Widener University Athletics

After a season that saw Widener rejoin the elite of both the MAC and NCAA Division III in several categories, Nathaniel Hogge returns for his sixth season as the offensive coordinator for the Pride in 2024. 

The Blue and Gold saw a marked improvement in scoring in 2019, posting 37.0 points per game, more than a touchdown a contest higher than the previous season, 11.2 points per game more than the prior three-year average, while leading the Middle Atlantic Conference in scoring and ranking in the top-40 nationally in offensive output. 
A large part of the reason for the scoring surge was the success of Widener in the red zone. The Pride led the nation in 2019, scoring on 92.7 percent of its trips inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. Of the 41 trips to the red zone, WU scored touchdowns 34 times, an astonishing 83 percent conversion rate. 

Taking center stage in the offensive revival were All-Conference honorees Sean McGaughey, James Gillespie, and Chris Randle. McGaughey finished the regular season third in NCAAD3 in passing yards and was in the top-10 in touchdown passes. Gillespie led the country in regular season receiving yards and grabbed 17 TD. Randle led the MAC with 11 rushing scores, a mark that ranked 42nd in the nation.

Hogge joined the Pride from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor where he was a member of the national championship coaching staffs in 2016 and 2018 working as the running backs and offensive line coach as well as having heavy involvement in recruiting. During his time with the Cru, UMHB posted a record of 66-4 and he coached three D3football.com First Team All-Americans and two Associated Press First Team All-Americans.
 
Prior to Mary Hardin-Baylor, Hogge was the offensive coordinator at Fork Union Military Academy. He also has Division I coaching experience as the receivers coach at the Citadel and as a graduate assistant at both the Oklahoma State University and the University of North Carolina. 

While at Oklahoma State, Hogge worked under head coach Mike Gundy and helped the Cowboys to bowl berths in his final two seasons, winning both times, downing Alabama in the 2006 Independence Bowl and topping Indiana in the 2007 Sun Bowl. 

At North Carolina, Hogge was a part of the coaching staff that engineered an upset of No. 4 Miami in 2004, a year in which the Tar Heels competed against Boston College in the Continental Tire Bowl. 

Hogge earned his B.A. in communications from Elon in 2002.