 2023, and Badie led the league with 322 touches in 2021.
Badie entered that 2021 campaign with 317 career touches from his first three seasons in black and gold, which made him relatively fresh, too. Schrader, for comparison, transferred to Missouri with 539 career touches from his time at Division II Truman State. Heading into his breakout 2023 season, Schrader had a whopping 729 touches at the college level.
Noel and Carroll, transferring from Appalachian State and Georgia State respectively, also came to MU on the more experienced end of the spectrum. Noel had touched the ball 591 times, including a 2021 season in which he led the Sun Belt in touches. Carroll brought 480 touches to the Tigers.
Hardy, then, has taken fewer than half the hits of past transfer running backs but presents even more upside.
Because he still has so much eligibility remaining, Mizzou hopes to have Hardy as a backfield force for at least a couple of seasons. That means taking care of his body to keep him available.
鈥淗e鈥檚 younger, but he鈥檚 experienced,鈥 Luper said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 still (only) so many hits that you can take as a running back, and we monitor that really closely.鈥
It鈥檚 nigh on impossible for a running back to make it through an SEC season unscathed. Schrader, for example, famously would spend entire days inside the Missouri team facility training room just to recover between games.
That process has already begun for Hardy 鈥 some prevention to get ahead of the hits to come.
鈥淚 stay in the cold tub a lot,鈥 Hardy said. 鈥淚 do a lot of treatment. I try to do as much treatment as I can.鈥
Ice baths will almost certainly continue during the season, particularly if Hardy gets the share of carries and catches that seem likely for the Tigers鈥 top running back. He learned a lesson in taking hits as a freshman, too, that鈥檒l change the way he tries to absorb contact this time around.
鈥淟ast year, I lost weight during the season,鈥 Hardy said, 鈥渟o trying to keep my weight (up) this year and keep going.鈥
