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' coaching vacancy.
He went on the interview despite the ultimatum and was fired the next day. The Jets job eventually went to Rex Ryan.
Jagodzinski also was a candidate to be the San Francisco 49ers' offensive coordinator before accepting the job with the Bucs, who fired 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 Thursday of Pete Mangurian as offensive line coach.
Jagodzinski led Boston College to a pair of 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, he 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.
Jagodzinski was a tight ends coach for the Packers from 1999-2003, then spent the next two seasons with the Falcons, serving as tight ends coach in 2004 and offensive line coach in 2005. He returned to the Packers as offensive coordinator in 2006.
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 for his first head coaching job.
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