Charlie Taaffe
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 20, 1950 Albany, New York, U.S. |
| Died | October 29, 2019 (aged 69) Orlando, Florida, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1969 | Clemson |
| 1970–1972 | Siena |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1973 | Albany (QB/RB) |
| 1974 | Georgia Tech (GA: WR) |
| 1975 | NC State (GA: OB) |
| 1976–1980 | Virginia (QB/RB/LB/ST) |
| 1981–1983 | Army (QB/RB) |
| 1984–1986 | Army (OC) |
| 1987–1996 | The Citadel |
| 1997–1998 | Montreal Alouettes (OC) |
| 1999–2000 | Montreal Alouettes |
| 2001–2005 | Maryland (OC) |
| 2006 | Pittsburgh (OC) |
| 2007–2008 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats |
| 2009–2014 | UCF (OC) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 55–47–1 (college) 29–35 (CFL) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1 SoCon (1992) | |
| Awards | |
| Eddie Robinson Award (1992) 2× Annis Stukus Award (1999–2000) | |
Charlie Taaffe (April 20, 1950 – October 29, 2019) was an American gridiron football coach who was the head football coach at The Citadel from 1987 to 1996. He is the winningest head coach in the school's history. He was also the head coach of the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes (1999 to 2000) and Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2007 to 2008).
Coaching career
After 4 years as a college
The Citadel
In 1987, Taaffe was hired as head football coach at The Citadel. In 1992, he coached what was arguably the best in The Citadel's history, finishing 11–2 and was the top ranked team at the end of the regular season. The team however lost to Youngstown State in the quarterfinals. For his efforts, Taaffe won the Eddie Robinson Award. In 10 seasons at The Citadel, his overall record was 55–47–1, including six seasons of .500 or better and is the school's winningest head coach.[1] Taaffe also led the Bulldogs to a 6–5 record against Division I-A teams, with wins against Arkansas, Army, Navy, and South Carolina.
Taaffe was suspended by the school for the entire 1996 season after his second drunken-driven arrest in three years.[2] Taaffe admitted to the police that he had four to six beers prior to driving.[3] He was acquitted of the charges on February 6, 1997 after prosecutors failed to prove that Taaffe was under the influence when he was stopped. It was the second time he had been cleared of drunken driving.[4] He was fired from the school and was hired in May 1997 with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.[5]
Montreal Alouettes
Taaffe was offensive coordinator of the CFL's
While in Montreal, Taaffe's offenses put up some impressive numbers. In 2000, the Alouettes broke the CFL's all-time record for points in a regular season as they posted 594. Taaffe helped quarterback
Maryland
In 2001 Taaffe became Maryland's offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach. In his first year, Taaffe was able to steer Maryland to 390 points (a then school record) and an average of 35.5 points per game. The Terps' 439.7 yards of total offense per game were the best in the ACC. Taaffe's option offense helped the team to an average of 220.7 yards per game on the ground, second-best in the league. Shaun Hill flourished at quarterback and was a second team All-ACC selection. In 2002, the Terps set a school record for points scored with 451 while finishing second in the ACC in rushing (198.8 ypg) and scoring (32.2 ppg) offense. Taaffe helped guide quarterback Scott McBrien to an honorable mention all-league performer and finished 12th nationally in pass efficiency.
At Maryland Taaffe's offense earned national respect with a balanced attack that beat opponents both on the ground and through the air. In 2004, he led the offense during the school's first-ever victory over
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
On December 15, 2006 Taaffe was hired as the head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. With little talent to work with, Taaffe not surprisingly led the Tiger-Cats to a 3–15 record, with only one win against fellow Eastern Division teams. Despite Taaffe's offensive credentials, the Ti-Cats nearly 80 points fewer than any other team in the league. On September 8, 2008 the Tiger-Cats fired Taaffe and replaced him with offensive coordinator Marcel Bellefeuille.
UCF
On January 5, 2009 the University of Central Florida hired Taaffe as offensive coordinator.[6] UCF was in much needed help on offense after finishing the 2008 season ranked 119th on total offense and 115th in passing offense.[7] Charlie also brought his son Brian Taaffe, a freshman quarterback transfer from Fordham University.[8]
Taaffe immediately went to work and the
Later life and death
After retiring in 2014, he was hired by a company called Quarterback Country to run a year-round quarterback training and development program.[14] On October 30, 2019, Taaffe's sister posted on Facebook that he had died from cancer.[15]
Head coaching record
College
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | NCAA# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Citadel Bulldogs (Southern Conference) (1987–1995) | |||||||||
| 1987 | The Citadel | 4–7 | 1–5 | 8th | |||||
| 1988 | The Citadel | 8–4 | 5–2 | 3rd | L NCAA Division I-AA First Round | 14 | |||
| 1989 | The Citadel | 5–5–1 | 1–5–1 | 8th | |||||
| 1990 | The Citadel | 7–5 | 4–3 | T–4th | L NCAA Division I-AA First Round | 15 | |||
| 1991 | The Citadel | 7–4 | 5–2 | T–2nd | T–20 | ||||
| 1992 | The Citadel | 11–2 | 6–1 | 1st | L NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal | 1 | |||
| 1993 | The Citadel | 5–6 | 4–4 | T–4th | |||||
| 1994 | The Citadel | 6–5 | 4–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 1995 | The Citadel | 2–9 | 0–8 | 9th | |||||
| The Citadel: | 55–47–1 | 29–34–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 55–47–1 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
CFL
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Result | |||
| MTL | 1999 | 12 | 6 | 0 | .666 | 1st in East Division | 0 | 1 | Lost in Division Finals | |
| MTL | 2000 | 12 | 6 | 0 | .666 | 1st in East Division | 1 | 1 | Lost in Grey Cup | |
| HAM | 2007 | 3 | 15 | 0 | .167 | 4th in East Division | – | – | Missed Playoffs | |
| HAM | 2008 | 2 | 8 | 0 | .200 | 4th in East Division | – | – | Fired | |
| Total | 29 | 35 | 0 | .453 | 2 East Division Championships |
1 | 2 | 0 Grey Cups | ||
References
- ^ Citadel Coaching Records Archived April 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Citadel coach suspended for season for DUI – Chicago Sun-Times
- ^ DUI Taaffe’s Suspension Was Well Warranted – The State
- ^ Former Citadel Football Coach Cleared Of DUI Charge – The State
- ^ https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/may/12/ex-citadel-coach-goes-to-cfl/
- ^ "Amid shakeup, UCF taps Taaffe to lead offense". Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved January 5, 2009.
- ^ 2008 UCF Football Rankings
- ^ "New UCF offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe looks to give Knights confidence". Archived from the original on January 20, 2009. Retrieved January 17, 2009.
- ^ "2009 UCF Football Archive". Archived from the original on August 25, 2010. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
- ^ UCF: Wild Knight is callin’ Archived July 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "2010 UCF Football Archive". Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
- ^ "No. 15 UCF stuns No. 5 Baylor in Fiesta Bowl". USA Today.
- ^ "2014 NFL Draft: Jaguars get an A+ for selecting Blake Bortles third - CBSSports.com". www.cbssports.com. Archived from the original on May 9, 2014.
- ^ "Charlie Taaffe, former UCF coach, hired to run local quarterback training program". Orlando Sentinel.
- ^ "Former Citadel football coach Charlie Taaffe dies". WCBD-TV. October 30, 2019. Retrieved October 30, 2019.