Flor St - UCLA
I am beginning to think that UCLA wins this easily. Their defense has been top notch lately Florida St. may have gave everything they had in trying to beat Florida. But, I have been wrong more often than not this year.
Jagodzinski
Looks like Jags is the man. The source here is Mark Blaudschun. This is the Globe's top man and not just a rumor if it is up on boston.com ...... I hope we keep Spaz.
Most media outlets
Still report Jagodzinski or Whipple as the leader. BC has played this one close to the vest. I honestly am not sure what to think. I think would have liked Nebraska's offensive cooridinator.
Spaziani
Spaziani is reportedly interviewing with Leahy this morning. Spaziani would do anything to get this job like allowing DeFillipo to have a say in his staff personnel. This means that DeFillipo could 'suggest' an innovative offensive cooridinator like Dave Clawson at Richmond..... All rumors and innuendos but its the hot one. This would allow us to maintain continuity and the defensive schemes that have worked well as of late but not sure as to anyone's ability as a recruiter.
Dave Clawson
Is the name that continues to be mentioned. He is now the head coach at Richmond. Apparently he is an offensive innovator. Looks like he wants to also make the jump from 1-AA to 1-A. He is a Williams grad and turned the Fordham program around. Attached is his bio.
http://richmondspiders.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/clawson_dave00.html
BBall Thoughts
BC basketball has improved by leaps and bounds since an embarrassing home loss to Vermont. Any time you lose a player like Craig Smith who was the centerpiece of the offense for years it will take time for players to adjust to their new roles and find chemistry with each other. It looks like they might be making that transition.
We all knew Dudley was a marked man and that he would be counted on to provide the stability that this young group would need. (I would never say Sean Marshall can be counted upon to provide stability). But two positives that have become evident in the last few games are the emergence of Sean Williams and Tyrese Rice. Williams’ role to this point has been to rescue teammates with his shot blocking prowess when penetrators got into the lane. Now, his game is starting to expand. He has not only shown some basic interior moves but has been assertive in asking for the ball and looking for his shot instead of panicking and throwing up some off-balance floater. The improvement we have seen from last year has been huge and it begs the question, ‘What is his upside for the remainder of the year? If he continues to improve BC will become a multi-faceted team where Dudley may not see as many double teams. I do not see why he will not continue to emerge on the offensive end as he logs more playing time and feels more comfortable as an option..
Tyrese knows that there are no other options to replace him. Simply put he is the only member of the team that can handle the ball. Sure Dudley is adept at handling pressure and bringing it up but he is by no means a distributor in the open floor that can get into the lane by blowing by defenders. That’s what Rice can do and thus far he has handled it well. That sense of Tyrese rushing his decisions and making questionable passes has yet to be seen this year and for the most part he has been able to setup his teammates to run their half court sets. I have been impressed by his maturity as to when to launch the three pointer versus continuing to run the half court set to obtain a higher percentage shot. Last year he may have felt he needed to make the big play to stay on the court, now he just needs to run the team intelligently.
-Dudley is great at maneuvering in the low post. He feels the defenders on him and knows how to maneuver to get a good look. He also knows when the double team is effective on him and where he can look to get the ball to another teammate for a shot or a secondary pass.
-No idea what to expect to Akida when he returns. He has shown some ability to score and rebound but nothing consistent. If he returns as a solid contributor BC’s frontline has to now be one of the best in the nation.
-Haynes might not be suited for our offense. He seems like a player that always needs to be on the go to maximize his skills. His athleticism is great to see when he makes a good basketball play.
Why does Sean Marshall always seem to double clutch on his foul line jumper? It is never smooth to look at.
BC needs to work on its flex offense amongst particular members of the team in the high post. Sean Williams and Shamari Spears throwing bounce passes to each other against aggressive defenders is downright scary. They both need to seal their men with their legs and backside to avoid defenders shooting the gap.
Oh, and this Red Sox and Matsuzaka thing is insane.
Coaching Update
Since the abrupt departure of Tom O'Brien (to the fan), it appears that Gene has been quite busy interviewing and determining candidates for the vacant head coaching position. Mark Whipple was interviewed this past Sunday and reports say that Green Bay Packers offensive cooridinator Jeff Jagodzinski was as well. Jagodzinski was the former offensive cooridinator at BC before the arrival of O'Brien.
Other candidates being thrown out now include Kevin Gilbride, Charlie Strong and Jay Norvell.
Kevin Gilbride would quickly make me sell my tickets and the other two candidates are current assistants in the collegiate ranks. Strong is the defensive cooridinator at Florida and Norvell is the offensive cooridinator at Nebraska. I do not know too much about either candidate so do not have any real opinion. Strong is a minority candidate that people have been saying is head coaching material for the last few years but no one has pulled the trigger.
As it becomes more apparent that Gene knew this was happening, he has been able to contact his short list and obtain interviews without a problem. Most reports think Whipple is the guy to beat and that Gene is going through the motions to show due diligence and to ensure that his decision is the right one.
I have no problem with a search that takes a couple of weeks if we hire the right guy. The heck with a class of recruits if it buys you the correct man at the helm. In no sport is coaching as valuable as in football. I thought the Patriots were crazy to trade a first round pick for Belichick but that seemed to work out.
Also, I do not care if we hire a man with NFL ambitions. If he can get an NFL head coaching job from stopping off here then so be it. That most likely means a BCS bowl at some point so that works for me. A career BC person would be nice but how many non-hockey head coaches could BC hire that fits that description.
BC as poor travelers
If people can not make the bowl game they can still purchase and donate a ticket to Charlotte area youth groups. Below is the link. This sales number is the figure that future bowl committees will be looking at in judging BC's ability to sell tickets.
http://ev9.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventInfo?ticketCode=GS%3AIBM%3AF06%3ACBD%3A&linkID=bostoncoll&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode=
More Rumors
Sources from Pittsburgh, Boston and Amherst are reporting BC will be talking to Mark Whipple this weekend. We'll see how this plays out.
Possible Coaches
Here is a list of coaches that I have seen thrown around as possible candidates.
Randy Edsall – The current Connecticut coach has done a good job of bringing Uconn to the point of being competitive. During the Dan Orlovsky years, the Huskies hung with some decent ballclubs and scared BC. During BC’s departure from the Big East he was quiet and never criticized BC but just stated he would like to continue playing against them. Uconn is a tough sell to football recruits with its lack of tradition. It took Schiano a long time to turn Rutgers around which has been playing Division 1 football forever in a fertile recruiting ground. BC has the base in place and Edsall has proven that he can field a competitive team with just a couple of recruits.
Paul Johnson – The Navy coach makes a boatload of money and has taken Navy to multiple good seasons. He has been successful at implementing his option offense which either indicates he plays to his players’s strengths or that he may not be as successful coaching a pro style offense.
Jim Fassel – The former coach of the New York Giants is out of football at the moment. Not sure if he is a college coach but his son did attend BC and his professional resume would have instant credibility with recruits.
Steve Kragthorpe – The hot mid-major coach right now. Brought Tulsa to respectability in a short amount of time.
Mark Whipple- Won the national championship at UMass before departing for the quarterbacks coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coached Big Ben to the title. Has desperately wanted a head coaching position at a Division 1 school but has not been given the chance.
Bob Davie – Do not want a Notre Dame castaway. TOB beat him with inferior talent. Gene and him go back to Youngstown where DeFilippo coached him so there is a long standing relationship.
Mike Ditka – Because watching Ferris light up like a school girl with him on the sidelines would be worth bankrupting the future for the most overrated coach of all time.
Mike Kruczek – Former BC quarterback is now the offensive cooridinator of the Arizona Cardinals. If ever there was a dead end franchise.
Johnson ain't coming
You think BC will give a million more to him? He may not need that much but here are our tax dollars at work.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/football/bal-sp.navyfoot08dec08,0,4907511.story?coll=bal-sports-headlines
Who will be the interim coach
With O'Brien taking the job at 5PM today and DeFilippo calling a 7PM conference it will be interesting to see who gets named the temporary head coach. In addition to that will O'Brien announce what assistants will be accompanying him to Raleigh?
I will miss Spaziani who showed what he could do with some decent athletes. I have no love loss for Bible who should have been gone years ago.
O'Brien leaving
In O’Brien’s tenure at BC, he not only turned around the program but brought it to a level of respectability where opponents knew that they could no longer just show up and blow out BC. However, compensation did not follow his on the field success. His salary puts him 10th in the ACC amongst head coaches as of the start of this season despite fielding one of the top 3 products over the last two years. If you are O’Brien that has to be seen as a slap in the face when considering Al Groh, Chuck Amato and John Bunting all made more than he did.
The question is was O’Brien forced out or did he just take a better opportunity? If BC acts quickly and hires their new guy then I would take that as DeFilippo having a short list of candidates in hand waiting for this day. If the search takes time then it would appear that BC had no idea that this was coming.
I would be surprised if BC was caught off guard by this move. If BC has a financial threshold that it will not cross for any head coach than this institutional decision would definitely have been communicated to O’Brien in the past. With O’Brien’s recent success, DeFilippo probably knew that eventually a school would offer O’Brien a substantial increase and that O’Brien would take it. He then knew he was dealing with a fluid situation where a school had to only make O’Brien an offer before his replacement search must begin.
I also find it hard to believe that BC has a maximum amount that they will pay their football coach. If BC believed that they had the right guy and the right staff, then an increase in pay for the coach would not be tough to justify for a guy that literally took BC out of the cesspool of college football. BC and DeFilippo may have been happy with O’Brien but may have suggested some staff changes that the head coach did not concur with. (Replace Bible and you get your salary increase). If that was the case, then the AD also knew he was dealing with a short-timer. This put DeFilippo in a position where he could not replace a guy that was being praised throughout college football without BC looking bad in making that decision. O’Brien would have to look like the instigator of this breakup.
For O’Brien, who just proved that he could smash that salary barrier, why would he not leave BC? Why would he want to coach for a school at a low pay rate when his teams do not even get considered for better bowls? If he had gone 9-3 at NC St. this year then the WolfPack would have been a lock for a good bowl with their traveling capacity. His 9-3 down there would be seen as a success even if the team underachieved because the school would still receive positive exposure from an appearance in a lofty bowl. That does not even get into the facts that NC St. may be able to recruit without BC imposed restrictions and the better facilities that NC St. is reported to have. He gets to recruit in a more fertile area instead of having to recruit kids to come to Boston and play in the cold. Those factors right there are tough to ignore even if the salaries were similar.
BC’s speed in making this hire and the salary given to that newcomer will help shed some light on the backroom conversations that may have taken place.
So, on to the next coach. The names being tossed around include Jim Fassel, Bob Davie, Mark Whipple and other known names. The hot name of the college football world is Tulsa coach Steve Kragthorpe. Attached is his bio. Not sure if he is a fit but he did coach at BC as the QB coach.
http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/kragthorpe_steve00.html
NC St. Rumor
Rumors are all over the internet saying that O'Brien to NC St. is a done deal. I have seen nothing more than innuendos however.
This is not a good move for BC. Despite not coming away with more this season he has done a great job in rebuilding the program. We are in every game and have won some high profile ones. With the small salary that BC gives its coaches it will be tough for this program to not be a stepping stone for other coaches.
If O'Brien does leave, BC will signal its institutional direction with the next hire based on his experience and salary. Bring in a big name coach and we are players, if we don't, we can only hope that the next coach can make an Orange Bowl every ten years.
Stanford Job
Yet another job that O'Brien will be mentioned for. He has brought our program back to respectability both on and off the field. He has proven he can win at an institution with academic standards and Stanford is a university that can additionally recruit itself.
Rutgers goes from the BCS to playing in a bowl on the NFL network. The Big East's bowl affiliations show through mightily.
There may be no more undeserving bowl team for their bowl than Iowa. 6-6. Are you joking me? Against Texas in the Alamo Bowl. The Big 10 knows how to contract its teams.
Bowls - Playoffs
I remember the joy of New Year's Day when I was a young kid. Would wake up, do God knows what but eventually settle in and watch college football games all day long with my Dad. Once in a while I think I would return to my own tackle football game in the backyard, jumping over piles of snow until I tired of dive plays up the middle. When I did return to the house, there was always soda and pizza to drink and eat. The pizza has remained, the wings have been added and the drink of choice is usually fluid based on what is still open on the countertop.
1985 is when I was hooked for good. Doug Flutie brought BC to the Cotton Bowl and a victory over the then powerful Houston Cougars. BC has never returned, but I have, countless times to witness college football's grand day, an absolute blowout of bowls from morning till night providing the college football fan with all the memories he needed to live his life during the eight months that college football is not a part of his routine.
But slowly things changed. First the number of bowls on that day decreased. Then the bowls started being spread out on the days after New Year's. Now we have a system where the title game is 7 days after New Year's. The reasons are of course financial in addition to attempting to pit the top two teams against each other. As much as I detest losing that day, the matchups that the BCS produces have given us some great games. Ohio St. would have never played Miami (or should have won because of pass interference) in the double OT thriller in the Fiesta Bowl. Texas would have never brought 50000 cowboys to Los Angeles. And Notre Dame would not be routinely slaughtered due to an undeserved invite. I only wish they could all play them on the same day now.
This system also has its own share of flaws. An undefeated SEC team should never get left out of the national title game but that occurred with Auburn just a few years ago. Inevitably, this reignited the argument that the bowl system should be modified and replaced with a playoff system. Division 1-AA currently has the system in place which produces a consensus
national champion on the field, not in the polls.
The argument against a playoff system is of course a lie, that this would adversely effect our student-athletes who would not be able to juggle the additional football games in a playoff scenario vs the one game bowl scenario with their academics. The real reason is the financial power of the bowls who do not want their historic system altered. People have full time jobs working for the Sugar, the Rose or the orange Bowl. And these situations have been in place for years.
I am not one for abolishing the bowls but why not use the bowls as part of the playoff system? Why not figure out a way to allow the bowls to get their money while providing college football with a system that is fair to all parties that think they have a right to lay claim to the national title. Do you think Florida wishes that Auburn had come calling to the Swamp? Or that Michigan might be number one if the game had taken place in Ann Arbor? Those can be described as part of the uniqueness of college football but it also does provide merit to the argument that home field should not be the only factor in determining who the best team in college football is.
The reason for bringing this up now is just to point out some of the hypocrisy of the system. The college presidents just agreed to have a 12 game season. What does this added game bring us? Buffalo for crying out loud. Half the leagues also have a title game. That brings us up to 13 games. Add a bowl to that and you now have 14 games. So, if we revert to an 11 game season and introduce a 16 team playoff the actual title game participants are the only ones playing more games than what some teams do now. Do you think that the presidents of those schools would care one iota about their student-athletes with that type of exposure? This present state just goes a long way towards proving that it has nothing to do with academics but everything to do with finances. Then we could have a big bash on New Year's day again. Put the semifinals on that day and have a bunch of other bowls to reward good seasons to teams that did not quite make the playoffs. This year the non-playoff teams could include Tennessee, California, Virginia tech, Texas, Nebraska, West Virginia ..... Not too bad for some bowls.
