Mark Hagen joins Texas football staff as associate head coach for defense, defensive line coach

By Steve Lansdale

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas football head coach Tom Herman bolstered his staff Thursday with the announcement that he has hired Mark Hagen as associate head coach for defense and defensive line coach.

“Mark came really highly recommended, is a coach Chris Ash has been very familiar with and impressed by, and is someone we all had great visits with during the interview process,” Herman said. “He loves football and coaching, really connected with everyone and has a tremendous reputation as a coach, recruiter and as an outstanding person. He has strong ties to our state, as well, and when you look at the places he’s been, they’ve had great success developing defensive linemen and have had really productive units. We’re very excited about what he’ll bring to our staff, thrilled to have him onboard and looking forward to getting him to Austin.”

Hagen said [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]he is every bit as excited to join the UT coaching staff as Herman is to welcome him aboard.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to come work with Coach Herman and the UT staff,” Hagen said. “Obviously Texas football has great tradition and history, and I’m excited to be a part of it. When you think of college football, Texas is going to be in the conversation of top programs in the history of the game. Coach Herman has done a great job the past few years, there’s a lot of great talent on the roster, and I know he’s assembled an outstanding staff.”

A veteran coach with 28 years of experience, including 24 in either the Southeastern Conference or the Big Ten, Hagen arrives in Austin after spending the last four years at Indiana in his third coaching stint at his alma mater, where he served as special teams coordinator and defensive tackles coach in 2011 and added the role of recruiting coordinator for the Hoosiers in 2012. Most recently was co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach for the last two seasons. He has been to 13 bowl games as a coach or staff member, has coached 25 players who reached the National Football League and has a reputation as a strong recruiter.

“I’ve been able to recruit the state of Texas, and there’s no greater state for recruiting than Texas high school football,” Hagen said. “You learn really quickly the tradition and pageantry and just the love of the game as you go around the state, so I can’t wait to reconnect with those prior relationships. Recruiting is the lifeblood of any program and is going to be very important for Texas football to continue on the path it’s on, and continue on that for years to come. I’m really excited about getting back there, working with the staff and diving into spring practice.”

In 2019, Indiana ranked 36^th in the nation in total defense, surrendering an average of 352.2 yards per game, and 45^th in scoring defense (24.4 points per game).

Hagen also has coached at Texas A&M, Purdue and Northern Illinois.

As a player, he was a four-year letter-winner at IU, a two-time second-team All-Big Ten honoree, a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, a 1992 Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient and team captain.
[/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] [habeabk] [/s2If]