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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 3:47 p.m., Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Boston College's Jagodzinski meets with New York Jets

By HOWARD ULMAN
AP Sports Writer

BOSTON — Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski interviewed with the New York Jets about their coaching vacancy on Tuesday despite the risk of losing his job with the Eagles.

The interview was confirmed by a person with knowledge of the meeting who did not want to be identified because there was no announcement from the Jets or BC. It was first was reported by the Star-Ledger of Newark.

BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo had not heard from Jagodzinski by early Tuesday evening, the person said. DeFilippo said he had left a phone message for Jagodzinski earlier in the day.

"I'm sure he'll get back to me," DeFilippo said. "He always does."

But that very well may be too late for Jagodzinski to save his job. DeFilippo wouldn't say Tuesday if the coach would be fired if he interviewed with New York.

"I'm not going to speculate on that," DeFilippo said. "I just want to see Coach and sit down and have a good talk with him. We'll know a lot more then."

ESPN.com reported Sunday night that Jagodzinski would not be welcome to return if he seeks work in the NFL.

Jagodzinski, who has three years left on his five-year contract, upset DeFilippo when he didn't tell his boss that he would interview with the Jets, who fired Eric Mangini the day after the team failed to make the playoffs despite an 8-3 start.

Jagodzinski was Jets quarterback Brett Favre's offensive coordinator in Green Bay in 2006 but is considered a long shot for the New York job. The Jets declined comment through a team spokesman, neither confirming nor denying that Jagodzinski was interviewing for the coaching vacancy.

Sitting in his office late Tuesday afternoon, a relaxed DeFilippo said he last spoke with 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."

Jagodzinski, 45, had been an NFL assistant coach for the eight seasons before taking the BC job in 2007 after Tom O'Brien left for North Carolina State. He 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.

The BC position was the first as a college head coach for Jagodzinski and has responsibilities far beyond the football field — meeting with alumni and supporters of the program, attending functions and participating in other off-field events.

An NFL coaching job has very little of that, and openings other than New York's could be attractive.

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 before spending one season at Green Bay.

The Jets have interviewed several candidates and planned to talk with Arizona offensive line coach Russ Grimm.

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.

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