After ranking dead-last in all of NCAA IA football in total offense for 2008, the UCF Knights are hopefully getting an offensive infusion designed to put points on the board and “W’s” in the win column. Head Coach George O’Leary has hired Charlie Taaffe, a former Maryland assistant coach with extensive Canadian Football League experience, to take over as the Knights’ offensive coordinator. O’Leary also demoted offensive coordinator Tim Salem to tight ends coach and special teams coordinator, moved George Godsey from quarterbacks coach to running backs coach and shifted Brent Key from tight ends coach and special teams coordinator to offensive line coach.
Taaffe, 58, was a two-time coach of the year in the Canadian Football League (1999 and 2000) while leading the Montreal Alouettes. He was 5-23 as the head coach of the CFL’s Hamilton TigerCats until he was fired in September. Taaffe previously had left the CFL to be the offensive coordinator at Maryland (2001-05), helping the Terrapins set school records twice for most points in a season. Taaffe has run both the spread and triple-option offenses. Before the CFL, Taaffe was the head coach at the Citadel. He posted a 55-47-1 record at the school, winning the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award after an 11-2 season in 1992. (Note: Portions of this article are courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel).