Jan. 5, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. - UCF head football coach George O'Leary announced changes to his offensive coaching staff on Monday.
O'Leary has hired Charlie Taaffe to serve as the team's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Taaffe begins his position today. George Godsey will coach UCF's running backs, Brent Key will coach the team's offensive line and Tim Salem will serve as UCF's tight ends coach and special teams coordinator. David Kelly will remain in his role as wide receivers coach.
"After evaluating the season and taking some time so that they aren't knee-jerk decisions, I think we need to get better on offense," O'Leary said. "I thought that changes were needed in certain areas and those changes have been made. I am anxiously looking forward to next season and this new direction that we are heading in.
"Charlie Taaffe is a highly experienced coach, both in terms of coordinating experience and quarterback coaching. I am very happy to add him to the staff as a major contributor to the offensive schemes and calls."
Taaffe has served as a collegiate head coach at The Citadel and as a professional head coach with both the CFL's Montreal Alouettes and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He was the 1999 and 2000 CFL Coach of the Year in Montreal as he guided the Alouettes to the 2000 Grey Cup final. At the time, only Taaffe and Marv levy had been named the CFL's Coach of the Year while with Montreal. Taaffe also served as the offensive coordinator for the Alouettes from 1997-98 before taking over as head coach. He went 55-47-1 as head coach at The Citadel from 1987-96. His best year was in 1992 when the Bulldogs went 11-2, advancing to the NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinals. He was named the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year for his efforts.
Taaffe most recently coached full-time on the college level as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Maryland from 2001-05 under former O'Leary assistant Ralph Friedgen, helping guide the Terrapins to the 2001 ACC Championship and a berth in the FedEx Orange Bowl. It remains Maryland's only ACC crown since 1985. Taaffe also helped the Terrapins to a 30-3 victory over Tennessee in the 2002 Peach Bowl and a 41-7 win over West Virginia in the 2004 Gator Bowl. In each of his first two seasons in College Park, Maryland broke its school record for scoring, tallying 390 points in 2001 and then 451 in 2002. He spent the 2006 season at Pittsburgh as an offensive assistant under Dave Wannstedt while Bob Junko recovered from heart surgery.
Taaffe was the offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and offensive backfield coach at various points in his tenure at Army from 1981-86. Taaffe's tenure at West Point included berths in the 1984 Cherry Bowl and 1985 Peach Bowl, the only time that the Black Knights have ever played in consecutive bowl games. Taaffe was also an assistant coach at Virginia (1976-80), NC State (1975), Georgia Tech (1974) and Albany (1973). After initially enrolling at Clemson, Taaffe transferred to Siena College near his hometown of Albany, N.Y. where he received his bachelor's degree in education in 1973 and played quarterback from 1970-72 for the now-defunct program. He was inducted into Siena's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989.
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