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Bucs Pick Ex-BC Coach Jagodzinski To Run Offense

Associated Press file photo

Jeff Jagodzinski was recently fired by Boston College for interviewing for a job with the New York Jets.

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By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 29, 2009

One thing you can say with certainty about new Bucs offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski: he's not afraid to take chances.

This is the guy who was told by the Boston College athletic director he'd be fired if he interviewed for a position with the New York Jets and went ahead with the interview anyway.

That was Jan. 6. On Jan. 7, Eagles AD Gene DeFilippo carried through with his threat. Who will benefit most from that move remains to be seen, but there's little to suggest it won't be the Bucs.

The Eagles were 20-8 and reached the ACC title game in each of Jagodzinski's two years as head coach. They lost both of those title games, but Jagodzinski was credited with elevating the BC program.

Now he's charged with bringing to life a Bucs offense that has never ranked higher than 10th overall in yards gained and has ranked 10th or higher in points scored just once.

Jagodzinski, Bucs general manager Mark Dominik and Bucs coach Raheem Morris could not be reached for comment on the hire, which coincided with the official naming of Pete Mangurian as offensive line coach.

Mangurian comes from the New England Patriots, where he spent the last four years coaching tight ends. Jagodzinski has experience coaching tight ends, too, with the Green Bay Packers from 1999-2003.

It was a year later, though, after he took a job as the offensive line coach with the Atlanta Falcons, that Jagodzinski started to gain notoriety around the football world.

In 2005, while working for then Falcons offensive coordinator Alex Gibbs, Jagodzinski's line helped Warrick Dunn run for a career-best 1,416 yards while the Falcons led the league in rushing.

That effort got Jagodzinski a job as the offensive coordinator of the Packers, who under Jagodzinski's direction had a 1,000-yard receiver in Donald Driver and a 1,000-yard runner in Ahman Green in 2006.

Jagodzinski returned to the college ranks a year later, replacing Tom O'Brien as BC head coach. He had immediate success there, leading the Eagles to an 11-3 finish, a top-10 ranking in the polls and a berth in the ACC title game.

He also gained recognition for the development of quarterback Matt Ryan, who led the Falcons back to the playoffs this year and was named Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year.

During his time at Boston College, Ryan credited Jagodzinski with turning the Eagles offense into a daring attack that took chances at times other teams probably wouldn't.

He specifically remembered during an interview with The New York Times in 2007 how Jagodzinski called for three straight passes out of the shotgun during a situation in which the Eagles held the ball at their own 3-yard line.

"It was just an aggressive approach coming out in a risky situation where you have to be sure of what you're doing with the football," Ryan said.

Bucs defensive tackle Chris Hovan, who played at Boston College in the late 1990s when Jagodzinski coached the Eagles' offensive line, was excited about the hire.

"He's got a great offensive mind. He's very creative," Hovan said. "To find an offensive coordinator of his caliber this late in the process is really something."

The hiring of Jagodzinski and Mangurian leaves the Bucs on the lookout for a tight ends coach and a defensive backs coach. The team may also need a new running backs coach if Jagodzinski decides against keeping Richard Bisaccia in that role.

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