Here is an in-depth analysis about Mark Hagen from @Taylor Lehman of TheHoosier.com
"Mark Hagen is certainly not a flashy hire, but he’s consistently been building a line at Indiana that seemed to be near its tipping point before his impending departure.
"When he came to Indiana in 2016, Tom allen’s first season as Indiana’s defensive coordinator, he took over a line that had nearly zero talent (Ralph Green, Greg Gooch, Nate Hoff, names you’ll never hear again) and led them to the Big Ten top-five in sacks and TFLs. That season, Indiana made the biggest defensive statistical turnaround in the country. He did the same thing in 2017, with a 2016 class that he didn’t recruit. Now, Jerome Johnson (low-tier three-star 2016 DT) is looking at a potential All-Big Ten season in 2020.
"2017 represented a gap for Hagen’s recruits. Fluky personal things happened with his top two guys and they’re no longer playing football, but he converted TE Michael Ziemba into a DE, and he’s a leader in that group now. But this class hurt what Hagen was trying to build a bit. Some guys between 2017, 2018 and 2019 are still developing, but 2018 and 2019 are the two best classes in program history.
"2018 DE James Head was an immediate plug-and-play, but 2019 is where Hagen began to break through. Beau Robbins is one of the best DL prospects Indiana has ever brought in and is expected to be foundational to the future here. Demarcus Elliott was one of the worst JUCO DTs on the market, but according to PFF, he was one of the most efficient pass rushers in the conference this year. Sio Nofoagatoto'a came on really strong at the end of the year as a freshman. CJ Person is promising as well.
"Rodney McGraw, a DE in Northwest Indiana, recently committed to Indiana over Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Penn State and Notre Dame. I’ve not only never seen that happen at Indiana before, but I’ve never seen that quality of a player commit to Indiana so early. Read about that commitment here: https://indiana.rivals.com/news/what-rodney-mcgraw-s-commitment-means-to-indiana
"The point is that you can’t be successful at Indiana without knowing how to develop players. When working in the pool of high school recruits that exist in Indiana, you need to be a good recruiter as well, because Indiana kids alone won’t get you to bowl games.
"Two blemishes on Hagen are the only two I can think of: 1.) He couldn’t pull in top targets at DE in 2020. Deontae Craig went to Iowa, and they tried as hard as they could to get him, but I think he just wanted to leave the state. Jason Harris was someone they got involved with a little later, and anyone as far away as Arizona is going to be a tough get unless you’re on them early for Indiana. Any recruiter at Indiana is going to have the program’s history working against him. So they tend to get the lesser-known kids and develop them. 2.) IU never really had an edge rush in Hagen’s time here. In some ways, that worked great because pressuring young QBs up the middle is so crucial, but also, when they really needed a play to be made on defense, the DE spot wasn’t going to make it. I think that kind of hurt them sometimes.
"Personally, I believe Hagen to be one of the reasons for Indiana’s rise here recently. For those who don’t know, Indiana is as good as it’s ever been. They were two plays away from their first ever 10-win season, and they hadn’t recorded eight wins since 1993. I’ve also never seen a defensive line grow mid-season like the 2019 line did. Hagen did a hell of a job in Bloomington, for the tools he had at his disposal."
Taylor Lehman's Twitter account: https://twitter.com/TaylorRLehman
"Mark Hagen is certainly not a flashy hire, but he’s consistently been building a line at Indiana that seemed to be near its tipping point before his impending departure.
"When he came to Indiana in 2016, Tom allen’s first season as Indiana’s defensive coordinator, he took over a line that had nearly zero talent (Ralph Green, Greg Gooch, Nate Hoff, names you’ll never hear again) and led them to the Big Ten top-five in sacks and TFLs. That season, Indiana made the biggest defensive statistical turnaround in the country. He did the same thing in 2017, with a 2016 class that he didn’t recruit. Now, Jerome Johnson (low-tier three-star 2016 DT) is looking at a potential All-Big Ten season in 2020.
"2017 represented a gap for Hagen’s recruits. Fluky personal things happened with his top two guys and they’re no longer playing football, but he converted TE Michael Ziemba into a DE, and he’s a leader in that group now. But this class hurt what Hagen was trying to build a bit. Some guys between 2017, 2018 and 2019 are still developing, but 2018 and 2019 are the two best classes in program history.
"2018 DE James Head was an immediate plug-and-play, but 2019 is where Hagen began to break through. Beau Robbins is one of the best DL prospects Indiana has ever brought in and is expected to be foundational to the future here. Demarcus Elliott was one of the worst JUCO DTs on the market, but according to PFF, he was one of the most efficient pass rushers in the conference this year. Sio Nofoagatoto'a came on really strong at the end of the year as a freshman. CJ Person is promising as well.
"Rodney McGraw, a DE in Northwest Indiana, recently committed to Indiana over Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Penn State and Notre Dame. I’ve not only never seen that happen at Indiana before, but I’ve never seen that quality of a player commit to Indiana so early. Read about that commitment here: https://indiana.rivals.com/news/what-rodney-mcgraw-s-commitment-means-to-indiana
"The point is that you can’t be successful at Indiana without knowing how to develop players. When working in the pool of high school recruits that exist in Indiana, you need to be a good recruiter as well, because Indiana kids alone won’t get you to bowl games.
"Two blemishes on Hagen are the only two I can think of: 1.) He couldn’t pull in top targets at DE in 2020. Deontae Craig went to Iowa, and they tried as hard as they could to get him, but I think he just wanted to leave the state. Jason Harris was someone they got involved with a little later, and anyone as far away as Arizona is going to be a tough get unless you’re on them early for Indiana. Any recruiter at Indiana is going to have the program’s history working against him. So they tend to get the lesser-known kids and develop them. 2.) IU never really had an edge rush in Hagen’s time here. In some ways, that worked great because pressuring young QBs up the middle is so crucial, but also, when they really needed a play to be made on defense, the DE spot wasn’t going to make it. I think that kind of hurt them sometimes.
"Personally, I believe Hagen to be one of the reasons for Indiana’s rise here recently. For those who don’t know, Indiana is as good as it’s ever been. They were two plays away from their first ever 10-win season, and they hadn’t recorded eight wins since 1993. I’ve also never seen a defensive line grow mid-season like the 2019 line did. Hagen did a hell of a job in Bloomington, for the tools he had at his disposal."
Taylor Lehman's Twitter account: https://twitter.com/TaylorRLehman
