Though the strength of his offensive line last season eliminated any need to scramble, O’Hagan proved to any naysayers during his first three seasons that he has both the poise and vision to make the best of any broken play.
“If he needs to bootleg or roll out he’s very comfortable with that,” Thiel said. “He’s very comfortable with three-, five- and seven-step drops. He’ll do whatever it takes to win.”
Including run the no-huddle offense. Like the Crimson, Breck relies heavily upon an offense called by a competent quarterback at the line of scrimmage, who can recognize defenses before either calling an audible or aiming to exploit a hole in the coverage present as a result of the initial call.
“We run a multiple no-huddle offense where he calls a lot of the plays at the line of scrimmage,” Thiel said. “He understands that not every ball needs to be thrown hard. He has great touch and he understands how to throw the ball for each route.”
But O’Hagan’s allure lies not just in raw talent and occasional flashes of brilliance, but in the consistently solid efforts he has mounted while at Breck High School.
Leading Breck to a perfect 14-0 record and a Minnesota state championship in his senior year, O’Hagan posted state-record stats in both yards through the air—3,812—and passing touchdowns—55—while completing 66 percent of his throws.
He was intercepted just seven times, helping to propel him to both the All-Metro and All-State teams and conference player of the year honors.
With the fate of such a talented prospect hanging in the balance, Murphy called upon one of his most trusted weapons: Fitzpatrick.
“You always give special thought to [who you’ll pair a recruit with],” Murphy said. “I think when I first met Ryan he was a really quiet kid, a social kid in his own way. And Liam’s the same way.”
Though the visit was likely not the deciding factor in his decision to make the trip to Cambridge next fall, Thiel said that O’Hagan warmed to the characteristically-charismatic Fitzpatrick during his stay.
“I think he liked Ryan and he really liked Harvard,” Thiel said. “There were other schools that told him he could step in and play immediately as a freshman. I think what he sees at Harvard is the ability to play football and baseball. Right now, in his mind, he wants to get on the field early and make an impact.”
According to Murphy, O’Hagan has agreed to play only on the gridiron, but Harvard baseball coach Joe Walsh confessed he wouldn’t mind if the young fireballer made his way over to the diamond at O’Donnell Field for a tryout.
“He’d actually come across [our radar screen] just hearing from some of our Minnesota connections,” Walsh said. “I’m excited that he’s coming here. There haven’t been an awful lot of two-sport athletes here recently. I’m just laying it out there that if he or any of the guys that had a good high school career are interested in coming out...With Liam, we know that he’s got a very good baseball program.”
Either way, one thing is for certain: this may be the first, but it definitely won’t be Murphy’s last win traced back to Liam O’Hagan.
—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu. /