Background
Hardin was born in Smackover, Arkansas and attended high school in Stockton, California.
basketball coach gridiron football player
Hardin was born in Smackover, Arkansas and attended high school in Stockton, California.
He served as the head football coach at the United States Naval Academy from 1959 to 1964 and at Temple University from 1970 to 1982, compiling a career college football record 118–74–5. After leaving Navy, Hardin coached the Philadelphia Bulldogs of the Continental Football League, leading the team to a championship in 1966. Hardin was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2013.
He played college football at the College of the Pacific under Hall of Fame coach Amos Alonzo Stagg and his successor, Larry Siemering.
He was inducted into the College of the Pacific"s Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998. After serving as a student assistant coach in 1949 at Pacific, Hardin began his professional coaching career in 1950 at Ceres High School in Ceres, California.
There he coached football and basketball. Hardin returned to his alma mater, Pacific, in 1952 as the backfield coach under Ernie Jorge.
He then moved on to Porterville College, a community college in Porterville, California, where in two seasons as head football coach, 1952 and 1953, he tallied a mark of 9–8.
In 1955, Hardin was hired as an assistant football coach at the United States Naval Academy under Eddie Erdelatz. From 1959 to 1964, Hardin was the head coach at Navy, where he compiled a 38–22–2 record. Hardin was the head coach at Temple from 1970 to 1982, where he compiled an 80–50–3 record.
His 80 wins are the most in school history.
Under Hardin, Temple"s school-record 14-game winning streak over two seasons from 1973 into 1974 was the longest Division I winning streak at the time. Hardin"s 1979 squad was the most successful in Temple football"s history.
The team went 10–2 and finished the season ranked #17 in both major polls, the only Temple team to finish a campaign ranked. The 1979 team concluded their season with a victory in the 1979 Garden State Bowl over heavily favored California
Temple did not return to a bowl game until the 2009 season.
Hardin"s career college record was 118–74–5. Hardin also spent time as a color commentator for Columbia Broadcasting System Sports for the Baltimore Colts.