Steve Hagen just finished his seventh season on the Browns’ staff and it was his third as part of his second tour of duty with the club. Before re-joining the team in 2009 as tight ends coach, he was a member of the staff from 2001-04.
Under Hagen’s guidance, Benjamin Watson led the Browns with 68 catches for 763 yards and three touchdowns in 2011. His reception total was 10th in the AFC, led all AFC tight ends and was fifth among NFL tight ends. In addition, it was the sixth-highest total ever by a Browns tight end. Watson’s yardage figure was second-most among AFC tight ends, fifth among NFL tight ends and was eighth-highest figure by a tight end in Browns annals. He was the first tight end to lead the Browns in receiving yards since 1985, when Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome accomplished the feat with 711 yards.
Hagen returned to the Browns in 2009 with 20 years of experience as a coach at the collegiate level, most recently at the University of North Carolina, where he tutored the tight ends for the previous two seasons. In 2008, the Tar Heels secured a record of 8-5 as they went on to play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, the school’s first bowl appearance in four years. Prior to that, he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Fresno State University for one season (2006).
In his first stint with Cleveland, Hagen spent time as both the tight ends coach (2001-03) and quarterbacks coach (2004).
Prior to his work in the NFL, Hagen was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of California from 1999-2000. He spent two seasons at San Jose State University as offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator (1997-98). He previously served as the head coach at Wartburg (Iowa) College in 1996, guiding the team to a 7-3 record, as the school ranked eighth in Division III in total offense.
Hagen got his start in the coaching profession as a graduate assistant at the University of Illinois in 1984. He served in the same role at the University of Kansas (1985-86), before getting his first full-time position, as receivers and tight ends coach at Northern Arizona University from 1987-88. Stops at the University of Notre Dame (1989-90), Kent State University (1991), the University of Nevada-Reno (1992-93) and the University Nevada-Las Vegas (1990, 1994-95) followed. He was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at UNLV, and in that two-year span, the team broke 20 school offensive records.
