Liberty transfer DL Jay Hardy commits to return to Auburn

Former Liberty defensive tackle Jay Hardy has committed to Auburn via the NCAA Transfer Portal. Hardy began his collegiate career at Auburn in 2020 but redshirted and transferred to Liberty after the season.

Hardy spent the past four seasons at Liberty, where he amassed 34 appearances. He only played in seven games last season after suffering a knee injury in Week 2 against New Mexico State. However, in the 2023 campaign, Hardy tallied a career-high 31 tackles and two sacks.

Hardy was the No. 116 defensive lineman in the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason, according to On3’s 2025 Transfer Portal Player Rankings. This past week, Hardy acknowledged his pre-existing connection to Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze and the Tigers.

“Auburn was my first call,” Hardy said after an official visit. “From Coach Freeze and Coach Vontrell (King-Williams), those were the first two coaches that hit me up when I hit the portal. So then they told me that you’re going to be our first visit and I was like, ‘I’ll be down there.’ Now I’m here. 

“When Freeze called me, that let me know he still cared for me. It was more than ball when he called me first and let me know he wanted me to come play for him.”

Jay Hardy played high school football at McCallie (TN), where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 105 overall player and No. 14 defensive lineman in the 2020 recruiting cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

He is the 17th player Auburn has added via the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason. Despite also losing 22 players to the portal thus far this offseason, the Tigers are ranked No. 7 in On3’s 2025 Team Transfer Portal Rankings.

Moreover, Auburn has the No. 7 incoming freshman class in the country. The crew is highlighted by five-star prospect Deuce Knight. Hugh Freeze is excited to see what Auburn is capable of in the 2025 campaign.

“It’s quite different and in a good way,” Freeze said. “Obviously, you know, anytime you take over a program of this magnitude that has the expectations Auburn does, there’s a reason you got it. And that’s certainly not casting a judgment on anyone else because you never know really what happens until you walk into someone else’s shoes. But, you have to have Top-10 recruiting classes in this league to form an elite roster. And I felt like we could do that at Auburn. 

“… I do feel optimistic that with the two we’ve had, we can compete, should compete this year. And so it does look different. So let’s go line up and see what we got.”

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.