[2] A member of the basketball team, Jirsa graduated from Gettysburg in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology.

[1] Jirsa bounced around as an assistant coach, but had two significant stints at the University of Tulsa, first under J. D. Barnett from 1985 to 1988 and second under Tubby Smith from 1991 to 1993.

Jirsa completed his Master of Arts degree in athletic administration at Tulsa in 1987 while an assistant coach there.

Although Jirsa led Georgia to third place in the 1998 National Invitation Tournament title in his first season, he was fired in 1999 after going 35–30.

The following season, Jirsa joined Steve Payne's coaching staff as an assistant at Tennessee Tech.