Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Sources: BC set to fire coach
ESPN.com news services

Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski did indeed interview with the New York Jets and he will therefore not be retained by the school, two people close to the situation told ESPN's Joe Schad on Tuesday.

 

Boston College athletic director Gene DiFilippo, who told Jagodzinski he would be fired if he interviewed, had not spoken with the coach as of 6 p.m. this evening, but he was hoping to meet with Jagodzinski face-to-face as early as Wednesday.

 

DiFillipo, sources say, thought that Jagodzinski was "disloyal" by not speaking with him before scheduling the Jets interview. One source said on Tuesday that Jagodzinski's decision to follow through on the interview made his fate "a done deal."

 

DeFilippo said late Tuesday afternoon that he called Jagodzinski in the morning and was waiting for a return phone call. At that time, he didn't know if Jagodzinski already had met with the Jets, who are seeking a replacement for Eric Mangini.

 

"Haven't heard a word,'' DeFilippo said, according to the Boston Globe.

 

Sitting in his office late Tuesday afternoon, a relaxed DeFilippo told The Associated Press he last spoke to Jagodzinski on Sunday.

 

"Sometimes two people who really, really like each other can disagree on an issue. That's OK. Nothing wrong with that," DeFilippo said. "I really like Jags a lot and I've enjoyed working with him here for two years and he did a wonderful job here.

 

"So we're going to sit down, hopefully, and talk and we'll see where we come out."

 

The Jets declined comment Tuesday through a team spokesman, neither confirming nor denying that Jagodzinski was interviewing for the coaching vacancy.

 

Sources told the Globe that Jagodzinski has made multiple inquiries into returning to the NFL, where he was a coach for the eight seasons before taking over the head coaching job at BC. The newspaper reported that Jagodzinski has put out feelers for offensive coordinator positions as well as head coaching spots.

 

The Globe also reported that Jagodzinski had told members of his staff that he would give them an update sometime on Tuesday. But nobody had publicly acknowledged speaking to the coach.

 

Jets owner Woody Johnson did formally meet with offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer on Tuesday about the team's coaching vacancy, a person familiar with the search told The Associated Press.

 

Johnson was out of the country last Friday when general manager Mike Tannenbaum began the first round of interviews with Schottenheimer and assistant head coach/offensive line coach Bill Callahan.

 

Callahan will sit down with Johnson on Wednesday, according to the person, who requested anonymity because the individual wasn't authorized to discuss the search to replace the Mangini.

 

Johnson and Tannenbaum will fly to Arizona on Thursday to interview Cardinals offensive line coach Russ Grimm. The former four-time Pro Bowl guard with Washington is in his second season with the Cardinals, who play at Carolina in the NFC divisional playoffs Saturday.

 

The Jets had no other interviews scheduled as of early Tuesday night.

 

The Jets will interview Indianapolis defensive coordinator Ron Meeks on Friday at the team's practice facility in Florham Park, N.J.

 

Meeks, 54, has been in charge of the Colts' defense for the last seven sevens and was a candidate for the Washington job last offseason that went to Jim Zorn. He's the first minority candidate to speak with New York, putting the Jets in compliance with the NFL's Rooney Rule.

 

 

New York met on Saturday with Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who has also interviewed for the vacancies in Cleveland and Detroit. The Jets have also received permission to speak with Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, but haven't set a date for an interview. The Ravens play at Tennessee in the AFC divisional playoffs Saturday.

 

Jagodzinski, 45, led the Eagles to the Atlantic Coast Conference title game in his two seasons, losing both times to Virginia Tech.

 

BC finished this season with a 9-5 record after a 16-14 loss to Vanderbilt in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 31, ending an eight-game bowl winning streak for the Eagles. They were 11-3 in Jagodzinski's first season.

 

Jagodzinski spent two years as BC's offensive coordinator, starting in 1997 when Matt Hasselbeck was the quarterback. Hasselbeck is now with Seattle, which must put together a staff under new coach Jim Mora.

 

Jagodzinski was an assistant under Mora in Atlanta and has experience as an NFL offensive coordinator with Green Bay in 2006.

 

If Jagodzinski leaves, Frank Spaziani looms as a possible replacement. He has been a BC assistant for 12 years, the last 10 as defensive coordinator. Sources told Schad that other in-house candidates Steve Logan and Jack Bicknell will also be considered to succeed Jagodzinski.

 

"I want a coach who wants to be at BC for a long time," DeFilippo said Monday.