Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Hagan Expects Emotional Day In Berkeley
September 05, 2010 | Football, B.G. Brooks
But that's not what excites CU's running backs coach the most: one family member will be on the field.
Hagan's son, Darian Jr., is expected to start at cornerback for the Golden Bears. He's a senior, a two-year starter (13 games in 2008, four in 2009) and is Cal's active career leader in pass breakups.
 "It's going to be a special opportunity getting to see him play in college and especially getting to see him against my alma mater . . . but he's going to have a little something special going on, too," said Darian Sr., a former Buffs quarterback (1988-91).
Darian Jr. considered coming to Boulder "for a little bit," his father said. "What it pretty much came down to, I was telling him he could come here and with the name that was already established he could have - if he was to do everything right - people doing things for him and set himself up for the future.
"But he was thinking he wanted to have a name for himself and set his path somewhere else. That's pretty much why he didn't come here."
The decision hasn't been a point of contention between father and son, the elder Hagan said: "Absolutely not. I wasn't going to deter him. I wanted the best decision for him; if that was at Cal, then it was at Cal. He considered UCLA at one time, when Eric (Bieniemy) was coaching there and recruiting him.
"He also considered Oklahoma, where our family was from and Chris Wilson (former CU assistant) was recruiting him. He considered a lot of things, but it pretty much came down to him being comfortable somewhere he could make a name for himself."
Opening at corner Saturday in Cal's 52-3 rout of UC-Davis, Darian Jr. made a pair of solo tackles. The Bears limited the Aggies to four first downs and 81 yards of total offense while amassing 517 yards (230 rushing, 287 passing).
Darian Jr., a 6-foot, 180-pounder, played in 10 games (four starts) in 2009 but went through an emotionally trying season. He recently disclosed in an interview with the Oakland Tribune that his then-1-year-old daughter, Kaiyana, had battled a rare form of kidney cancer and had undergone chemotherapy treatments throughout the season.
Kaiyana lives with her mother in Los Angeles, and Darian Jr., rarely saw their daughter during a season in which he struggled to retain his academic eligibility and lost his starting job.
"Me being up here, I couldn't be by her side. It took a toll on me; I got behind in a lot of stuff as far as school and football," he told the Tribune.
At the time, he considered quitting school but was talked out of it by his mother, Pier Bruce. Darian Sr. called his son "a private person" who struggled with his daughter's illness: "He didn't want to tell anyone about it for a long time." Not even Cal coach Jeff Tedford was aware of the situation.
After having a kidney removed and undergoing the chemotherapy treatments, doctors have told Kaiyana's parents that she could remain cancer free.
"I was looking at her picture the other day in meetings," Darian Sr. said. "I showed coach (Eric) Kiesau her picture and thought, 'I can't believe I'm a granddaddy.'"
He characterized his relationship with his son as "not as close as I want to be. It's difficult . . . him growing up with me here in school and now me working here and him being far away in college. It's difficult to keep that tight relationship."
In the scant time they are able to spend together, Darian Sr. called their relationship "good . . . (but) it could be better. It's not an ideal relationship, but it's not a broken one."
He said they have kept in contact, but not too much over the summer with Darian Jr. concentrating on academic improvement and Darian Sr. attending to preparation for the 2010 season.
"I know last season he had a lot on his mind; he started good and then faded," Darian Sr. said. "You could see him starting to gas a little bit. But I've heard he's turned the corner now and is a totally different player. I know he's cat-quick and real, real competitive.
"I'm looking forward to seeing him against 'TP' (Travon Patterson) and Paul (Richardson) and Toney (Clemons).
"It'll be a special day, but we still might be talking junk the whole time. On game day, ain't no friendship, ain't no love lost."
ORMS OUT FOR SEASON: Nickel back Parker Orms, one of the rising redshirt freshmen on the CU defense, will undergo surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament and will miss the remainder of the 2010 season. A magnetic resonance imaging test on Sunday revealed the extent of the injury. A date for the surgery has not been set.
The 5-11, 185-pounder from Wheat Ridge was injured in the first quarter of Saturday's season-opener against Colorado State while playing on the punt coverage team. He said he was running downfield when his knee buckled after making a sharp cut. "I thought I was going to make the tackle . . . my knee went one way and my leg the other way."
Orms called the injury "pretty disappointing. It went from being the best day of my career to the worst day in one second. It hurts, but we got the win and I still have a big career ahead of me."
Orms, the team's Hale Irwin Award winner (most improved defensive back) in spring practice, was replaced by junior Travis Sandersfeld, who responded with his first career interception and five tackles (four solo, one tackle for loss).
Sandersfeld acknowledged he felt bad for Orms, but added CU now has depth that was missing in the past.
"That's what we said from the start of the year," Sandersfeld, of Limon, said. "At every position, we feel like we have depth . . . we feel comfortable with our two-deep."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
