I think when VQ speaks on recruits, you can put a little weight in what they say. I think when VQ speaks on what the staff wants/likes/prioritizes etc, they're speculating. I'm of the opinion that VQ mods get all their info from talking to recruits and talking to rival mods covering other teams.
VQ - outside of Jeremy Pruitt press conferences - doesn't have any any any access to the staff.
Having said that, I think Price was just speculating on Hardy. Because it is a general thought that Hardy was a shoo-in Vol. Recently though he's picked up a lot of big time offers and he's wanting to enjoy the process so yeah the longer it goes on the worse off it'll be for UT. Just more time for Hardy to fall in love with another program like OSU and UGA.