| San Diego State Aztecs | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Running backs coach |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | (1970-02-01)February 1, 1970 (age 55) Lynwood, California, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Locke(Los Angeles, California) |
| College: | Colorado |
| NFL draft: | 1992: 9th round, 242nd pick |
| Career history | |
As a player: | |
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
As a coach: | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Darian Hagan (born February 1, 1970) is an Americancollege football coach, currently serving as therunning backs coach of theSan Diego State Aztecs. He is a former professionalfootball player in theCanadian Football League (CFL). He played college football as aquarterback for theColorado Buffaloes, earning national player of the year andAll-American honors in 1989. From 2005 to 2022, Hagan was an assistant coach for his alma mater, theUniversity of Colorado Boulder.
As anoptionquarterback at Colorado from1988 to1991, Hagan produced impressive offensive statistics operating coachBill McCartney's "I-Bone" offense. Due to veteran quarterbackSal Aunese being stricken with cancer, he took over the starting duties as a sophomore. When Aunese died, Hagan and the rest of the Buffaloes dedicated their season to their fallen comrade. In that1989 season, he burst on the college football scene, and became the sixth player in the history ofNCAADivision I-A to gain more than 1,000 yards passing and more than 1,000 yards rushing in the same season. He was the starting quarterback in1990 when Colorado won theNCAA Division I-A national football championship, and in 1989 to 1991 when Colorado was theBig Eight Conference champions. His record as quarterback for Colorado was 28–5–2 (20–0–1 in the Big Eight). InHeisman Trophy voting he was 5th in 1989 with 242 points, 17th in 1990 with 17 points and 20th in 1991 with 12 points.[1]
Hagan was inducted into theUniversity of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002. He is also considered by many alumni as the best football player in CU history. He finished his career with 3,801 passing yards and 2,007 rushing yards.
After college, Hagan was drafted by theSan Francisco 49ers in the ninth round of the1992 NFL draft, but never played for the team.[2] He played five years in theCanadian Football League for three teams: theToronto Argonauts (1993–94), theLas Vegas Posse (1994), and theEdmonton Eskimos (1995–96). He mostly played as a defensive back and on special teams.
Before his last season, he graduated from Colorado with abachelor's degree insociology. When his professional football career ended, Hagan turned to jobs in marketing and then in coaching. He became the defensive technical intern in 2004 for Colorado. The following year, he was hired byGary Barnett as an offensive assistant coach. In 2006, he was one of only two assistant coaches kept by new head coachDan Hawkins as the running backs assistant coach where he coached through the 2022 season.
On January 27, 2023, following the hiring ofDeion Sanders as Colorado's new head football coach, Sanders announced he would be retaining Hagan, giving him the new title "Executive Director, Community Engagement & Outreach/Football Ambassador"[3][4] Hagan, along with Director of Player PersonnelChandler Dorrell, were the only two members retained by Sanders from Colorado's 2022 staff.[5][6]
On December 5, 2023, Hagan announced he would be accepting the role of running backs coach atSan Diego State University,[7] following new head coachSean Lewis, who had previously served at Colorado's offensive coordinator.