Charlie Taaffe
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Charlie Taaffe (born April 20, 1950 in Albany, New York) is the head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats football club of the Canadian Football League and former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Maryland Terrapins.
After 4 years as a college quarterback (1 with Clemson, then 3 with Siena College) Taaffe's coaching career began in 1973 as an Offensive Backfield coach at Albany. He then served two years as a Graduate Assistant at Georgia Tech (Wide Receivers) and North Carolina State (Offensive Backs). From 1976 to 1980 he was an Assistant Coach at Virginia, working with the Offensive Backfield, Linebackers, and Special Teams. From 1981-83 he was a Quarterbacks coach and Offensive Backfield coach at the U.S. Military Academy. From 1984 until 1986 Taaffe served a successful stint as an Army's offensive coordinator. In his three seasons as offensive coordinator, the Cadets had a combined record of 23-13. In 1987 he was hired as head coach of 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 the eventual champ 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.
Taaffe was Offensive Coordinator of the CFL's Montreal Alouettes from 1997 to 1998, helping the Als to a 25-10-1 record. In 1999 he became the team's head coach. With Taaffe at the helm, the Alouettes had a combined 25-14 record, including an appearance in the 2000 Grey Cup. For his efforts in 1999 and 2000, Taaffe won the Annis Stukus Trophy as the CFL's Coach of the Year, making him only the second Montreal coach to win the award (Marv Levy being the first in 1974) and the first coach in CFL history to earn the honor in each of his first two seasons.
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 Anthony Calvillo to a 112.9 passer rating in 2000. Running back Mike Pringle also excelled in Taaffe's system, rushing for a league-best 1,656 yards in 1999.
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 2005 he led the offense during the school's first-ever victory over Florida State, then ranked No. 5. A year earlier, Taaffe helped guide the Terps through injuries to finish the season ranked in the top 30 nationally in four offensive categories (rushing (24th), total offense (28th), scoring (27th) and pass efficiency (26th).
On December 15, 2006 Taaffe was hired as the head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
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| Preceded by Dave Ritchie |
Montreal Alouettes Head Coaches 1999-2000 |
Succeeded by Rod Rust |
| Preceded by Ron Lancaster |
Hamilton Tiger-Cats Head Coaches 2007-Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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