Colorado legend Darian Hagan has a new role with the football program.
On Friday, CU officially announced several staff positions, including the new duties for Hagan, who will be the executive director of community engagement and outreach and a football ambassador. Hagan will also work as an analyst with the running backs.
Hagan quarterbacked CU to its only national title in 1990 and is a member of the CU Athletics Hall of Fame. He has spent the past 18 years working on the football staff, mostly as a coach.
An offensive assistant under former head coach Gary Barnett in 2005, Hagan coached the Buffs’ running backs from 2006-10 under Dan Hawkins. He then moved into the director of player personnel role from 2011-12 under Jon Embree and was the director of player development from 2013-15 under Mike MacIntyre.
In 2016, MacIntyre added Hagan to the coaching staff to mentor running backs. Hagan has coached the running backs the past seven seasons, for MacIntyre, Mel Tucker and then Karl Dorrell.
New CU head coach Deion Sanders has revamped the coaching staff this season, including hiring Gary “Flea” Harrell as running backs coach. That led to Hagan taking a new role. Hagan is the only on-field assistant from the previous staff still with CU.
Other staff positions announced Friday include:
Patrick Hill, defensive tackles coach: Hill’s hire, reported earlier this month, completes the on-field assistant staff. The other nine assistants were all announced in December. Hill spent this past season as a defensive analyst at LSU. A graduate of Concordia-Chicago, Hill began his coaching career at his alma mater, from 2008-12. He has also coached at Adrian College, Angelo State, Concordia-Ann Arbor, West Virginia State, James Madison, Ferrum College, Morehead State, Eastern Michigan, Angelo State, Central Oklahoma, Upper Iowa and Birmingham-Southern.
Maurice Sims, strength and conditioning coordinator: He has been on the job since last month. He was the strength and conditioning coordinator at Jackson State last year and spent the previous two years (2020-21) as the associate director of strength and conditioning at Georgia. He’s also worked at North Carolina, Army, Indiana, North Carolina A&T, Bethune-Cookman and Tennessee.
Strength and conditioning assistants: Four assistants were announced, including Tersoo Uhaa, the assistant head coach of strength and conditioning. He spent the past three years in the same role for two-time national champion Georgia. Before that, he worked with the Texas Tech men’s basketball team. Other strength and conditioning assistants are Stephen Houston, Brandon Reyes and Rendrick Taylor. Houston was an assistant at Purdue the past two seasons. Reyes spent last season at Purdue and the previous two years at Army. Taylor was at Clark Atlanta University this past year and also worked at North Carolina State and Clemson, his alma mater.
Quality control: Vincent Dancy, Michael Pollock and Trevor Reilly have all been hired as quality control analysts. All three hires have previously been reported and all three have been working for the Buffs since last month. Dancy, the head coach at Mississippi Valley State the last five years, will work with the defense. Pollock, who spent last season as Sanders’ special assistant at Jackson State, will work with the offense. And, Reilly, a graduate assistant at Jackson State last year, will work with CU’s special teams. Reilly played against CU during his career at Utah before being selected in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL Draft and spending five years in the NFL.
Miscellaneous: Several other directors and department heads were also named, including Rodney Forsett (chief of staff), David Kelly (general manager), Reggie Calhoun (director of football operations), Craig Campanozzi (director of sports video), James Chaney (director of player development), Darius Darden-Box (director of recruiting), and Corey Phillips (director of player personnel).
Notable
Last week, former CU defensive line coach and interim defensive coordinator Gerald Chatman was hired as an analyst at LSU, essentially switching spots with Hill. Chatman spent the 2021 season as an analyst at LSU before joining the Buffs a year ago. … Several of CU’s assistants from last year have found new jobs, including tight ends coach Clay Patterson (same role at South Florida) and offensive line coach Kyle DeVan (same role at Charlotte). Three of CU’s coaches from last year are now working with the USFL’s Houston Gamblers, per the USFL Network: Chris Wilson (defensive coordinator), Brett Maxie (defensive backs) and Jeff Smart (linebackers/quality control).
