Football
Hardmon, Bam
Bam Hardmon
- Title:
- Run Game Coordinator/Outside Linebackers
- Email:
- bhardmon@tulane.edu
- Phone:
- 314-2425
Byron ‘Bam’ Hardmon, an All-SEC linebacker and three-year NFL veteran, enters his first season at Tulane as the run game coordinator/outside linebackers coach.
He arrived at Tulane after spending nine years at Troy University. A 2018 Broyles Award nominee and 2020 finalist for Football Scoop Linebackers Coach of the Year, Hardmon worked for five years coaching Troy’s outside linebackers and serving as the defensive run game coordinator following four years coaching the inside linebackers and bandits.
Nineteen of Hardmon's players earned All-Sun Belt honors in his nine seasons with the Trojans and in 2018 former walk-on linebacker Carlton Martial earned Freshman All-America honors from the Football Writers Association of America, The Athletic and USA Today. Javon Solomon and Richard Jibunor were the latest to join Hardmon’s tree of success earning All-Sun Belt honors in each of the last three seasons.
In 2023 both earned All-Sun Belt First Team honors. In 2022, Jibunor took home second team honors with Solomon landing on the third team. In 2021, Solomon earned Pro Football Network All-America honors and All-Sun Belt First Team distinction after he led the Sun Belt in tackles for loss (1.42 per game) and ranked 12th nationally in addition to ranking eighth nationally with 0.92 sacks per game. Jibunor was the only player in the country with at least eight sacks, 10 tackles for loss and two interceptions and became just the fourth player in Sun Belt history to reach eight sacks in the first seven games of the season.
In 2023 the program set the school and the Sun Belt single-season record with 47 sacks, and the Trojans ranked in the top 15 nationally in sacks (3rd), scoring defense (10th), rushing defense (12th) and total defense (14th). The program had a streak of 10 consecutive victories including a 48-23 win over Appalachian State in the 2023 Sun Belt Championship Game.
Troy held eight of its 14 opponents to fewer than 300 yards of total offense on the season, while Solomon and Jibunor became just the second Troy duo to record nine or more sacks in the same season; Solomon ranked third in the country and led the Sun Belt with a Troy single-season record 16 sacks. He was drafted in the fifth round by the Buffalo Bills during 2024 NFL Draft.
Also in 2023 the Trojans handed Army its first shutout at home in 20 years and first overall shutout in nine seasons, and Troy defeated in-state rival South Alabama for a sixth straight season.
In 2023, Troy allowed just 106.6 yards per game on the ground, the fewest by a Trojan squad since 2004 and the sixth lowest in program history, while Troy’s 308.1 yards per game allowed per game was its fewest since 2002 and the sixth-fewest in Sun Belt history.
In 2022, Troy held all 14 of its opponents to under their season average in scoring, including three of the top 25 scoring teams in the country – UTSA, Western Kentucky and App State. The Trojans limited UTSA to just 10 offensive points in the Cure Bowl, with three of those 10 points coming on a 4-play, 7-yard drive following a turnover; the Roadrunners entered the game averaging 38.7 points per game.
The Trojans held eight of its 14 opponents scoreless in the fourth quarter and allowed an average of just 3.64 points in the final 15 minutes of the game. Additionally, Troy ranked eighth nationally in turnovers gained, 14th in sacks, eighth in scoring defense, 19th in total defense and 24th in rushing defense.
The Trojans posted a 12-2 record, won the Sun Belt Conference championship, ended the season on an 11-game winning streak – second only to National Champion Georgia – won the only bowl matchup pitting two conference champions by defeating UTSA in the Cure Bowl.
Troy finished the season ranked in a major poll for the first time in program history, checking in at No. 19 in the AP Top 25 and No. 20 in the USA Today/Coaches Poll. Additionally, Troy's appearance in the Coaches Poll and College Football Playoff Poll after its Sun Belt Championship Game victory were also firsts for the program.
Troy hosted and appeared in the Sun Belt Championship Game for the first time, reached the 12-win mark at the FBS level for the first time and hosted Army in front of a Veterans Memorial Stadium record crowd of more than 31,000 fans.
In 2020, Jibunor and Solomon earned All-Sun Belt honors and Troy posted one of the best defensive turnarounds in the country. The Trojans improved 63 spots nationally in scoring defense from 2019 to 2020 and 38 spots in total defense. Troy led the country with four defensive scores and the Trojans finished the season ranked as the nation’s No. 15 defense per PFF. Troy ended the season holding four of its final six opponents to 20 points or fewer.
In 2018, the Trojans ranked third nationally in turnovers gained, 10th in sacks and 16th in tackles for loss. Since the start of the 2016 season, Troy ranks 13 nationally forcing a sack, tackle for loss or turnover on 12.8 percent of its opponent snaps. Over that same time period, Troy ranks sixth nationally with 117 forced turnovers.
In addition to mentoring Martial to an All-America season, Hardmon was instrumental in developing another former walk-on as Hunter Reese was twice named to the All-Sun Belt First Team from the bandit position.
Hardmon coached Troy's defensive front in each of his first three season with the Trojans.
In 2017, Troy finished fourth nationally with a school record 112 tackles for loss (third with 8.62 per game), while also finishing seventh with 3.23 sacks per game. Reese would go on to earn First Team All-Sun Belt honors.
Troy led the nation in red zone defense in 2017 as the Trojans set a school record for wins (FBS), won the Sun Belt Championship and ended LSU’s 49-game non-conference home winning streak.
Additionally, Troy became just the sixth team in the previous eight seasons to not allow a play of 50 or more yards over the course of a season. The Trojans established a new school record as they held eight opponents under the 100-yard rushing mark. Troy finished the season having allowed just 18.5 points, 105.3 rushing yards and 336.5 total yards per game.
Troy’s defensive line continued its upward trend in Hardmon’s second season as the Trojans finished third in the Sun Belt in sacks and second in tackles for loss.
Dillard was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2016; Troy’s first player to win the award since DeMarcus Ware in 2004. Troy finished the 2016 season 10-3 with a victory in the Dollar General Bowl, the first top-25 ranking in school and Sun Belt Conference history and the best win-improvement in the country.
In his first season, Hardmon helped transform the Troy defense into one of the top units in the Sun Belt Conference and the country. The Trojans finished the 2015 season with the second-best turnaround nationally in opponent 3rd-down percentage, the fourth-best turnaround in yards per play allowed, the fifth-best improvement in tackles for loss per game and 16th-best improvement in total defense.
Bandit Tyler Roberts earned first team All-Sun Belt honors and finished sixth nationally with 1.55 tackles for loss per game, while ranking 41st nationally with 0.64 sacks per game.
Hardmon joined the Troy staff after two seasons as the defensive line coach at Idaho.
The native of Jacksonville, Fla., was a four-year letterwinner as a linebacker at Florida and was the team’s captain in 2002 as a senior. During that season, Hardmon was named second team All-SEC and helped lead the Gators to the Outback Bowl. Hardmon not only excelled on the field but also off it as well. He was a three-time Academic All-SEC honoree and won the Betty Capaldi GPA Award. He ranked second in the SEC and fourth in the nation in tackles and set a Florida single-season tackle record. Hardmon also won Florida’s coveted Ferguson Leadership award in 2002.
Hardmon spent the 2003-06 seasons on three NFL rosters: the Miami Dolphins (2003), the Seattle Seahawks (2004) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2005). He also played three seasons in NFL Europe, winning a World Bowl title in 2007 with Hamburg.
Hardmon returned to football in 2009 after two years in the private business sector. He worked as the co-owner of S & S Trucking in Jacksonville, Fla., while also establishing a very successful real estate career.
He spent three seasons (2009-11) as a graduate assistant at Illinois. In 2011, Hardmon helped tutor a defensive line that broke the school record with 41 sacks and ranked fourth nationally in tackles for loss and sixth nationally in sacks. Defensive end Whitney Mercilus had a breakout year, earning consensus first team All-America honors after leading the nation in sacks and forced fumbles. Mercilus was drafted in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans.
Hardmon helped guide a budding star in 2010 in defensive tackle Corey Liuget, who was a first-round pick of the San Diego Chargers in the 2011 NFL Draft. Liuget and Akeem Spence combined for 108 tackles, the most by a pair of Illini defensive tackles since 1993, and Phil Steele and Rivals.com named Spence a Freshman All-American.
Prior to his stint at Idaho, Hardmon served as the special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach at Charleston Southern.
Hardmon graduated from the University of Florida in 2003 with a degree in sociology and earned his master’s degree in organizational leadership from the University of Illinois in 2011.
He is married to the former Danerica Wright and the couple has two children, Bryson and Brynlee.
He arrived at Tulane after spending nine years at Troy University. A 2018 Broyles Award nominee and 2020 finalist for Football Scoop Linebackers Coach of the Year, Hardmon worked for five years coaching Troy’s outside linebackers and serving as the defensive run game coordinator following four years coaching the inside linebackers and bandits.
Nineteen of Hardmon's players earned All-Sun Belt honors in his nine seasons with the Trojans and in 2018 former walk-on linebacker Carlton Martial earned Freshman All-America honors from the Football Writers Association of America, The Athletic and USA Today. Javon Solomon and Richard Jibunor were the latest to join Hardmon’s tree of success earning All-Sun Belt honors in each of the last three seasons.
In 2023 both earned All-Sun Belt First Team honors. In 2022, Jibunor took home second team honors with Solomon landing on the third team. In 2021, Solomon earned Pro Football Network All-America honors and All-Sun Belt First Team distinction after he led the Sun Belt in tackles for loss (1.42 per game) and ranked 12th nationally in addition to ranking eighth nationally with 0.92 sacks per game. Jibunor was the only player in the country with at least eight sacks, 10 tackles for loss and two interceptions and became just the fourth player in Sun Belt history to reach eight sacks in the first seven games of the season.
In 2023 the program set the school and the Sun Belt single-season record with 47 sacks, and the Trojans ranked in the top 15 nationally in sacks (3rd), scoring defense (10th), rushing defense (12th) and total defense (14th). The program had a streak of 10 consecutive victories including a 48-23 win over Appalachian State in the 2023 Sun Belt Championship Game.
Troy held eight of its 14 opponents to fewer than 300 yards of total offense on the season, while Solomon and Jibunor became just the second Troy duo to record nine or more sacks in the same season; Solomon ranked third in the country and led the Sun Belt with a Troy single-season record 16 sacks. He was drafted in the fifth round by the Buffalo Bills during 2024 NFL Draft.
Also in 2023 the Trojans handed Army its first shutout at home in 20 years and first overall shutout in nine seasons, and Troy defeated in-state rival South Alabama for a sixth straight season.
In 2023, Troy allowed just 106.6 yards per game on the ground, the fewest by a Trojan squad since 2004 and the sixth lowest in program history, while Troy’s 308.1 yards per game allowed per game was its fewest since 2002 and the sixth-fewest in Sun Belt history.
In 2022, Troy held all 14 of its opponents to under their season average in scoring, including three of the top 25 scoring teams in the country – UTSA, Western Kentucky and App State. The Trojans limited UTSA to just 10 offensive points in the Cure Bowl, with three of those 10 points coming on a 4-play, 7-yard drive following a turnover; the Roadrunners entered the game averaging 38.7 points per game.
The Trojans held eight of its 14 opponents scoreless in the fourth quarter and allowed an average of just 3.64 points in the final 15 minutes of the game. Additionally, Troy ranked eighth nationally in turnovers gained, 14th in sacks, eighth in scoring defense, 19th in total defense and 24th in rushing defense.
The Trojans posted a 12-2 record, won the Sun Belt Conference championship, ended the season on an 11-game winning streak – second only to National Champion Georgia – won the only bowl matchup pitting two conference champions by defeating UTSA in the Cure Bowl.
Troy finished the season ranked in a major poll for the first time in program history, checking in at No. 19 in the AP Top 25 and No. 20 in the USA Today/Coaches Poll. Additionally, Troy's appearance in the Coaches Poll and College Football Playoff Poll after its Sun Belt Championship Game victory were also firsts for the program.
Troy hosted and appeared in the Sun Belt Championship Game for the first time, reached the 12-win mark at the FBS level for the first time and hosted Army in front of a Veterans Memorial Stadium record crowd of more than 31,000 fans.
In 2020, Jibunor and Solomon earned All-Sun Belt honors and Troy posted one of the best defensive turnarounds in the country. The Trojans improved 63 spots nationally in scoring defense from 2019 to 2020 and 38 spots in total defense. Troy led the country with four defensive scores and the Trojans finished the season ranked as the nation’s No. 15 defense per PFF. Troy ended the season holding four of its final six opponents to 20 points or fewer.
In 2018, the Trojans ranked third nationally in turnovers gained, 10th in sacks and 16th in tackles for loss. Since the start of the 2016 season, Troy ranks 13 nationally forcing a sack, tackle for loss or turnover on 12.8 percent of its opponent snaps. Over that same time period, Troy ranks sixth nationally with 117 forced turnovers.
In addition to mentoring Martial to an All-America season, Hardmon was instrumental in developing another former walk-on as Hunter Reese was twice named to the All-Sun Belt First Team from the bandit position.
Hardmon coached Troy's defensive front in each of his first three season with the Trojans.
In 2017, Troy finished fourth nationally with a school record 112 tackles for loss (third with 8.62 per game), while also finishing seventh with 3.23 sacks per game. Reese would go on to earn First Team All-Sun Belt honors.
Troy led the nation in red zone defense in 2017 as the Trojans set a school record for wins (FBS), won the Sun Belt Championship and ended LSU’s 49-game non-conference home winning streak.
Additionally, Troy became just the sixth team in the previous eight seasons to not allow a play of 50 or more yards over the course of a season. The Trojans established a new school record as they held eight opponents under the 100-yard rushing mark. Troy finished the season having allowed just 18.5 points, 105.3 rushing yards and 336.5 total yards per game.
Troy’s defensive line continued its upward trend in Hardmon’s second season as the Trojans finished third in the Sun Belt in sacks and second in tackles for loss.
Dillard was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2016; Troy’s first player to win the award since DeMarcus Ware in 2004. Troy finished the 2016 season 10-3 with a victory in the Dollar General Bowl, the first top-25 ranking in school and Sun Belt Conference history and the best win-improvement in the country.
In his first season, Hardmon helped transform the Troy defense into one of the top units in the Sun Belt Conference and the country. The Trojans finished the 2015 season with the second-best turnaround nationally in opponent 3rd-down percentage, the fourth-best turnaround in yards per play allowed, the fifth-best improvement in tackles for loss per game and 16th-best improvement in total defense.
Bandit Tyler Roberts earned first team All-Sun Belt honors and finished sixth nationally with 1.55 tackles for loss per game, while ranking 41st nationally with 0.64 sacks per game.
Hardmon joined the Troy staff after two seasons as the defensive line coach at Idaho.
The native of Jacksonville, Fla., was a four-year letterwinner as a linebacker at Florida and was the team’s captain in 2002 as a senior. During that season, Hardmon was named second team All-SEC and helped lead the Gators to the Outback Bowl. Hardmon not only excelled on the field but also off it as well. He was a three-time Academic All-SEC honoree and won the Betty Capaldi GPA Award. He ranked second in the SEC and fourth in the nation in tackles and set a Florida single-season tackle record. Hardmon also won Florida’s coveted Ferguson Leadership award in 2002.
Hardmon spent the 2003-06 seasons on three NFL rosters: the Miami Dolphins (2003), the Seattle Seahawks (2004) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2005). He also played three seasons in NFL Europe, winning a World Bowl title in 2007 with Hamburg.
Hardmon returned to football in 2009 after two years in the private business sector. He worked as the co-owner of S & S Trucking in Jacksonville, Fla., while also establishing a very successful real estate career.
He spent three seasons (2009-11) as a graduate assistant at Illinois. In 2011, Hardmon helped tutor a defensive line that broke the school record with 41 sacks and ranked fourth nationally in tackles for loss and sixth nationally in sacks. Defensive end Whitney Mercilus had a breakout year, earning consensus first team All-America honors after leading the nation in sacks and forced fumbles. Mercilus was drafted in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans.
Hardmon helped guide a budding star in 2010 in defensive tackle Corey Liuget, who was a first-round pick of the San Diego Chargers in the 2011 NFL Draft. Liuget and Akeem Spence combined for 108 tackles, the most by a pair of Illini defensive tackles since 1993, and Phil Steele and Rivals.com named Spence a Freshman All-American.
Prior to his stint at Idaho, Hardmon served as the special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach at Charleston Southern.
Hardmon graduated from the University of Florida in 2003 with a degree in sociology and earned his master’s degree in organizational leadership from the University of Illinois in 2011.
He is married to the former Danerica Wright and the couple has two children, Bryson and Brynlee.
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