Looks like South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer filled his football team again. Former Tennessee highlight and current assistant coach to Charlotte Montario Hardesty is expected to be the tenth and final member of Gamecocks’ technical team, taking over as the team’s running back trainer.
Beamer did not confirm the news on Wednesday.
The vacancy became vacant when the former South Carolina running back trainer Des Kitchings left for the same position with the Atlanta Falcons. Hardesty, who served as a wide receivers trainer for the 49ers, started with the program in January 2019. It was his first full-time position at a Division I school after serving as a quality control trainer on his alma mater.
In 2017, Hardesty was a fitness and strength assistant at Florida Atlantic for his former college coach, Lane Kiffin. He spent two years as a running back trainer and coordinator of special teams at Norfolk State (2015, 2016).
The following information is from Hardesty’s biography page in Charlotte:
In his first season with the 49ers, he helped Charlotte through a historic season that included school records for victories (7), C-USA victories (5) and winning streak (5 games) and included a trip to the first game of bowling program: Manufacturers wanted Bahamas Bowl.
Charlotte set a school record for passing TDs (24) and an FBS school record for overtaking yards (2,749), thanks to a reception body that included honorable mention from all C-USA, Victor Tucker. Tucker had five receiving games for 100 yards and was sixth in the league in receiving average. (69.9 yards / g) and the second to receive TDs (7).
As a player in Tennessee, Hardesty ran for 2,391 yards in his career, including 1,345 as a veteran in 2009. He scored 27 touchdowns in his career. He was picked in the second round of the NFL draft by the Browns in 2010 and has compiled 537 racing yards over two seasons of play, with a touchdown and 138 receiving yards.
Born in New Bern, NC, Hardesty started as a coach at Chowan University, where he served as an intern in 2014 on the NFL Players Association internship program before joining the Norfolk State team.
He played in Tennessee from 2005-09 and won the second team, all SEC titles as a senior. He scored 14 touchdowns and was fourth in the SEC in races. Its 1,345 running yards still rank as the fourth largest in the school’s history.
He played 23 games with the Browns during the 2011 and 2012 seasons, before being placed on reserve due to injury in 2013 after knee arthroscopic surgery.
Hardesty received his bachelor’s degree in sports management in Tennessee in 2009.