James Franklin evaluates decision to hire new wide receiver coach

Penn State head coach James Franklin addressed the hiring of new wide receivers coach Marques Hagans to the media for the first time since the hiring earlier this week. He had nothing but great things to say about the new offensive assistant, and is looking forward to working alongside him over the coming seasons.

“Our excitement for Marques Hagans is really high. If you look at his resumé, he’s got a really good resumé,” Franklin said. “Whether it’s NFL head coaches, if you talk to college head coaches, if you talk to search firms and things like that, [Hagans is] a guy that played quarterback at a high level for really good coaches in a complicated West Coast system, played wide receiver and quarterback in college, played five years at wide receiver in the NFL. 

“… We talked to a good number of [candidates], and it just became obvious that this was the guy that we needed to bring into our room and kind of within our family, and so far, so good. It’s been really good having him around.”

Hagans spent the last 11 years at Virginia, which is his alma mater. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 2011 and served as the wide receivers coach since 2013 before moving on to Penn State last month. He will be the fifth wide receivers coach to work under Franklin in Happy Valley.

As a football player, Hagans played quarterback at Virginia and was a four-year letterwinner from 2002 through 2005. He currently ranks No. 10 all-time in passing for the Cavaliers with 4,877 career passing yards. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. He spent four years bouncing around the league before beginning his coaching career in 2011.

Hagans will be forced to find replacements for the production of Parker Washington and Mitchell Tinsley, Penn State’s two leading pass-catchers last season. He’ll inherit a rebuilding receivers room, but Franklin is confident Hagans is the right man for the job.