Entering ninth year at TCNJ in Fall of 2021
Rocky Hager serves the TCNJ football program as co-special teams coordinator, co-academic coordinator, and tight ends coach.
Hager coached punter Zach Warcola to consensus All-America honors in 2019. Warcola earned AFCA, D3football.com, and Associated Press All-America recognition. TCNJ's punting unit ranked 27th in the nation in net punting with an average of 34.86 yards. Warcola also earned NJAC Special Teams Player of the Year honors, as well as D3Football.com First Team All-Region recognition.
In 2018, Hager coached the special teams unit that saw Zach Warcola earn All-America honors as a punter. The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) named Warcola Second Team All-America. Warcola became the sixth player in school history to earn the honor and the first since 2011. He was also a D3football.com All-America Honorable Mention and a member of the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team.
Thanks to Warcola and strong coverage, the Lions led the NJAC and ranked 13th nationally in net punting (35.9 yards). TCNJ was also fourth in the conference in kickoff return defense, allowing just 19.6 yards per return.
In 2016, Hager served as the interim head coach of the Lions' football program after spending his three seasons as the defensive coordinator .
In the final five games of 2015 season, Hager led a defensive unit that surrendered 20 or less points. That run culminated with a 20-0 shutout at Rowan University. Four members of the defense earned New Jersey Athletic Conference post-season honors. That matched the number of All-NJAC honorees in 2014.
In the summer of 2014, Hager was the defensive coordinator for the U-19 Team USA squad that competed in Kuwait. The U.S. went undefeated in four games to win the title and posted two shutouts. See story.
During his first season at TCNJ in charge of the defensive unit in 2013, Hager commandeered a defense that led the New Jersey Athletic Conference in scoring defense (16.6 points per game) and total defense (279.6 yards per game). The Lions boasted two players on the All-NJAC First Team Defense, including the NJAC Defensive Player of the Year, Nick Bricker. The Lions posted a shutout in 2013 and surrendered three points or less on three occasions.
Hager, a graduate of Minot State College where he played four seasons (1970-1973) as an offensive lineman, has been a football coach since 1979 and enjoyed a successful coaching career. He won four national championships at North Dakota State during the 1980s. After winning two as an assistant coach in 1985 and 1986, Hager led the Bison’s to a pair of undefeated seasons and Division II titles in 1988 and 1990. In 10 years at North Dakota State, Hager compiled a 91-25-1 record, winning five North Central Conference championships and advanced to the NCAA tournament seven times.
Following the 1996 season, Hager was hired as an assistant coach at Temple University, where he spent the next seven seasons coaching the Owls’ quarterbacks, linebackers, tight ends and slot receivers.
After a seven-year stint with Temple, Hager was hired as the head coach at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass. He guided the Huskies for the next six seasons before the program was dropped after the 2009 season. In his six years with the Huskies, Hager posted a 20-47 overall record and a 16-32 record in the very tough Colonial Athletic Association. Prior to taking the position at TCNJ, Hager was the defensive line coach at Bryant University.
