TAMPA, Fla. -- Three weeks after being dismissed by Boston College for pursuing an NFL head-coaching job, Jeff Jagodzinski was hired Thursday by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to be their offensive coordinator.
Jagodzinski, who led Boston College to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game in each of his two seasons, was fired Jan. 7 after being told he would be let go if he interviewed for the New York Jets' head-coaching vacancy.
Adam Schefter's take
Jeff Jagodzinski is going into a situation that his chock full of questions in Tampa. The first, and maybe most important, is this: Who will be the Buccaneers' starting QB next season? **More ...**
Jagodzinski also was a candidate to be the San Francisco 49ers' offensive coordinator before accepting the job with the Bucs, who fired head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen two weeks ago.
Raheem Morris, who at 32 is the youngest head coach in the NFL, succeeded Gruden and hired Jim Bates as his defensive coordinator last week. The Bucs also announced the hiring of Pete Mangurian as offensive line coach Thursday.
Jagodzinski led Boston College to two bowl appearances and lost twice to Virginia Tech in the ACC title game during his brief stay with the Eagles. He was an NFL assistant for eight years with the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons before moving to BC, where he tutored this year's NFL rookie of the year, Matt Ryan.
Technically, Jagodzinski replaces Bill Muir as Tampa Bay's offensive coordinator. In actuality, Gruden -- fired after the Bucs finished with four consecutive losses to miss the playoffs following a 9-3 start -- ran the offense.
Despite the 45-year-old's success at Boston College, athletic director Gene DeFilippo didn't hesitate to fire Jagodzinski after telling the coach he would do so if he met with the Jets, who were searching for a replacement to Eric Mangini.
Jagodzinski had three years left on the five-year contract he signed with BC for his first head-coaching job.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
