Jeff Jagodzinski (head coach at BC) - Two distinct questions

by MattR on Jan 4, 2009 11:55 PM MST Comment 5 comments

For those who don't know, Jeff Jagodzinski is the current head coach at Boston College. His name made the news recently when it came out that the Jets were interested in interviewing him for their head coaching vacancy. The athletic director at BC has threatened to fire Jagodzinski if he goes on the interview, but latest accounts are that the interview will still take place on Monday.

This brings me to the first question: Is the Boston College athletic director out of line in threatening to fire the head coach for interviewing for other positions? I am guessing it has to depend in the exact details of the contracts and the discussions they had prior to signing the deal, Jagodzinski's history is mixed between the NFL and college. Jeff started out as an offensive line coach for Northern Illinois, LSU and East Carolina before joining BC as their offensive coordinator for the 1997 and 1998 seasons. From there, he jumped to the NFL, serving as the Packers TE coaches for several years before being relieved of those duties after the 2003 season. He then spent two years in Atlanta as the offensive line coach working with Alex Gibbs. At the end of that time, GB brought Jeff and his new found talents/schemes back to be their offensive coordinator in 2006. A year later Jeff jumped to the college ranks and has been the head coach of BC for the past two years, going 11-3 the first year (with Matt Ryan) and then 9-5 this year. The reason I brought up the whole history was to point out that it seems reasonable that Jagodzinski would have a clause that would allow him to return to the NFL as a head coach.

The second question popped up as I was reading his bio. I can understand how appealng the Jets might be to Jagodzinski since it would reunite him with Favre - though only for one season. Then I began to wonder if he would be a good fit in Denver. Obviously, his focus on the offensive side of the ball is a bit of a negative. But that can be overcome if the coach and owner have an agreed upon philosophy of defense and a list of candidates for the DC position that meet that philosophy. But on the positive side, his offensive philosphies seem to be based around a zone blocking scheme and an attacking passing game which is a perfect fit for the Broncos. If this came to pass, I would like to see Jeremy Bates stick around as OC and learn some of the wrinkles that Coach Jagodzinski has added to the system.

As far as the first question goes, I think the school is doing more harm than good. It is questionable, at best, that the Jets would hire Jagodzinski and I think going through the interview process can only help him understand his weaknesses as a coach as well as a more complete understanding of what the NFL is looking for - in both coaches and players. If he was interviewing constantly I could understand the argument that the coach is showing no loyalty, but in this case it seems to be a one time thing with a dream job that Jeff never expected to materialize when he first took the BC job.

As for the second question, I don't know enough about Jeff Jagodzinski as a coach to make an evaluation, though I have heard some positive comments about his character. I think he background gives him the experience needed to be an NFL head coach. While I still prefer a coach that can change the defensive mindset of the club, I think Jagodzinski should be on the short list of "offensive" coaches being considered

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR

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Take this with a grain of salt

But… I think he has benefited from some generous circumstances. Last year he took over a good team that had an exceptional quarterback entering his senior year, which obviously won him some games. I believe that this year he was the beneficiary of a weak conference. I know his team played in the conference championship game, but ten of the twelve teams in the ACC finished with either a 5-3 or 4-4 record in conference (the other two were 3-5 UVA and 1-7 Duke). I would have to see another good year from him before I could recommend him in good conscience. The fact remains that he made it to the ACC championship game both years he was coach at BC and couldn’t get it done…

by hai17 on Jan 5, 2009 2:37 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

Needs one more year

Probably a good assessment. And pretty much the way I feel about Raheem Morris. He looks like an interesting candidate, but I would really like to see him actually run the defense for a year before giving him the reigns to the entire team.

I don’t know enough about BC and Matt Ryan, but was he considered a first round talent before his senior season? Did Coach Jags help him improve his game to make him a top 5 pick? Or did the coach just not get in the way of his natural development?

by MattR on Jan 5, 2009 9:15 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Matt Ryan was at least a borderline prospect going into the season

I think that his play elevated him somewhat, but I seem to recall that the was considered to be pro-caliber going into the season. He was a very good player the previous year as a junior, and he was fairly widely regarded as a key cog in a team that could contend for the ACC championship.

by hai17 on Jan 6, 2009 12:15 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

My answers

1) I’m not familiar with the contract that the BC coach had. But here are some thoughts. First, it is considered harmful to a program when a coach interviews with another program. Right or wrong, fair or not, that is the perception of many athletic directors.

However, the proper way to get around this is to approach the AD and to ask him for his blessing to look at another program. If done properly, this doesn’t show any disloyalty and may even gain the support of the AD in the search. Also, in this case, the BC coach went outside of his conference (indeed, outside of his own league to the pro level) which is a reason the AD shouldn’t be too bothered.

My guess is that the BC coach didn’t go to the AD first, or there was a contract issue.

2) My bias is against college coaches for pro HC positions. I recognize that this isn’t a fair bias though, so I’m not the right person to answer the second question.

"Greater is an army of sheep led by a lion, than an army of lions led by a sheep" Defoe

by Steve Nichols on Jan 5, 2009 1:45 PM MST reply actions 0 recs