Charlie Taffe spent five years as a Terp coach and will look for other coaching experiences.

Charlie Taaffe resigned as Terrapin football offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach yesterday after five years on Ralph Friedgen’s staff.

Taaffe did not give a reason for his resignation and released a statement saying he and his family were appreciative of his five years with the Terps.

“I am proud of our many accomplishments during this period of unprecedented success,” Taaffe said in the press release. “I wish the players and staff much success as I explore other coaching opportunities.”

The Terps finished the 2005 season as the No. 70-ranked scoring offense in the nation and No. 7 in the ACC with 24.5 points per game.

Even with recent quarterback questions, the Terps tallied 249 passing yards per game last season, good for second in the conference.

Friedgen, who said he was told Saturday of Taaffe’s decision, attributed much of his team’s success to Taaffe’s expertise with quarterbacks.

“[Taaffe] has done a fantastic job and obviously been a part of some special moments in the program’s history,” Friedgen said, citing the Orange Bowl and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl as two of Taaffe’s better coaching performances.

Friedgen said the search for Taaffe’s replacement will begin immediately and it will be a national search. With an open competition for the starting quarterback spot set for spring practice, finding someone who knows how to coach quarterbacks is crucial.

“I’m definitely going to look for a guy who first of all is a good quarterback coach,” Friedgen said. “[Also,] you can’t have enough good recruiters on your staff.”

Under Taaffe, the Terps set program records for points scored in a season in both 2001 (390 points) and 2002 (451 points). In 2001, the Terps gained almost 440 total yards per game and in 2003, the Terps ranked in the top 30 nationally in total offense and scoring.

In 2004, the Terps began to struggle offensively, netting only 17.7 points per game and 178.5 passing yards per game.

“The last few years, we haven’t been as productive [at quarterback],” Friedgen said. “Hopefully we’ll be a lot better next year.”

Taaffe is the second coordinator to resign this year after defensive coordinator Gary Blackney retired in November. Both were five-year members of Friedgen’s staff.

Before taking the Terps’ coordinator position, Taaffe was the head coach of the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes and coached The Citadel from 1987-96. Taaffe coached the Alouettes for two seasons, reaching the CFL’s Grey Cup finals in 2000, and earning consecutive Coach of the Year awards.

At The Citadel, Taaffe was the school’s winningest coach, going 55-47-1 in his ten years there.

As for Taaffe’s future, Friedgen said his former offensive coordinator has the experience to lead a team again.

“Charlie’s a good football coach. He’s been here since I’ve been here,” Friedgen said. “He’s been a head coach in the past, a very successful one, and I think he would like to do that again.”

Taaffe was reportedly considered for head coaching vacancies at Georgia Tech in 2001, Army in 2003 and at Ohio University in 2004.

Contact reporter Stephen Whyno at whynodbk@gmail.com.