Montario Hardesty, former Vols running back, proves some four-stars shine late

Tennessee’s 2009 football season was all about Lane Kiffin, the first-time college head coach who abandoned the Vols for Southern California after just one year.

From that 7-6 season, which included a near upset of eventual national champion Alabama, there’s another name worth remembering: Montario Hardesty, who joined Kiffin’s staff at Florida Atlantic as an assistant coach last week.

The former Tennessee running back offers a great career model this preseason for all the four-star recruits whose production has yet to match their recruiting billing.

Hardesty reminds us that how you start out doesn’t necessarily determine how you will end up.

He was a highly recruited four-star player from New Bern, N.C., supposedly capable of playing running back or defensive back in college. His strength was his speed, documented at 10.36 seconds for 100 meters.

But one of Tennessee’s fastest running backs was painfully slow coming out of the blocks in college football.

Hardesty received a medical redshirt after suffering a season-ending knee injury in 2005. That wasn’t his last injury.

From 2006 through 2008, not once did he rush for as many as 400 yards in a season. And there was no statistical evidence of improvement. His junior season was his least productive: 271 yards rushing.

You easily could have written him off as a nonfactor before the 2009 season, perhaps wondering whether his career would have turned out differently if he had never been injured.

In fact, his career did turn out differently.

Hardesty rushed for 1,345 yards and 13 touchdowns as a senior. The same running back who had been thwarted by injuries held up well enough to lead the SEC with 282 rushing attempts.

His transformation was most evident in the last two regular-season games of his college career. He carried the ball 32 times for 171 yards in UT’s 31-16 victory over Vanderbilt. A week later, he rushed for 179 yards on 39 carries in a 30-24 overtime victory over Kentucky.

He’s a good Vol to remember this preseason.

So many players on this team haven’t played up to their recruiting ranking. That’s especially true on defense, which is loaded with four-star recruits, several of whom have been plagued by injuries. Defensive linemen like Kahlil McKenzie, Shy Tuttle and Kyle Phillips come to mind.

Never mind their history of injuries. This season doesn’t have to bring more of the same.

The careers of reasonably healthy players can change, too. Players can get better, sometimes when you least expect it.

Coaches are paid to develop players. However, player development also can come from the players themselves.

Maybe they are slow to make the transition from high school to college. Perhaps they become so concerned with the details of a more sophisticated game they lose the athletic edge that enabled them to be successful in the first place.

But some, like Hardesty, not only manage to regain that edge, but they also overcame injuries along the way. And change their college legacy in the process.

Reach John Adams at john.adams@knoxnews.com or 865-342-6284 and on Twitter @johnadamskns.