Nate Pagan is in his ninth season on the Villanova staff in 2025 and coaches the team’s wide receivers. He earned a promotion to his current role prior to the 2019 season after initially coming to the Wildcats two years earlier as an offensive assistant.
Pagan’s recruiting responsibilities include part of Philadelphia county and national territory in Atlanta (Cobb, Fayette, Fulton counties), Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
During his time on the coaching staff Pagan provided mentorship to two of the top 10 wide receivers in Villanova history who were on the roster at the same time. Jaaron Hayek and Rayjuon Pringle each concluded their standout collegiate careers in 2023 and combined for career totals of 5,281 yards and 52 touchdowns. Hayek ranks fourth in school history with 2,744 career receiving yards and 29 touchdowns, while Pringle is eighth with 2,537 yards and 23 touchdowns as of the end of the 2023 season. Both players were first team All-CAA selections during their careers, with Pringle earning that honor in 2023 and Hayek being a first team selection in 2022.
The triple threat of Hayek, Pringle and Jaylan Sanchez led to big plays throughout the 2023 season. Those three players combined for 13 catches of 50 yards or longer and Sanchez set a single season program record by averaging 25.6 yards per catch (28 receptions, 716 yards, six touchdowns). Pringle is Villanova’s career leader with 19.4 yards per catch on 131 total receptions. Following the graduation of Hayek and Pringle after the 2023 campaign, Sanchez emerged as the Wildcats leading receiver with 522 yards in 2024 and graduate transfer Devin Smith led the team with six receiving touchdowns.
At least one Wildcats wide receiver has earned CAA Football All-Conference honors in five of Pagan’s first six seasons with that positional group. In addition to Hayek and Pringle, Changa Hodge was an All-CAA honoree in 2019. Hodge had a breakout season in 2019 which included the fifth-most receiving yards (1,118) in a single season in school history. Hodge recorded 65 catches and averaged 17.2 yards per reception while catching 13 touchdown passes in 209. He starred in the annual Battle of the Blue rivalry game against Delaware when his 236 receiving yards and four touchdowns made him the first Villanova receiver in 23 yards to top 200 yards in a game.
Prior to beginning his Wildcats tenure, Pagan spent two seasons (2015-16) at Stevenson where he coached the Mustangs wide receivers. He was also the Special Teams Coordinator for the 2016 season. Stevenson led the Middle Atlantic Conference in scoring with 36.7 points per game in 2016 and Pagan coached wo wide receivers who earned All-MAC recognition in first team honoree Preston Addo (47 receptions, 799 yards, 12 touchdowns) and second team selection Devin Salisbury (71 receptions, 815 yards, six touchdowns). In Pagan’s first season with the Mustangs in 2015 wide receiver Cortez Taylor was an honorable mention All-MAC selection.
Stevenson also had three special teams players earn all-conference honors for the 2016 season. Running back Devonte Williams was the Special Teams Player of the Year, while Addo was the Special Teams Returner of the Year and kicker Term Sternfeld was a second team all-league picks. The special teams unit ranked 14th in Division III in punt returns.
Pagan was the wide receivers coach at SUNY Cortland for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. He coached 2013 All-American John Babin who had 82 receptions for 1,278 yards and 13 touchdowns while also working with first team all-region kick returner Dylan Peebles. One year later in 2014, Peebles emerged as an All-American kick returner when he had 26 returns for 907 yards, three touchdowns and an average of 34.9 yards per return.
A graduate of West Chester in 2013 with a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies/Professional Studies, Pagan was a defensive back, wide receiver and kick return for the Golden Rams. He began his collegiate career playing one season at Clarion in 2008. While at West Chester, he was a six-time member of the WCU Athletic Director’s Academic Honor Roll.
Pagan and his wife Lauren reside in Lancaster, Pa.
