Penn State receivers coach Marques Hagans talks ideal portal fits, receiver recruiting, and transfer pursuits

Penn State receivers coach Marques Hagans doubles as the program’s offensive recruiting coordinator. It means he played a sizable role in the 25-member Class of 2024 that officially put pen to paper on Wednesday during the early National Signing Day. The Hampton, Va., native is completing his first cycle and season in both positions.

“As much as we recruit good talent, we recruit good kids,” Hagans said. “And so when you say program changers, [they are] young men that have great talent, but also have an opportunity to go out and change the world once football is completed.

“And so I think that the high caliber talent that we recruit is matched by the high character kids we recruit. That’s what I learned in my first year.”

Sizing up the 2024 receiver room

Hagans came to State College tasked with elevating the Lions’ receivers room. Results are mixed on the field so far but were better down the stretch run of the regular season. Who Penn State will return in that room next year is still up in the air. But, it added three signees in four-star Tyseer Denmark and three-stars Peter Gonzalez and Josiah Brown. There’s no guarantee any of them get to the field in 2024, however. Four-star back Quinton Martin could see receiving time and is a play-early candidate, though. Time will tell on that front. But, either way, the Lions found what they were looking for at pass catcher in this cycle by knowing what they were looking for and finding the right fits.

“Oh, man, everybody wants a lot of catches [laughs], wants to be guaranteed that they’re going to get X amount of catches coming in,” Hagans said. “But, just also reinforcing to them that there is a level of standard of work ethic and consistency that’s going to be at the foreground. And being selfless, as far as putting the team first, special teams are going to be important. Blocking is going to be important. And, the talented guys that want that, that want to show up every day, that want to work hard, that want to compete, that want to become the best receiver corps in the country, those are the guys that you recruit. But, if there’s guys that you got to beg and plead and compromise with, it’s probably not the guys for you, because you’ll probably spend most of their college career doing that.

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“So, just trying to eliminate those guys and find the guys who, again, you’ll hear a phrase, ‘love football.’ Guys who are talented, who love football, will go to class, will do what they’re expected to do off the field, and just show up every day with excitement. They just want to get better and work and compete and put Penn State on the map as being one of the best receiver corps in the country. Those are the guys that we look to recruit at receiver.”

Penn State portal talk

The transfer portal is open, of course. The Lions have not added a receiver from it yet. But, they’d like to.

“If we were going to bring in a guy, we’re going to bring in the guy that we feel can help elevate the competition level in the room, that can help elevate the consistency in the room, the work ethic, and the toughness,” Hagans said. “So hypothetically, if we were going to bring in someone they would have to check those boxes.”

Finding someone who does, however, is easier said than done. Hagans compared the process to a couple deciding to marry after knowing each other for just two weeks. There is a speed dating element to portal recruiting. Teams want players on campus for the spring semester and vice versa. But, the portal opens in early December and classes start roughly a month later. It creates a rush to answer a straightforward yet complicated question: Can both sides figure out whether or not they are a match soon enough to setup enrollment for the spring semester?

Past connections often play a major role. That’s because trust is developed already, in most cases. That extends from the coaching staff to the player and his support system. The more boxes that are checked in that regard, the better. In that sense, transfer recruiting is the same as high school recruiting. The timelines, however, are drastically different.

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“I don’t think your pitch changes,” Hagans said. “I think you continue to be the same person you are. The same things that we value, every person we talk to, whether that’s a 10th grader, whether that’s a guy that’s one year in college or three years in college, the message is the same. Our core values and things that we believe in are always going to be the same. It’s just a matter of this courting process, and dating process, being shrunk down to speed dating.

“You got to get it done in two weeks, and really make a collective decision on, is this person the best person to bring in? Not only talent-wise, but culture-wise, and to make sure that they’re going to be able to do all the things that are required for them to be successful on and off the field here at Penn State.”

Portal approach will follow team needs, but there is one key

What a team wants to find in the portal at any particular position can change things each year, as well.

“I just think like any sport, older players add wisdom,” Hagans said. “They add leadership. They add understanding of what it means to be successful in college, because they’ve been there longer. So I think, is your room young, and does it need older guidance and leadership? Or is the room established? And do you just need more guys to create competition?

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“So I think it’s just a matter of what that room needs on a year-to-year basis. But, older players normally can add a lot of value on the field. But, also off the field, to the example of how to just go about your day-to-day business or being a pro in college. Those guys add value in that department as well too.”

There is one key to all of it though: The sooner a player can get to Penn State, the better. Dante Cephas arriving in the summer last year is a good example of why it’s so important. It took him a while to learn the offense and get adjusted. That impacted his ability to get on the field in 2023. And, it goes without saying that getting any portal adds here before winter workouts and spring practice this year is even more important with the Lions having two new coordinators.

“If you can get guys in January, it’s a huge, huge benefit for everyone involved,” Hagans said. “And so yeah, this go around, try to get as many guys as you can in January. And hopefully, you won’t have to bring them in in the summer. You got to do what you can, but it’s a huge, huge advantage to get those guys in January.”

Will everything align for Penn State to get the portal help it needs, however? Time will tell.