Drinkwitz on Hardy: 'To whom much is given, much is required'

COLUMBIA — Ahmad Hardy was Missouri Football in 2025. He was the sun, the moon, the earth and everything else in the galaxy of black and gold. 

Reporters haven't heard from him or head coach Eli Drinkwitz in the calendar year of 2026 — the last time either spoke was after Missouri's Dec. 27 Gator Bowl loss to Virginia. 

Drinkwitz and Hardy both held press conferences Thursday afternoon. Drinkwitz went first. Would you believe it took over 11 minutes until Hardy was mentioned? 

Well it did. Drinkwitz was asked if anything was new with the star running back since he’d last been heard from. 

“He's got four horses now,” Drinkwitz said. “The pay raise has really helped out.” 

The pay raise Drinkwitz is referencing is from the contract Hardy signed to return to Missouri for the 2026 season. Hardy received that well-deserved contract after amassing 1,649 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on 256 carries, leading the Southeastern Conference in rushing yards. 

The astonishing numbers should paint the picture of his necessity enough, but to paint a clearer picture, Missouri’s offense would drown without Hardy. He is an absolute essential, not a bonus. 

Drinkwitz may not have envisioned Hardy being that essential heading into the 2025 season, but he certainly does in 2025 — as his salary rises, so does his responsibility. 

“He understands, to whom much is given, much is required,” Drinkwitz said. “I think he's done a really good job of pushing himself and understanding how he lives outside of this building affects how he performs on the field.” 

Hardy has been a class-act on the gridiron since arriving to Missouri — it’s incredibly hard to criticize his game or effort when seeing him drag a horde of defenders on his back on his way to rushing for hundreds of yards each game.

Believe it or not, there’s a world where Hardy gets even better. The root of the improvement isn’t from changing his playstyle, rather his lifestyle. There’s a lot more than horses riding on the line of Hardy’s development — his family and a future NFL career headline that. 

“He's got to be better in his sleep habits and his nutrition habits, and how he approaches his day in, day out life,” Drinkwitz said. “ I think he's understanding this is an opportunity for him to really invest in himself and his future and his family's future, if he can get it right.” 

Hardy hasn’t shied away from putting in the extra work. 

“Coach tells us to catch like, I think it's like 300 or 500 balls a week,” Hardy said. “I live my life in the recovery room. So I do a lot of recovery trying to keep my body up.” 

While Hardy may be the star of the running back room, he’s got quite the partner-in-crime in returning tailback Jamal Roberts. Roberts rushed for 753 yards and six touchdowns as Hardy’s backup in 2025, leading many to believe he would leave Missouri in search of an increased role for the 2026 season. 

Roberts, despite approaching his prime in the peak of the transfer portal era, inked a deal to return to Missouri alongside Hardy. The pair will form one of the best backfield duos in the nation. 

“It's gonna be a story to tell,” Hardy said. “That's my guy. I'm his guy.”