{"id":715871,"date":"2026-06-20T17:20:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T17:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/715871\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T17:20:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T17:20:19","slug":"cu-buffs-football-legend-darian-hagan-talks-deion-sanders-fernando-lovo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/715871\/","title":{"rendered":"CU Buffs football legend Darian Hagan talks Deion Sanders, Fernando Lovo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Darian Hagan, no shock, timed his pitch to Fernando Lovo perfectly.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if I reached out to him (first), or he reached out to me,\u201d the legendary former CU Buffs quarterback<\/a> recalled to me by phone a few days ago. \u201cI know (when) I reached out to him, he asked me if was in town. I said, \u2018Yes, I\u2019ll come up there.’\u201d<\/p>\n

This was late March or early April. The new Buffs athletic director and CU icon spoke for about 45 minutes on campus. Lovo laid out his vision<\/a> for CU. They talked about Hagan\u2019s legacy in Boulder, on and off the field.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt went well,\u201d Hagan said. \u201cIt was an opportunity to go up there and meet the new guy. He was awesome. It was good.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was cathartic, too, at least on Hagan\u2019s end. At 56, CU\u2019s national championship QB<\/a> still takes on life with a forward lean, still loves kids, still loves teaching. Darian\u2019s heading into his third season as running backs coach at San Diego State, where former CU offensive coordinator Sean Lewis went 9-4 last fall with the Aztecs.<\/p>\n

\"ColoradoColorado Buffaloes running backs coach Darian Hagan at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado on Friday. June 19, 2020. (Photo by Hyoung Chang\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

But for a couple years now, Hagan hasn\u2019t exactly been sure where he stood with his alma mater. After two decades with CU football, the Buffs\u2019 great wasn\u2019t retained on the staff by new coach Deion Sanders. The university transitioned him to a non-coaching role when Coach Prime was hired in December 2022. Hagan had felt a little shut out when Sanders\u2019 inner circle took charge and left CU to join Lewis\u2019 staff in December 2023.<\/p>\n

When the Buffs retired quarterback Shedeur Sanders\u2019 No. 2 jersey in the spring of 2025, an honor that had bypassed great CU signal-callers such as Hagan and Kordell Stewart, it opened up old wounds again. So Lovo welcoming Hagan back to campus, a year later, Hagan felt, was a refreshing gesture.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a great dude,\u201d the ex-Buffs QB said of the new Buffs administrator. \u201cHe made me feel good about CU.\u201d<\/p>\n

And when it comes to mending fences, that\u2019s as good a start as any.<\/p>\n

\u2018There shouldn\u2019t be this contentious relationship between Buffs fans\u2019<\/p>\n

As Coach Prime heads into his fourth season in Boulder, CU football alumni remain divided. Not in their love for the Buffs. Not in their appreciation for what Sanders has done to elevate a program into the national conversation after Pac-12 irrelevance for more than a decade threatened to bury it.<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a perception thing. Another CU great, Chad Brown, explained it best.<\/a> With the exception of a statue unveiling for former Buffs football coach Bill McCartney last year, a ceremony that wasn\u2019t open to the public,<\/a> many Buffs football alums feel as if CU athletics\u2019 official position is that football at Folsom Field didn\u2019t exist prior to Coach Prime. Which is funny, given that the Buffs won eight or more games 13 times from 1985-2005, a feat the current coaching staff has accomplished to date just once.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of these new Buffs fans act as if CU didn\u2019t play football before Coach Prime showed up,\u201d said Brown, the longtime football analyst<\/a> who was a second-team All-American linebacker at CU in 1992, when the Buffs went 9-2-1.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd (yes), maybe CU wasn\u2019t on the radar. But obviously, we\u2019ve won national championships. We were among the top 15 (programs) in wins, all-time \u2026 and unfortunately, and with social media, as is often the case, things often turn ugly. So I\u2019d love to see (Lovo) find a way to bring everybody together.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we\u2019re all Buffs fans. There shouldn\u2019t be this contentious relationship between Buffs fans. And if I\u2019ve got criticisms of Coach Prime\u2019s program now, not only am I told I\u2019m a terrible Buffs fan \u2026 but also, I\u2019m asked, \u2018What did I do for the program for the last 20 years?\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2018Wow. Let me see. I\u2019ve funded a scholarship. I\u2019ve gone and I\u2019ve talked to the team. I\u2019ve done private coaching with players.\u2019 The list is long. So the massive disconnect (on social media), I think, is unfortunately turning a lot of older fans off and away from the program. And that\u2019s the exact opposite of what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision to retire 2024 Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter\u2019s jersey before he had graduated, or even begun his NFL career, raised the eyebrows for several ex-CU football players from the \u201980s, \u201990s and \u201900s. The jersey retirement for the program\u2019s first Heisman winner, Rashaan Salaam, had taken years to come to fruition before its unveiling in 2017,<\/a> not long after Salaam took his own life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt certainly didn\u2019t help it at all,\u201d Brown said. \u201cNot only from an alumni standpoint, but (with) people within the building. If you can\u2019t get a consensus within the building, that lets you know that it\u2019s not being handled right. I don\u2019t think anybody had any issue with a Heisman winner (Hunter) getting his number retired. But again, how it was handled, the timing of it, the pushing of it out there, even within (CU circles) over there, was not unanimous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hagan, who was 28-5-2 as a Buffs starter and quarterbacked CU to a national runner-up spot in \u201989 and to the program\u2019s last national title in \u201990, admitted to feeling hurt last year with the Hunter\/Shedeur number retirements.<\/p>\n

\u201cAm I bitter or (anything) that my jersey\u2019s not been retired?\u201d Hagan reflected. \u201cNo. I\u2019m not bitter at all. It would have been a nice gesture, but that doesn\u2019t define who I am as a person. But, definitely, it would be awesome to walk in that stadium and see my name on a wall with other retired numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ColoradoColorado wide receiver Darrin Chiaverini (9) brings in a Mike Maschetti pass while covered by Kansas safety Michael Allen (27) during the second quarter Saturday, Oct. 24, 1998, in Lawrence, Kan. (AP Photo\/Orlin Wagner)<\/p>\n

How can Lovo repair Buffs bridges that were recently burned? Former CU wide receiver and offensive coordinator says the Buffs A.D. would be wise to include more \u201980s and \u201990s football alumni in decisions such as retiring numbers going forward. And to more legacy tributes beyond a statue that\u2019s tucked into one quiet corner of a practice field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would tell (Lovo), it\u2019s not about damage control at this point,\u201d said Chiaverini, who posted a 9-3 record in his second season as the head coach at Northeastern (Okla.) State last fall<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s about doing right by the guys who\u2019ve earned the right to be up there.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, there are deserving players like (Eric) Bienemy and (Alfred) Williams and Hagan \u2014 the list goes on and on. Countless All-Americans that were on 10-win and 11-win teams that, as an alum of CU, they need to (do it) the right way. Alums should be involved in this conversation. They should be included in this conversation. Nothing against Travis or Shedeur. They\u2019re both great players in CU history. I\u2019m a fan of them both. And I\u2019m actually a fan of Deion. My thing is \u2026 I think there\u2019s got to be some transparency in the voting process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018You can\u2019t erase that history\u2019<\/p>\n

Hagan said he was told that former Buffs greats had to be All-Americans or national award winners. \u00a0That they had to wait a decade to be recognized.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s still waiting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes me feel good is, a lot of people say, \u2018Man, I wish they would do the right thing and retire my number,’\u201d Hagan laughed. \u201cPeople tell me that all the time, but I\u2019m not bringing up the subject.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m definitely for a committee to get these things right. (And) not just for myself \u2014 for Eric Bienemy, Alfred Williams, Kanavis McGhee, Kordell Stewart. Somehow, they\u2019ve got to get it right. And do it the right way. I think that would appease a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Buffs want more outreach, not less. Hagan walked away from his meeting with Lovo feeling that the new caretaker of CU athletics gets it, at least. And that meant a lot, given the previous 20 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t speak for everyone. I can speak for myself,\u201d Hagan said. \u201cI\u2019m a little biased. But at the same time, that\u2019s my alma mater, I love my alma mater, I want to see them do well.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think what (Lovo) needs to do is galvanize some things to make the guys (who played at CU) feel special. Make them feel like what we did is still relevant. We accomplished some great things there, that I think, at some point, need to be recognized and (revisited) again. Because the things that we accomplished, you can\u2019t erase that history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver\u2019s teams.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Darian Hagan, no shock, timed his pitch to Fernando Lovo perfectly. \u201cI don\u2019t know if I reached out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":715872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[308529,77097,18881,2662,75613,75614,1601,308530,64728,399,24499,2558,398,103356,396,397,349,12819,308531,8223,8394,108,99,362,14386],"class_list":["post-715871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-alfred-williams","tag-bill-mccartney","tag-boulder","tag-college-sports","tag-cu-buffs","tag-cu-buffs-football","tag-deion-sanders","tag-fernando-lovo","tag-folsom-field","tag-football","tag-heisman-trophy","tag-latest-headlines","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-championship","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-nfl","tag-pac-12","tag-rashaan-salaam","tag-sean-keeler","tag-shedeur-sanders","tag-social-media","tag-sports","tag-sports-columnists","tag-travis-hunter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/715872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}