Jeff Jagodzinski hasn't had the best of luck since being fired by Boston College in 2008. In the time since his firing, Jagodzinski was passed over by the New York Jets for their head coaching vacancy and was hired and fired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before the 2009 season even started.
Now, Jagodzinski can add the UFL's Omaha Nighthawks to the list of teams that have fired him, as news broke on Monday that he was let go by the UFL-owned franchise following a disappointing 3-5 record.
"I would like to thank coach Jeff Jagodzinski for helping to establish the Omaha Nighthawks as a member of the United Football League and for his hard work since he and I announced the expansion franchise back in April," said UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue in a press release on UFL-Football.com.
Jagodzinski's coaching career began in 1985 as a running backs coach for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. In 1986, he took a job as an offensive line coach at Northern Illinois before becoming a graduate assistant at LSU in the the 1987-88 season.
From 1989 through 1996, Jagodzinski again served as an offensive line coach, this time at East Carolina. From 1997 to 1998, Jags was brought on board as an offensive coordinator/offensive line coach at Boston College. He left The Heights in 1998 to become a tight ends coach for the Green Bay Packers, and he stayed with the team until 2003.
Then in 2004-05, Jagodzinski accepted a position as an offensive line coach with the Atlanta Falcons, where he would work until becoming the offensive coordinator for the Packers in 2006.
Jagodzinski was hired as the head football coach at Boston College in 2007 after the departure of Tom O'Brien. In two seasons at Boston College, Jagodzinski guided the Eagles to a 20-8 record.
In 2007, coach Jags and his Eagles finished the season at 11-3 (6-2 ACC) and were ranked tenth in the country. Boston College, led by star quarterback Matt Ryan, capped off the season with a 24-21 win over Michigan State in the Champs Sports Bowl.
Jagodzinski wasn't as successful in 2008, leading the Eagles to a 9-5 record (6-3 ACC) and a loss to Vanderbilt in the Music City Bowl. Nevertheless, the Eagles finished first in the ACC Atlantic Division both years, but it wasn't enough to save his job -- Jagodzinski was let go by BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo after interviewing for the head coaching position with the Jets against his will.
Following his firing at BC, Jagodzinski was hired by the Buccaneers to be the team's offensive coordinator on Jan. 29, 2009. However, on Sept. 3, Jagodzinski was fired before the team's final preseason game following concerns that he could not communicate the plays in an effective manner.
On April 15, 2010, Jagodzinski was hired as the first coach of the UFL's newest expansion team, the Omaha Nighthawks. Jagodzinski led the team to a 3-1 start, but the Nighthawks lost four in a row to close out the season. When all was said and done, Huyghue knew that Jagodzinski wasn't the right man for the job.
"The Nighthawks were arguably the biggest success story in sports off the field in 2010 with four straight sellouts and a buzz that engulfed the city of Omaha," said Huyghue. "But on the field the team was unable to replicate that success and as people involved with our sport appreciate, a head coach's longevity is linked with on-field results, so we have chosen to make a change."
It hasn't taken long for Jagodzinki's name to surface in the college football rumor mill, as a report from The Hartford Courant indicated that Jags may be a possible replacement for Randy Edsall, who resigned following the team's 48-20 loss in the Fiesta Bowl to become the new head football coach at Maryland.
Another name to consider is former Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski, who coached the UFL's Omaha Nighthawks last season but was not retained Monday. Jagodzinski, 48, was 20-8 in two seasons with BC before he was fired after interviewing for the Jets' head coaching job despite being told not to by school officials.