LOUDONVILLE, NY – The Siena Family is saddened to learn of the passing of football great Charlie Taaffe '73. A 1989 Siena Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Taaffe passed away on Tuesday, Oct. 29 in Orlando at the age of 69 following a short battle with spinal cancer. Taaffe coached for more than four decades in both the collegiate and professional ranks, most notably as the head coach of The Citadel (1987-96) and the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes (1999-00) and Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2007-08).
Born in Albany, Taaffe attended the former Cardinal McCloskey High School (now Bishop Maginn). He spent his freshman year at Clemson University, before transferring to Siena College where he served as the quarterback of the football team for three seasons from 1970-72. A 1973 Siena graduate with his B.A. in Education, Taaffe ranks second all-time in program history with 3,310 career passing yards. He set a Siena benchmark with five touchdown passes in a 48-0 victory over St. John Fisher in 1971, and set a program single-season record with a .551 completion percentage that fall. Siena College sponsored football from 1965-03.
Taaffe served for 10 seasons as the head coach at NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) school The Citadel. He was the 1992 recipient of the Eddie Robinson Award (top FCS head coach) after leading the Bulldogs to an 11-2 record and a No. 1 overall national ranking in the final regular season I-AA poll.
Taaffe led the Montreal Alouettes to consecutive 12-6 records in 1999 and 2000 while being named a two-time Annis Stukus Trophy recipient, becoming the first coach in CFL history to earn the honor in each of his first two seasons. The Alouettes broke the CFL's all-time regular season scoring record with 594 points during the 2000 season. Taaffe later coached Hamilton for two seasons in 2007 and 2008.
Taaffe began his collegiate coaching career in 1973 as both the quarterbacks and running backs coach at UAlbany, and later served on the staffs of Georgia Tech (1974), North Carolina State (1975), Virginia (1976-80), and Army West Point (1981-83), before later serving as the offensive coordinator for Army (1984-86), Maryland (2001-05), Pittsburgh (2006), and Central Florida (2009-14). Taaffe groomed future National Football League quarterbacks Shaun Hill (Maryland) and Blake Bortles (UCF), who was drafted third overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2014 NFL Draft.
Taaffe is survived by his wife Jan, son Brian, sister Mary, brothers Bobby and Paul, and several nieces and nephews. Visitation will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 6 from 4-8 p.m. at the Baldwin-Fairchild Goldenrod Chapel in Winter Park, Florida. A funeral mass will be held at St. James Catholic Cathedral Downtown Orlando on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. The family will host a Celebration of Life following the funeral mass from 2:30-5:30 p.m. at The Country Club of Orlando located at 1601 Country Club Drive in Orlando. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Charlie and Jan Taaffe Football Scholarship at The Citadel, which is awarded to a walk-on football player who best exemplifies the qualities Taaffe stood for as a coach.
