Former Colorado star quarterback Darian Hagan spoke publicly for the first time following Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter’s jersey retirements, and he was not pleased.
Hagan, who led Colorado to its 1990 national championship, joins the list of CU legends to voice their opinions against the recent jersey retirements.
The ex-Colorado quarterback and coach sat down with USA TODAY Sports to give his take on the sudden and, by many accounts, “rushed” retirements.
“We were always told there was a waiting period,” said Hagan, who is currently the running backs coach at San Diego State. “There was a policy in place. It had to be voted upon. I was never told that it was at the discretion of the athletic director or the head coach. That was shocking news to me. It was hard to stomach.”
USA TODAY’s Brent Schrotenboer dug into Colorado’s previous policy for number retirements. He found that the university required graduation, and “the player had to be nominated for the honor and then voted on by an athletic department committee.”
Hagan’s number was never retired and is perhaps the most deserving candidate not to have the honor. Many former Colorado players, including Hagan, cite the “lack of defined criteria for retiring a player’s jersey number” as a main reason why they are so outspoken.
Hagan’s former teammate, Michael Jones, faults the school for not following a process for retiring jerseys, whether that involves a waiting period, specific criteria, or honoring players in a particular order.
Jones made it clear that he is not hating on Sanders or Hunter as CU players, but rather what is deserving of such a high honor.
“This is no Shedeur hate,” Jones said. “I don’t care how many stats you got. It’s all about the wins.”
Hagan tried to call Colorado athletic director Rick George about the decision, but was unable to get…
Source link : https://coloradobuffaloeswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/buffaloes/football/2025/04/30/shedeur-sanders-travis-hunter-colorado-jersey-retirement-darian-hagan/83372933007/
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Publish date : 2025-04-30 22:17:00
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