Jeff Jagodzinski (born October 12, 1963) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

offensive line coach and former player who is the offensive line coach for the Philadelphia Stars of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). He was previously the offensive coordinator at the

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the largest institution of hig ...

Panthers football team.Doug Roberson
Jeff Jagodzinski agrees to become Georgia State's offensive coordinator
, ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', December 11, 2012. Jagodzinski is best known for serving as the head football coach at the Boston College in 2007 and 2008, leading the Eagles to a record of 20–8 and consecutive appearances in the ACC Championship Game. In 2010, he was the head coach of the United Football League's

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010. During their first season, the Nighthawks played their home gam ...

. Jagodzinski has coached in college football and the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for more than 20 years.

Playing career and family

A graduate of the

University of Wisconsin–Whitewater The University of Wisconsin–Whitewater (UW–Whitewater) is a public university in Whitewater, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System. Student enrollment in the 2014–2015 academic year was more than 12,000. The universit ...

, Jagodzinski played college football there, starting three years at fullback. He was all-conference at West Allis Central High School in Wisconsin.

Coaching career

Early coaching experience

Jagodzinski began his coaching career as the

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

coach for the

in 1985. He was the

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

coach for

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

in 1986. He held a

Graduate Assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respo ...

position with LSU from 1987 through 1988. In 1989, he became the

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

s/assistant offensive line coach for East Carolina University and remained in that position until 1996. In 1997 and 1998 he served as the offensive coordinator/offensive line coach at Boston College.

NFL experience

Jagodzinski made the transition to the

(NFL) in 1999, becoming the tight ends coach for the Green Bay Packers under head coach

Ray Rhodes Raymond Earl Rhodes (born October 20, 1950) is a former American football player and coach. Rhodes played wide receiver and cornerback for the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers. He served as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles an ...

. Rhodes and most of his staff was fired after that season, but new head coach

Mike Sherman Michael Francis Sherman (born December 19, 1954) is an American gridiron football coach and former player who most recently was the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was the head coach of the Green B ...

kept Jagodzinski until 2003 when he was released. He was quickly picked up by the Atlanta Falcons to be the offensive line coach. Jagodzinski was hired by Green Bay Packers head coach

Mike McCarthy Michael John McCarthy (born November 10, 1963) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). From 2006 to 2018, he was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. In 2011, he led t ...

on January 15, 2006 to replace offensive coordinator Tom Rossley. He was the fifth individual to hold the title of Packers offensive coordinator. Jagodzinski joined Paul Roach (1975–76), Lindy Infante (1988–91), Sherman Lewis (1992–99), and Tom Rossley (2000–05). Bob Schnelker (1969–71),

John Polonchek John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

(1972–74), Lew Carpenter (1975–79), and

Tom Coughlin Thomas Richard Coughlin ( ; born August 31, 1946) is a former American football coach and executive. He was the head coach for the New York Giants from 2004 to 2015. He led the Giants to victory in Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI, both time ...

(1986–87) served as passing game coordinators on staffs that didn't necessarily carry an offensive coordinator. During his time with the Atlanta Falcons, Jagodzinski learned offensive zone blocking schemes from

Alex Gibbs Alexander Gibbs, Jr. (February 22, 1941 – July 12, 2021) was an American professional football coach who was a longtime offensive line coach in the National Football League (NFL). He coached college football for over a decade before joining t ...

, the architect of successful NFL offensive lines such as the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

that won Super Bowl XXXII.

Boston College

Jagodzinski was named head coach at Boston College in January 2007 to replace Tom O'Brien. He inherited a talent laden BC team, which he led to an 11–3 record, a #10 finish in the polls and an ACC Atlantic Division Championship. At one point in the season, the Eagles were ranked second in the Bowl Championship Series standings. Along with Steve Logan, Jagodzinski brought a high flying offensive attack which was very different from Tom O'Brien's short passing game style. He has been nicknamed "Jags" by BC fans and the media. After his first season at BC, Tom O'Brien protegees Matt Ryan and Gosder Cherilus were selected in the first round of the NFL draft. In the 2008 season BC's record dropped to 9-5, including a loss at the Music City Bowl. Following the 2008 season, Jagodzinski interviewed for the vacant New York Jets head coaching job, despite being warned not to do so by athletic director

Gene DeFilippo Eugene Benard DeFilippo Jr. is an American sports executive and former college athletics administrator. He served as the athletic director at the University of South Carolina–Spartanburg—now known as the University of South Carolina Upstate� ...

. He interviewed for the position, and was fired the next day. He only completed two years of his five-year contract with Boston College. The Jets ultimately hired Rex Ryan, who was previously the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

Tampa Bay

Jagodzinski was hired as the offensive coordinator of the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

on January 29, 2009 following the promotion of Raheem Morris, who had been elevated to head coach following Jon Gruden's departure. On September 3, 2009, the day before the team's final preseason game, the Buccaneers announced that they had dismissed Jagodzinski from his role and replaced him with quarterbacks coach Greg Olson. The firing came due to concerns about Jagodzinski's ability to communicate plays in a timely manner. He had been asked by the head coach to provide details to the team's offensive play calling, however he was unable to provide familiarity with the Tampa Bay playbook, (deferring to a subordinate to answer questions), thus exposing his over reliance on subordinates. Morris offered to let him stay on as quarterbacks coach, but Jagodzinski declined.

Omaha Nighthawks

On April 15, 2010, when the United Football League announced the franchise which would be known as the

, Jagodzinski was introduced as the team's first head coach. He was fired January 3, 2011 after posting a 3–5 record in his lone campaign with the team. The Nighthawks started 3–1, yet finished 0–4 in the final weeks of the

2010 UFL season The 2010 United Football League season was the second season of the United Football League. The regular season ran from September 18 to November 20 and featured five teams playing eight games each (twice against each of the other teams) over a 10 ...

. He was replaced by Joe Moglia.

Return to college coaching

After serving a season as wide receiver coach at Ave Maria University, he took the position of offensive coordinator at

under Trent Miles.

XFL

On May 25, 2019, Bob Stoops hired Jagodzinski to be the offensive line coach for the Dallas Renegades. On March 9, 2020, Jagodzinski was promoted to offensive coordinator after previous OC Hal Mumme suffered an injury in a collision with a player and accepted an advisor role with the team.

Kentucky

On November 15, 2020 Jagodzinski was hired to coach Kentucky's offensive line for the remainder of the 2020 season after previous offensive line coach John Schlarman passed away.

Head coaching record

College

United Football League

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jagodzinski, Jeff 1963 births Living people American football fullbacks Atlanta Falcons coaches Ave Maria Gyrenes football coaches Boston College Eagles football coaches Dallas Renegades coaches East Carolina Pirates football coaches Georgia State Panthers football coaches Green Bay Packers coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches LSU Tigers football coaches National Football League offensive coordinators Northern Illinois Huskies football coaches Omaha Nighthawks coaches United Football League (2009–2012) head coaches Wisconsin–Whitewater Warhawks football coaches Wisconsin–Whitewater Warhawks football players High school football coaches in Tennessee Sportspeople from Milwaukee People from West Allis, Wisconsin Coaches of American football from Wisconsin Players of American football from Milwaukee Philadelphia Stars (2022) coaches