Shedeur Sanders, Hunter's Colorado Jersey Retirement Has Darian Hagan 'Flabbergasted'
Former Colorado star quarterback Darian Hagan said he was "flabbergasted" to see the numbers of Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter retired shortly after the star duo moved on from college football, according to USA Today's Brent Schrotenboer.
Sanders' No. 2 and Hunter's No. 12 were retired on April 19, making them the fifth and sixth players in Colorado's history to receive the honor.
Hagan, who was the Buffaloes' starting quarterback during the program's only national championship in 1990, has not yet seen his own No. 3 retired by the program.
“We were always told there was a waiting period,” Hagan told Schrotenboer. “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.”
Hagan added: "I just thought about the pride and tradition of the Colorado Buffaloes. That’s what I thought about. That seemed to be diminished."
Colorado said in the 1990s that players could not have their numbers retired unless they graduated from the university, according to Schrotenboer. A spokesperson for the athletic department told Schrotenboer that Sanders and Hunter have not yet graduated and that the graduation rule was the "preference of an academic counselor at the time."
The Associated Press' Pat Graham previously reported that Colorado's jersey retirement decisions are now "based on the discretion of the Colorado athletic administration and the current head coach," a policy Hagan told Schrotenboer he disagreed with.
"It should not be at the discretion of the athletic director and the head coach. Head coaches come. Head coaches go. ADs come, and ADs go… We had a policy in place. Where is that policy? We need to abide by that policy," Hagan said.
Colorado's website describes Hagan as "arguably the best all-around athlete in the history of the CU football program." He led the Buffaloes to a 28-5-2 record over two seasons with the program and was inducted into the CU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.
The Buffaloes went 13-12 with Sanders and Hunter, which marked a significant jump from the program's 1-11 slate before they arrived but did not include a bowl game win.
Hagan currently works as the running backs coach at San Diego State. He previously worked on Colorado's coaching staff in a variety of capacities from 2004 to 2023.
Colorado retired Byron White’s No. 24, Joe Romig’s No. 67 and Bobby Anderson’s No. 11 before 1971. Prior to Hunter and Sanders' ceremony, the program since then had only granted posthumous retirement to Rashaan Salaam's No. 19 in 2017.
