Mr. Hardwick, a Redwood P.E. teacher, played multiple sports while attending Redwood High School, and decided years later to return and teach future athletes.
By: Alex Neal
In high school, you have the option to play sports. You can choose Baseball, Soccer, Track and Field, Swim, or any other sport you’re interested in.
Starting from freshman year of high school, Darryl Hardwick, ’87, played multiple sports which led to him becoming “The Most Athletic Student” in 1987. Mr. Hardwick said, “So I played all four years of baseball here at Redwood.” He also said, “Football, I played four years,” and “Three years in the basketball program.”
Most Athletic male student in 1987
Photo from the 1987 yearbook
He was on JV Baseball and JV Football for two years, then moved up to Varsity in both sports during his junior year.
He didn’t play basketball in his senior year because of a hip injury he sustained from football.
Mr. Hardwick said, “One thing I remember the best about playing football was I set the state record for yards receiving my senior year, and I had a full-ride scholarship to Stanford.”
Stan Greene, ’87, Mr. Hardwick’s quarterback, became the record holder for single-season passing yards in the Central Section in 1986 with 2,681.
Mr. Hardwick himself became the record holder of the all-time single-season receiving yards with 1,492 in the 1986 season.
He was talented in the sport he played, but forgot to mention an important detail to Stanford. He said, “I forgot to say I got drafted by the Kansas City Royals my senior year of baseball, so I signed with them instead of going on to play football at Stanford.”
Mr. Hardwick was drafted with the 919th overall pick in the 36th round of the 1987 MLB draft.
after breaking a record at Cowhide
Photo from the 1987 yearbook
He went on to play baseball with the Kansas City Royals Rookie team in the Gulf Coast League for a year. He batted a .328 average with a .769 OPS across 70 plate appearances.
His career as a baseball player was cut short because of the injury he got from football. He said, “So I played one year with the Kansas City Royals and my career was cut short because of the hip injury that I had.”
Even though his career as a baseball player was cut short he still enjoyed his time playing. He said, “I got my first paycheck from playing baseball and I thought I was in heaven because I was like, ‘oh my gosh, I’m playing a sport and I’m getting paid to play. This is wonderful.’ It was a great experience.”
Mr. Hardwick thought about the good times he had while playing baseball instead of the negatives. He said talking about his past in baseball was like “walking down memory lane.”
While he was in high school, he played centerfield then switched positions when he got to the minor leagues. He said, “When I got to the minor leagues, I actually moved to left field because the ballparks at the major league level were a lot bigger.” He added, “The field was so big, and it was a lot of ground to cover for an outfielder.”
He had to get used to playing in bigger areas than he was used to, but that didn’t bother him.
He enjoyed playing on the team with the other players. “I absolutely loved it. It was a great experience and I played with some really good players,” he said.
Photo Gigantea
After his baseball career, he started to decide what he wanted to do. He said, “I had a lot of fond memories of being here as a student-athlete, and I felt like I wanted to be a teacher and a coach and be part of those same experiences with young people growing up.”
He wanted to be the coach that he had when playing. He wanted to be involved in the lives of future athletes and see them grow up to be great.
This is why he decided to be a P.E. teacher.
He said, “This is my 25th year of being a P.E. teacher at Redwood and I’ve been teaching for 32 overall.”
He taught elementary and junior high P.E. classes for 7 years before he came to Redwood.
He said, “I taught elementary and junior high, so to be able to come to Redwood and be part of this great school is the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Alex Neal
Alex Neal '25 is a first-year Journalism writer at Redwood High School. They write in the Clubs & Lifestyle and Sports section.
Tags: Baseball, basketball, football, high school teachers, rangers, Redwood, redwood coaches, redwood football, redwood gigantea, redwood journalism, redwood sports, rhs, rhs coaches, rhs football, visalia ca
I remember Mr Hardwick, because I graduated in 1985… so Awesome to see him continue to have an impact at Redwood!