It has been nearly four years since four-star prospect Cody Hagen committed to play football for BYU midway through his senior season at national powerhouse Corner Canyon High in Draper, Utah, ending a fierce recruiting battle for the receiver’s services that included Utah, USC, Michigan and Stanford, among others.
As is the case with many high schoolers who commit to BYU, Hagen elected to serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2022-24. He served in San Bernardino, California, and learned to speak Mandarin Chinese.
Upon arriving at BYU in May 2024, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Hagen told the Deseret News that he made the “right decision” going on a mission out of high school, even if it delayed his opportunity to shine for the Cougars by a couple of years.
“The coaches here are so supportive of a mission and of putting God first,” he said before his freshman season last fall. “I think going first definitely helped me. I know I was contemplating playing a year and then going. I am happy I went on a mission first. Now I can just continually play these years here and get back to where I was.”
Hagen was one of the most prolific receivers in Utah prep football history, catching 201 passes for 3,927 yards and 51 touchdowns at Corner Canyon. For his efforts, he was named Deseret News Mr. Football for the 2021 season.
He was mildly successful in his first season at BYU, despite having only three months to get rid of his “mission legs” and back into shape. He made the depth chart in a loaded receivers room that included stars Chase Roberts, Darius Lassiter and Keelan Marion, and caught three passes for 29 yards before sustaining an injury that ended his 2024 season and caused him to sit out all of spring camp last March.
Hagen showed off his sprinter’s speed to open the 2025 season, taking a carry 57 yards for a touchdown against Portland State. He also returned a kick (after a safety) 44 yards in the 27-3 win over Stanford. Playing behind Roberts, JoJo Phillips and Parker Kingston at receiver, Hagen has hauled in only two passes, for 35 yards, in two games to date.
But it appears that his opportunity to play more from scrimmage has finally arrived. Phillips suffered an upper-body injury against Stanford that required surgery, and Hagen is now listed as a starter alongside Roberts and Kingston.
Hagen’s first start will come in hostile territory, as unranked BYU (2-0) faces East Carolina (1-2) Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina. Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. MDT on ESPN2.
“We’ve focused on the same team for two weeks, which is a great advantage,” Hagen said Monday. “As a team, we were able to focus on that (during the bye week).
“Individually, I am feeling good, getting ready, getting the mind right. … Feeling really good about this week.”
Offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said Tuesday that not having the 6-foot-5 Phillips “is a big loss” and no one player can replace the redshirt sophomore who was just coming into his own.
“It is a shame and we’re going to really miss him, but we have some other good players at receiver that will step up,” Roderick said. “It will be a by-committee thing because it’s hard to replace 6-5 and a guy that can run like that. But have a lot of confidence in the other guys.”
Receivers coach and passing game coordinator Fesi Sitake said Hagen is ready for a bigger role, and has been for quite some time.
“I could have started him at any time this year, any time the last half of last year. So he’s ready,” Sitake said. “It’s that next-man-up mentality. Obviously we’re going to miss JoJo, but Cody’s going to do a great job.”
Sitake said the three receivers now listed as backups — junior Tiger Bachmeier, sophomore Reggie Frischknecht and redshirt freshman Tei Nacua — could see more reps, Bachmeier in particular.
“Tiger is a proven guy from his time at Stanford,” Sitake said.
Frischknect and Nacua “both had hamstring issues” that kept them out of the first two games, Sitake said, while also noting that BYU is relatively deep at tight end with Keayen Nead, Noah Moeaki and Ethan Erickson backing up Utah transfer Carsen Ryan.
What does Hagen bring?
“Number one, he is super smart and reliable. He’s tough. He’s obviously fast — his speed pops out, as everyone saw with the reverse (touchdown),” Sitake said. “Everyone knows what he can do skill-wise, but he is very tough. He’s very intentional in the way he approaches the games and practices.”
Sitake said learning BYU’s playbook isn’t easy, but Hagen has mastered it — with help from his brother Cole, a walk-on quarterback for BYU.
“There’s a lot of nuance to the playbook, but Cody has got it all down,” Sitake said. “I have all the confidence in the world in him. I am excited to see how he does.”
Hagen credited his brother — who gave up football last spring, but rejoined the team after Jake Retzlaff departed for Tulane — the offensive coaches and Roberts for helping him get back up to speed after his mission.
“There are a lot of technique things in college that get overlooked in high school, especially when a lot of the competition you are going against, you don’t have to use a lot of techniques,” Hagen said. “So there are a lot of skills, a lot of techniques, that Fesi has been able to really help me with that have helped me get back in the groove.”
Head coach Kalani Sitake said Monday that Cody Hagen “served a great mission,” which is to say the receiver dedicated himself to the work and “didn’t do much exercise other than ride bikes and walk.” As a result, he was not in great shape when he returned three months before the 2024 season.
“I know he wanted to do more. But he had to kind of transition from being a missionary to a football player, and now that he’s done it completely, we know we can lean on him heavily to do a lot of other things,” Sitake said.
“He’s so talented, man. He’s got speed and quickness and agility, but he also has amazing ball skills and great vision. That’s why he’s our kick returner, too. He can do a lot of things with the ball in his hands. … Coming home from a two-year mission has been really, really hard, but now that he’s back, I’m glad we got him ready to roll and he’s back to 100%.”
