Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports was the first to report Bajakian’s departure and Feldman reported that Bajakian is leaving to “pursue other coaching opportunities.”
According to VolQuest.com and Sports Illustrated’s Thayer Evans, Bajakian’s opportunity is with the Tampa Bay Bucs as quarterbacks coach under head coach Lovie Smith. Evans is reporting that Bajakian will join the Bucs’ staff, while VolQuest.com is reporting that Bajakian is leaving Tennessee and is “likely” headed to Tampa.
Bajakian previously spent time on Smith’s staff with the Chicago Bears from 2004-06 as a wide receivers coach.
Bajakian was with Tennessee as offensive coordinator during Butch Jones’ first two seasons leading the program. Previously, Bajakian was Jones’ offensive coordinator at Cincinnati from 2010-12 and at Central Michigan from 2007-09.
The news of Bajakian’s departure comes a few hours after Central Michigan head coach Dan Enos left the program to become the offensive coordinator at Arkansas. FootballScoop.com is reporting that the opening at CMU “might change things” for Bajakian, despite his offer to join Tampa Bay’s staff.
From Football Scoop:
Fox Sports is reporting that offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian is leaving to “pursue other coaching opportunities”. We can confirm this and add, per sources, Bajakian has been offered a very appealing NFL job (quarterbacks coach for the Tampa Bay Bucs…who have the first pick in this year’s draft); with this morning’s news regarding Central Michigan, a job Bajakian was in the running for when Dan Enos was hired, this might change things. Based on what we have heard, we would expect this to play out in the next 24-48 hours.
In addition to his time as CMU’s offensive coordinator, Bajakian was also CMU’s quarterbacks coach in 2002-03 and was in the running for the head-coaching job when Enos was originally hired in 2010 after Jones left for Cincinnati.
Bajakian certainly has ties to the Central Michigan program, so this situation will be one to keep an eye on in the coming days.
For more Tennessee news, visit VolQuest.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Reports: Tennessee offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian leaving program
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