When I caught up Mark Hagen last week, I thought I might lead our conversation off with a zinger about a game that was played nearly 40 years ago that, given he has seen so much football since, might make him ask me about some of the particulars from my research. It took one question and immediately I knew I was about to talk to someone who knows and loves and remembers the game of football as well, if not better, than I do. These are rare conversations.
If Coach Mark Hagen is not blowing a whistle right now or running a defensive drill, I’d say he is looking at game tape of the Louisville Cardinals’ first opponent of the 2025 football season. That would be the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. Mark Hagen is the Co-Defensive Coordinator of the Louisville Cardinals. He followed Head Coach Jeff Brohm from Purdue back to Brohm’s hometown team. Cards fans will be happy this year. They are in for a great season. If they stay healthy, look out.
What question did I ask Mark Hagen to open our interview? Just how tired he was after the 1986 Indiana High School Athletic Association Class 5A Championship game between Hagen’s Carmel Greyhounds against the Fort Wayne Snider Panthers? The Panthers were led by NFL running back Vaughn Dunbar, according to my notes Dunbar had quite the night. Mark Hagen remembered it well.
“Vaugh was a great back. That season our defense was stout. He had 250 and some change and 96 of it was on one run when they were back up. We were fortunate to get that game into overtime and get the “W” (Carmel won 20-17) but he almost beat us single-handedly that day.” Just like my notes told me.
Coming out of high school Mark took recruiting trips to Arizona State, Wisconsin, Purdue, and Indiana. Indiana Head Coach Bill Mallory won him over. “Coach Mallory had a vision for his program. Being around him, he was just a motivator. He was certainly a fatherly figure and just a great person all-around. I’m very thankful that I made that decision to go to Indiana. He wanted to feature in-state talent.”
Mark Hagen was a great player for Indiana. He was a 4-year letterman and 2-time Second Team All-Big Ten. He led a 1991 Indiana defense that held Baylor scoreless in The Copper Bowl. Indiana won 24-0. That was the last bowl victory for the Indiana Hoosiers.
Mark turned to coaching and got his start under Bill Mallory as a graduate assistant in 1992. What led Mark to coach was unplanned. Mark had graduated from Indiana’s Kelly School of Business. From there, students can usually find a good gig. Why football? “I decided to coach when my playing days came to an end. Three back surgeries meant I was not going to play at the next level. I couldn’t get into an NFL camp as a free agent. It was an abrupt end, and I just wasn’t ready to give up on the game of football. I asked Coach Mallory about it, and he was all for it. The NCAA cut Graduate Assistant spots, so I was a GA in the weight room and Coach had me very involved. And the next year I was named Coach Mal’s Administrative Assistant. I had this t role for 3 years. I was involved with the defensive coaches. When defensive coordinator Coach Joe Novak left to be the head coach at Northern Illinois, I went with him and that was my first assistant coaching job.”
This would be the first in a long line of defensive coaching stints since 1992.
1992-1995 Indiana University
1996-1999 Northern Illinois
2000-2010 Purdue University
2011-2012 Indiana University
2013-2015 Texas A&M
2016-2019 Indiana University
2000 Texas
2021-2022 Purdue University
2023-Present University of Louisville
College Football coaching can take some unlikely turns and a few ugly ones as well. Look at that list above. If you are an Indiana fan, seeing this guy coach for Purdue is like an Ole Miss fan seeing their hero coach for Mississippi State. It happens and it happens for good reason. “We made the move to West Lafayette in March of 2000 and never in a million years did I think I would be there for eleven years, but I truly enjoyed each and every one of them. I learned a lot and was a part of some great teams.” One of those teams, led by quarterback Drew Brees, went to The Rose Bowl.
In 2020, the ugly part showed itself, as it usually does sooner or later if you hang in there long enough. Coach Tom Herman was the head coach of the Texas Longhorns and Mark Hagen was the Associate Head Coach for Defense/Defensive Line Coach. This was 2020. This was the covid season of covid seasons. The Texas Longhorns were 7-3, including a 32-point win over Colorado in the Alamo Bowl. In Texas, the head football coach can go 7-3, win a bowl game, keep the team together through thick and thin and covid and still get fired. Such was the fate of Head Coach Tom Herman that year.
” After the 2020 Alamo Bowl we had a ten-day break; I was watching my third daughter in a soccer game in Waco, Texas. Got a call and was told we had a staff Zoom meeting in 30 minutes. I thought this can’t be good. Coach Herman told us they had relieved him of his job, and they were hiring Steve Sarkisian. Everything happens for a reason, and I had a chance to go back to Purdue. Purdue’s head coach, Jeff Brohm, called me the next day and offered me a job and I was able to go back to Purdue which is a place I always enjoyed.”
When Coach Jeff Brohm came back home to coach at his alma mater, Mark Hagen followed him to Louisville and Mark sounds both excited and as content as a major college football coach can sound. “I’m excited about our team. I think it shapes up, I think we have a good home schedule. We have eight home games. We’ve got Clemson at home, and everybody is picking them to be the favorite in the ACC. They probably look like they have the most talent on paper. Our road games open at Pitt and that is a tough one; Coach Narduzzi does a great job there, SMU they were in the college football playoff last year and that one is on the road. I know it’s kind of cliché, but Coach Brohm does a really good job of having our guys focused. We’ve had a good camp. We’re focused on our first opponent Eastern Kentucky. We expect to be good this year. We’re ready for the challenge.”
Toward the end of our conversation, I couldn’t help myself. I told Coach Hagen when I see the Louisville Cardinals play, there goes a run for 79 yards! There goes a pass for 81 yards! I told him I have to believe, as Coach Hagen is watching these long gainers, he has to be saying give us an eight-minute drive every now and then to spell our defense. Coach Hagen’s response to that started with laughter and followed with, “Well, yeah, I’m cautiously optimistic with our running attack we can get into some situations where we can control the ball, but you know what? People love big plays whether they are through the air, on the ground, or on special teams returns, blocked punts, strip sacks. What we do is our thing. It comes with some rest or comes with sudden change, that is what our guys are in for on the defensive side of the ball, and we hold each other accountable. Whatever the situation is. Short field, a team backed up, no matter the situation we have to do our job. We have to make sure we don’t give up big plays. Miami, Notre Dame, SMU those were all one score losses last year. We can’t let teams hang around.”
We ended our conversation talking about Coach Bill Mallory. At Bill Mallory’s Memorial Service after Coach Mal died suddenly in June of 2018, one player from each of the four college teams Bill Mallory led over the years got up to speak. One from Miami, Ohio, one from Colorado, one from Northern Illinois, and one from Indiana University. The Hoosier that stood at the microphone and delivered an inspiring message was Mark Hagen #47 in your program and #1 in your hearts.
“Coach Mal was like a second father to me, and not just to me but a lot of guys that played for him. I just have the upmost respect for him. The old cliché that ‘you’d run threw a brick wall for the man’, that is the honest to God’s truth. Very unique individual. The humblest person I’ve ever been around. The way he went about his business. The way he treated people. Just a great leader of men. Being around him was always like filling up your gas tank. He could motivate you immediately, instantly. Sad that he is not with us. I was thankful for the opportunity to speak at his memorial service. I will always cherish those memories.”
With coaches like Mark Hagen and Jeff Brohm, the Louisville Cardinals are not a team I would root against. I told Coach Hagen I hope his team stays healthy and they win every game. If you are a Cards fan, you will have plenty to enjoy this 2025 College Football Season. Enjoy it.