Legendary Colorado QB Darian Hagan has 'no regrets' after leaving Deion Sanders-led Buffs

Former Colorado star quarterback Darian Hagan was on staff with the Buffaloes for nearly 20 years in various roles, before leaving to work as the running backs coach at San Diego State this offseason.

Hagan is now working under Sean Lewis, who was the Colorado offensive coordinator for much of last year, before being demoted by Deion Sanders and then hired as the SDSU head coach.

Hagan recently told the Denver Post that there is plenty about Colorado and Boulder that he misses, but he has no regrets about leaving and taking the job at San Diego State. Hagan was the running backs coach at Colorado from 2016-22, but when Deion Sanders was hired as the head coach, he moved into an off-field community engagement role instead.

“I was taking the job for all the right reasons. And I still believe I took the job for the right reasons,” Darian Hagan told the Denver Post. “The reasons were, for me, to get to the field and do what I do — and that’s to coach and (help) young men to get to their best. … I’m just happy that I’m in a place where I can be coaching and impacting men.”

Hagan told the Denver Post that he and Sanders were never particularly close, although they were “cordial” when they saw each other.

Hagan loves Colorado, but he also loves coaching college football, not working in an off-field role.

“I have no regrets. It is weird. But at the same time, if you want to grow in this profession, you can’t stay in the same place when it’s time to move and adapt to life and its changes,” Hagan said.

“Deion and I were in the same building. We exchanged pleasantries a few times. Other than that, if he was walking somewhere and I was walking somewhere, I don’t think either one of us went out of our way to present things to each other. When we were around each other, it was always professional and cordial.”

Darian Hagan now lives in a one-bedroom apartment near the beach, he told the Denver Post, while his family is still in Boulder.

He insists that he did not leave Colorado on bad terms, he just felt like it was time to make a change.

“You’ve got to realize that the people that were there prior to Deion, I was with them for 20 years,” Hagan said. “Everyone there I love and respect and get along with.”