Michael John Trgovac ( ; born February 27, 1959) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and a former player. He previously served as the defensive line coach for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

, and

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

and

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

. Trgovac was a member of the Packers' coaching staff that led the team to the NFL championship in

Super Bowl XLV Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

in 2011. Born in

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, 11th-most populous city in Ohio with a population of 60,068 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Mahoning ...

, Trgovac played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

as a

middle guard The Middle Guard () was a formation of the French Imperial Army's Imperial Guard. It was an intermediate force between the elite Old Guard and the less experienced Young Guard. It played a role in Napoleon's military campaigns, offering a balan ...

for the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

from 1977 to 1980. He received All-Big Ten Conference honors in both 1979 and 1980. After graduating from Michigan, Trgovac held various college coaching positions from 1984 to 1994.

Early life

Trgovac was born in

, in 1958. He became an all-state defensive lineman at

Fitch High School Robert E. Fitch High School is a public high school located in Groton, Connecticut. History The original Fitch High School (now the former location of Fitch Middle School) was built in 1928 next to the Town Hall on Poquonock Road and was funded ...

Austintown, Ohio Austintown is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place within Austintown Township, Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. The population was 29,594 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Loc ...

. He was named defensive lineman of the year in 1976 and also won the state wrestling title. He is of Croatian ancestry and his surname means "Trader" in the Croatian language.

Playing career

Trgovac enrolled at the

in 1977 and played

at the

position for

Bo Schembechler Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. ( ; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American college football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the Univers ...

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the List of NCAA football teams by wins, most all-time wins in college football ...

teams from 1977 to 1980. As a sophomore in 1978, he started six games for the Wolverines and received the John F. Maulbetsch Award (presented to a football underclassman for desire, character, capacity for leadership and future success both on and off the football field). As a junior, Trgovac started 11 games at middle guard for the 1979 Michigan team, won the Frederick Matthei Award, and was selected as a first-team player on the

1979 All-Big Ten Conference football team The 1979 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Big Ten Conference teams for the 1979 Big Ten Conference football season. Offensive selections Quarterbacks * Art Schli ...

. As a senior, Trgovac again started 11 of 12 games at middle guard for the

1980 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1980 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the 1980 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 12th season under head coach Bo Schembechler, the Wolverines compiled ...

that compiled a 10-2 record, finished #4 in the AP and UPI polls, and outscored opponents 322 to 129. Trgovac was selected as a first-team All-Big Ten player for the second consecutive year.

Coaching career

College

Following his graduation from Michigan, Trgovac became a graduate assistant under Schembechler in the 1984 and 1985 seasons with fellow GAs

Cam Cameron Malcolm "Cam" Cameron (born February 6, 1961) is an American football coach who was most recently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of the LSU Tigers football program. Cameron attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana an ...

and

Bill Sheridan William Sheridan (born January 27, 1959) is an American football coach who is a senior defensive assistant for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccane ...

. From 1986 to 1988 he coached the defensive line at Ball State. Following a one-year stint with Navy, he joined former Ohio State coach

Earle Bruce Earle Bruce (March 8, 1931 – April 20, 2018) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Tampa (1972), Iowa State University (1973–1978), Ohio State University (1979–1987), the University of ...

's staff at Colorado State as defensive line coach. He ended his college coaching career with three seasons on

Lou Holtz Louis Leo Holtz (born January 6, 1937) is an American former college football coach and television analyst. He served as the head football coach at the College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the N ...

's staff at Notre Dame.

Philadelphia Eagles

Trgovac served as the defensive line coach for the

from 1995 to 1998. In 1998, the Eagles finished third in the NFL in sack percentage and first overall against the pass. Trgovac's 1995 line recorded an NFL-best 42.5 sacks.

Green Bay Packers

Trgovac was hired as a defensive line coach by the

. He only spent one season with them.

Washington Redskins

In 2000, Trgovac was hired by the

. He served as their defensive line coach for two seasons. He helped guide a Redskins defense that ranked fourth in the NFL and first in the NFC in 2000.

Carolina Panthers

Following the 2001 season, Trgovac joined the

. He was promoted to defensive coordinator for the 2003 season. Since Trgovac joined Carolina in 2002, the Panthers rank fifth in total yards allowed, trailing only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos. They were also sixth in first downs allowed and rushing yards allowed per attempt, ninth in rushing yards allowed per game and 10th in third down efficiency. After turning down a contract offer from the Panthers, Trgovac informed Head Coach John Fox and General Manager

Marty Hurney Marty Hurney (born December 20, 1955) is an American former professional football executive. He served as an administrator for the San Diego Chargers in the 1990s before working as the general manager of the Carolina Panthers throughout much of ...

that he was leaving the team.

Return to Green Bay

In 2009, Trgovac returned to the

as their defensive line coach. He was let go along with several other Green Bay defensive assistants following the 2017 season.Packers gave coach Mike McCarthy 1-year extension during the season
ESPN. Retrieved on January 2, 2018.

Oakland / Las Vegas Raiders

On January 18, 2018, Trgovac was hired by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

as their defensive line coach. In January 2019, it was announced that he had been replaced by

Brentson Buckner Brentson André Buckner (born September 30, 1971) is an American professional football coach and former defensive tackle who most recently was the defensive line coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He previo ...

. Subsequently, Trgovac became the Raiders' senior defensive assistant.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trgovac, Mike 1959 births Living people Carolina Panthers coaches Green Bay Packers coaches Michigan Wolverines football coaches Michigan Wolverines football players NFL defensive coordinators Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Washington Redskins coaches Philadelphia Eagles coaches Ball State Cardinals football coaches Players of American football from Youngstown, Ohio Navy Midshipmen football coaches Colorado State Rams football coaches American people of Serbian descent Oakland Raiders coaches Las Vegas Raiders coaches