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Mike Trgovac

Defensive Line

Biography

Last name is pronounced TER-guh-vack.
Is in his second stint with the Packers, having coached Green Bay’s defensive line in 1999, the same year Mike McCarthy was quarterbacks coach.
Was the Carolina Panthers’ defensive coordinator for six seasons (2003-08), directing a defense that ranked in the top 10 three times.
Has been on the staff of two teams that advanced to the Super Bowl, the Packers last season and the Panthers in 2003.
Played in three Rose Bowls as a defensive lineman at Michigan for Bo Schembechler.
Has coached for five college programs and four NFL teams.

Mike Trgovac (pronounced TER-guh-vack) begins his fourth season with the Packers, his second stint with the team, and his 17th season overall in the NFL.

Named to his current position by Head Coach Mike McCarthy on Feb. 3, 2009, Trgovac was also the Packers’ defensive line coach in 1999, the same year McCarthy was the team’s quarterbacks coach.

In 2010, Trgovac oversaw the development of NT B.J. Raji, who started all 16 games in his second season and posted career highs in every statistical category on the way to being named a Pro Bowl alternate. Raji’s 6½ sacks were the most by an NFL nose tackle since Minnesota’s Ken Clarke recorded seven in 1990, and his 66 tackles led all Green Bay linemen.

Veteran DE Cullen Jenkins posted a career high in sacks as well under Trgovac’s direction, recording seven despite missing five contests due to injury. Raji and Jenkins helped the Packers finish No. 2 in the league in sacks with 47, the highest league ranking in franchise history. Trgovac also tutored veteran DE Howard Green, a midseason waiver-wire pickup, as well as young ends C.J. Wilson and Jarius Wynn as the three all made contributions to a line affected by injuries.

In 2009, Trgovac directed a line that made the transition to the 3-4 defense and helped the Packers lead the NFL in rushing defense for the first time in franchise history. The average of 83.3 rushing yards allowed per game set a team record for any season, and the defense also set a team record by holding opponents to under 90 net yards rushing in 12 games. The Packers moved up 25 spots in the league rushing defense rankings from ’08, the biggest one-year improvement in the history of the franchise.

DE Johnny Jolly set a team record for defensive linemen with 11 passes defensed, the most since the statistic began to be recorded in 1980, and Jenkins posted career highs in both tackles (50) and forced fumbles (three). The pair each posted interceptions on the season to become the first defensive-line duo since 2002 (Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and Vonnie Holliday) to each register an INT in the same season.

Trgovac came to Green Bay from Carolina, where he was the Panthers’ defensive coordinator for six seasons. In that time, Trgovac directed a defense that produced 10 Pro Bowl selections and ranked in the NFL’s top 10 in both yards and points allowed three times.

Most recently, that was in 2006, when the Panthers ranked seventh in the league in yards allowed (296.1) and eighth in points allowed (305). The previous year was statistically the Panthers’ best under Trgovac, as in 2005 they ranked third in yards (282.6), fifth in points (259) and first in takeaways (a team-record 42) in helping Carolina advance to its second NFC Championship Game in three seasons.

His unit’s ability to create turnovers had begun to show up in the second half of 2004, when the Panthers had 29 takeaways in the season’s final eight games. The 38 total takeaways ranked second in the league and tied the club record at the time, and the defense’s 26 interceptions were a league high and team record.

Trgovac’s inaugural season as a defensive coordinator featured his first top-10 unit. After promoting him from his post as the Panthers’ defensive line coach, Carolina ranked eighth in the league in yards (295.3) and 10th in points (304) in 2003, and held top-10 rankings in a handful of other categories.

That defense also forced four turnovers and held the Eagles to a field goal in Carolina’s 14-3 victory in the NFC Championship Game at Philadelphia, earning the Panthers their first Super Bowl berth.

As defensive line coach in 2002, Trgovac oversaw a dramatic improvement in the Panthers’ front four that made a strong case for him taking over as coordinator. Carolina ranked third in the league with 39 sacks and first in rushing yards per attempt. Under Trgovac’s tutelage, DE Julius Peppers was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, while DT Kris Jenkins (older brother of Green Bay’s Jenkins) earned first-team All-Pro honors from The Associated Press.

Prior to his tenure in Carolina, Trgovac coached the defensive line of the Washington Redskins for two seasons (2000-01). Ends Marco Coleman (12) and Hall of Famer Bruce Smith (10) both reached double digits in sacks in 2000, with Coleman being selected to the Pro Bowl.

Trgovac’s first stop in Green Bay, in 1999, was the Packers’ first season in seven years without Reggie White leading the defensive line. That year, DE Keith McKenzie matched his career high in sacks with eight in a part-time specialist role.

Trgovac broke into the NFL as the defensive line coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1995-98. In 1995, the Eagles’ line led the NFL in sacks with 42.5 (of the team’s 48). DE William Fuller topped the squad with 13 and made the Pro Bowl for the first of two straight years.

Trgovac’s career working with defensive linemen in the college coaching ranks spanned 11 seasons and five schools, beginning with his alma mater, Michigan, as a graduate assistant in 1984. After two seasons there, he moved on to Ball State (1986-88), Navy (1989), Colorado State (1990-91) and Notre Dame (1992-94).

With the Fighting Irish under Lou Holtz, Trgovac saw two of his protégés become early selections in the 1994 NFL Draft, as the San Francisco 49ers took Bryant Young seventh overall and the Chicago Bears picked Jim Flanigan in the third round.

Trgovac’s playing career at Michigan from 1977-80 under Bo Schembechler featured three seasons as a starter at middle guard on the defensive line. He was a two-time All-Big Ten honoree and a second-team All-America selection as a senior. He played in three Rose Bowls for the Wolverines and received his degree in education from Michigan in 1982.

Born in Youngstown, Ohio, Trgovac was an all-state football player and wrestler at Fitch High School in Austintown, Ohio, He was named Ohio’s Defensive Lineman of the Year and also captured the state heavyweight wrestling title as a senior.

Trgovac and his wife, Angela, have two children, daughter Jordan, 17, and son Michael, 12. He enjoys spending time with his family and boating.

Last name is pronounced TER-guh-vack.
Is in his second stint with the Packers, having coached Green Bay’s defensive line in 1999, the same year Mike McCarthy was quarterbacks coach.
Was the Carolina Panthers’ defensive coordinator for six seasons (2003-08), directing a defense that ranked in the top 10 three times.
Has been on the staff of two teams that advanced to the Super Bowl, the Packers last season and the Panthers in 2003.
Played in three Rose Bowls as a defensive lineman at Michigan for Bo Schembechler.
Has coached for five college programs and four NFL teams.

Mike Trgovac (pronounced TER-guh-vack) begins his fourth season with the Packers, his second stint with the team, and his 17th season overall in the NFL.

Named to his current position by Head Coach Mike McCarthy on Feb. 3, 2009, Trgovac was also the Packers’ defensive line coach in 1999, the same year McCarthy was the team’s quarterbacks coach.