Offensive Coordinator

The bad news continued for the Boston College football team yesterday as the school announced that offensive coordinator Kevin Rogers was taking a leave of absence for health reasons. The revelation came a few hours after the expected news that starting cornerback C.J. Jones would undergo knee surgery after being injured on the first series of Saturday's 30-3 loss at Central Florida. Coach Frank Spaziani said tight ends coach Dave Brock would serve as acting offensive coordinator and also will coach the quarterbacks.

Josh McDaniels is the anti-Mangini, an ex-assistant who hasn't been excommunicated. The prodigal play-caller has been welcomed back into coach Bill Belichick's football home with open arms, a waiting headset, and his old job - Patriots offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach. "Obviously, it's great to be here and great to be back here," said McDaniels, speaking Friday at the team's rookie minicamp, his first meeting with the media since being rehired in January. "I look forward to doing everything I can to help us win. " A coaching prodigy when he left Belichick's side in January 2009 to...

Yesterday was a busy one for AFC East teams. The Miami Dolphins, moving quickly to find a replacement for offensive coordinator Norv Turner , who took the head job with the Oakland Raiders, turned to Joel Collier , their running backs coach for the past six seasons. The Dolphins also announced the hiring of former Oakland offensive coordinator Marc Trestman as quarterbacks and assistant head coach, and Jerry Sullivan as wide receivers coach. Collier has been with the Dolphins for 10 seasons, the first four as a defensive assistant.

Hamstrung by injuries, the Boston College football team went into the Jay McGillis Spring Game missing 17 players, including 11 on defense. Offensively, the Eagles were without wide receivers Colin Larmond Jr., Johnathan Coleman, and Bobby Swigert and running backs Montel Harris and Andre Williams. That left sophomore Tahj Kimble, junior Rolandan "Deuce" Finch, and sophomore Paul Maglio, a converted defensive back, to handle the bulk of the work. But when Kimble went down with an ankle injury in the first quarter, Finch shouldered much of the burden, running 27 times for 196 yards and...

The Patriots took an unconventional approach by not naming an offensive coordinator for the 2005 season. They filled the position yesterday, but again showed they're not afraid to think outside the NFL's traditional hash marks -- promoting 29-year-old quarterbacks coach Josh McDaniels. McDaniels, who just completed his fifth season with the Patriots, is the youngest coordinator in the NFL. "I don't really look at age being a factor one way or the other. Ever since I've been here, they've always given me an opportunity to perform a lot of things," said McDaniels, who has been a personnel assistant...

Boston College football coach Frank Spaziani has been on the recruiting trail, looking to upgrade a roster that produced a 4-8 season this fall. But yesterday he took care of one administrative issue that had been pending, naming Doug Martin the Eagles' new offensive coordinator. Technically, the position had been open since Kevin Rogers took a medical leave of absence in September. In the interim, Spaziani had moved tight ends coach Dave Brock to offensive coordinator for the remainder of the season, while making it clear the job was open and he would consider...

Boston College offensive coordinator Kevin Rogers will be taking a leave of absence for health reasons. Coach Frank Spaziani says tight ends coach Dave Brock will fill in for Rogers. Rogers had been the quarterbacks coach for the Minnesota Vikings before joining the Eagles this season. He was expected to bring a more wide-open style to the BC offense. The Eagles are 0-2 this year after losing to Northwestern and Central Florida. They open the Atlantic Coast Conference schedule against Duke on Saturday.

The Rams hired former Broncos coach Josh McDaniels as their offensive coordinator yesterday. McDaniels, 34, replaces Pat Shurmur , who was hired by the Browns as coach earlier this month. “We are happy to announce that Josh will be a part of our staff,’’ coach Steve Spagnuolo said in a statement. “I’ve always recognized that he is one of the top offensive minds in the NFL.’’ McDaniels parlayed success as an offensive coordinator with the Patriots into his first head coaching job and at age 32 was the NFL’s youngest coach in 2009.

By Greg A. Bedard, Globe Staff In an effort to get a little bit more inside the game, Alen Dumonjic , an x's and o's football junkie who blogs for The Score, will give us his insight on the intricacies of the game . Look for his analysis before each game. BREAKING DOWN THE DOLPHINS' OFFENSE Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll's offense features mainly 11 (1 back, 1 tight end) and 21 (2 backs, 1 tight end) personnel, with the latter featuring rookie H-back Charles Clay.

Josh McDaniels is the anti-Mangini, an ex-assistant who hasn't been excommunicated. The prodigal play-caller has been welcomed back into coach Bill Belichick's football home with open arms, a waiting headset, and his old job - Patriots offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach. "Obviously, it's great to be here and great to be back here," said McDaniels, speaking Friday at the team's rookie minicamp, his first meeting with the media since being rehired in January. "I look forward to doing everything I can to help us win. " A coaching prodigy when he left Belichick's...

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Ron Erhardt, the offensive architect of the New York Giants' two Super Bowl titles under Bill Parcells, has died. He was 80. The Giants announced that the one-time head coach of the New England Patriots and the long-time NFL offensive coordinator died in Boca Raton, Fla. on Wednesday morning. ‘‘Ron was a wonderful man and a great coach," Giants chief executive John Mara said. ‘‘He was a big part of our success in the 1980s and was an important contributor to our first two Super Bowl championships.

Each time Tim Tebow steps on the field for the Jets, defenses will know what to expect. The unexpected, of course. The versatile quarterback was acquired Wednesday from the Broncos and will give the Jets' offense a boost - for at least a few snaps a game. "Instead of a team just preparing for our base offense, they will have to prepare for what we do and what we may do," coach Rex Ryan said at LSU's pro day Thursday in Baton Rouge, La. Tebow won't start as he did in Denver, not with New York committed to Mark Sanchez.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Ron Erhardt, the offensive architect of the New York Giants' two Super Bowl titles under Bill Parcells, has died. He was 80. The Giants announced that the onetime head coach of the New England Patriots and the longtime NFL offensive coordinator died Wednesday in Boca Raton, Fla. "Ron was a wonderful man and a great coach," Giants chief executive John Mara said. "He was a big part of our success in the 1980s and was an important contributor to our first two Super Bowl championships.

NEWPORT, R.I. - Bill O'Brien traded in his nautical blue Patriots sweatsuit for the dark royal blue of Penn State nearly a month ago, but the native son of Andover, Mass., hasn't gotten over the Patriots' 21-17 loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI. What continues to bother O'Brien, who was New England's offensive coordinator, is the blame that has been placed on receiver Wes Welker for the infamous incompletion on second and 11 with 4:06 to play. Did Welker get more grief than he deserved?

Jonathan Michaeles has been named head football coach at Colby College. The NCAA Division III school launched a national search that drew more than 100 candidates, but stayed close to home, selecting Michaeles, who's been an assistant at the school for the past eight years. In that time he's been offensive coordinator, recruiting coordinator, academic advisor, and strength and conditioning director. Michaeles is a Sturbridge, Mass. native and 1992 graduate of Bates College, where he played wide receiver.

They talk pretty much every day, exchanging ideas while getting to know each other. Chase Rettig has been through it before. So have Dave Shinskie and Mike Marscovetra, the other veteran quarterbacks on Boston College's roster. And so has Josh Bordner, who may very well battle Rettig for the starting job. It is what you do if you are Doug Martin, the Eagles' new offensive coordinator - a position that has been open three times in the last 12 months. But this is not Martin's first dance.

Sports editor Joe Sullivan examines whether the impending departure of the team's offensive coordinator to Penn State will hurt the Patriots' playoff chances. Watch the video.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Ron Erhardt, the offensive architect of the New York Giants' two Super Bowl titles under Bill Parcells, has died. He was 80. The Giants announced that the one-time head coach of the New England Patriots and the long-time NFL offensive coordinator died in Boca Raton, Fla. on Wednesday morning. ‘‘Ron was a wonderful man and a great coach," Giants chief executive John Mara said. ‘‘He was a big part of our success in the 1980s and was an important contributor to our first two Super Bowl championships.

For a team that finished 4-8 last season, Boston College's football coaching staff appears to be quite popular. Although no official announcement will come until tomorrow, new Rutgers coach Kyle Flood has used the BC staff as a personal shopping mall. First, Flood tried to entice defensive coordinator Billy McGovern to come back to his native state. But McGovern declined, telling Rutgers that while he was still very much a New Jersey guy, his roots are also firmly planted at BC. Then Flood approached Dave Brock, who took over as BC's offensive coordinator last season...