Blaudschun kept his focus on the news, but took a positive angle.
For Spaziani, who had fretted over the turmoil of the past few weeks as much as anyone, it was the culmination of a career chase which has finally put him in complete control of a program.
HD also likes the selection.
This is not only the most logical hire for the Eagles, but it's also the best choice.
Kevin Armstrong takes a news approach but adds color on the feeling surrounding the program.
...Spaziani, who has been at The Heights 12 years, brings stability to a program that was in "crisis mode" last week, according to one source close to the program.
Michael David Smith states this will be Gene's legacy.
The bottom line is that DeFilippo has put his own reputation on the line by firing Jagodzinski and hiring Spaziani. If Spaziani turns out to be a coach who can lead BC to an ACC title, DeFilippo will be praised for this decision. But if BC goes in the tank in 2009, everyone will be asking why DeFilippo replaced a proven winner with a relative unknown, just because the winner had ambition.
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33 comments:
I love all of these dopes who keep saying things like "by hiring Spaziani, DeFilippo has put his own reputation and job on the line." Doesn't Gene put his reputation and job on the line regardless of who he chooses? Additionally, it's not like Gene is choosing a Martian to coach the team. Spaz is a logical pic.
Is ESPN News covering the press conf?
I can't stand the "well there goes the program" comments. I can understand people thinking Spaz isn't the best choice, or that we should have looked external more. But the arrogance to decide that someone who has been extremely successful in his current position and knows the school will end up being an absolute failure.
Maybe Spaz will be good, maybe he won't, but only time will tell, not some guy sitting at a desk.
The nice thing about when I was shocked with Jags was that he ended up being a good pick. All I keep thinking about it Larry Coker. When you hire a 60 year old to replace an energetic 40 something he doesn't recruit and the program falters. Given we are not anywhere near what Miami was but I still believe we may have two good years then the runoff begins and we will falter out of the top 25.
Is the broadcast on bceagles.com not working for anyone else? I installed the silver light thing and no go..
I got the internet braodcast to work. Not sure how long it will be before they post it as archived content, now that its over and no longer live.
Well the good news is that it would be damn near impossible to recruit less than Jags who -- regardless of the post-hiring spin -- was putting the worst recruting class together since BEFORE the gambling scandal. Now, if you want to say that Spaz was a part of that failure; that's a legitimate argument. But Jags neither had enthusiasm for nor success at recruiting.
our defense has produced some great college players recently (Herzy, Raji, Kiwi, Silva). So, I think Spaz deserves credit for that, rather than the current lack of recruits. If our offense ever matches our defense we will be dangerous.
I got curious...
Eagle action lists Spaz as a contact for...
2009 - Jim Noel
2008 - nobody
2007 - Corey Eason
2006 - Claiborne
I know you are just posting a link ATL Eagle, but HD does not know sh*t. She has proven to be wrong in many of her projections and opionions. If we are relying on her for technical analysis, then we are in trouble. Just a vote from me to not post her links and here's hoping that ESPN puts someone in there next year who has a clue about the ACC.
cullenmi - I had the same initial thought about a Coker analogy. It was discouraging to learn that Coker was 52 when he got the Miami job in 2001 and not 60ish (guy just looks old). In fact, at 60, Coker is younger than Spaz.
I am trying to remain positive, but I think this is just a terrible, short sighted solution to an avoidable crisis.
Hopefully, the current players rally behind him and put together one conference title run season before the inevitable decline.
What's not to say Spaz can't maintain the defense through recruiting? Perhaps offensively we might take a hit, but couldn't this be remedied with a strong OC?
I agree this doesn't have the splash of an outside hire, but I'm still not sold that this is an overtly poor choce. Obviously the man can coach and lead a defense: if we keep Day, and reel in some more energetic youth on the recruiting front, there is a legitimate opportunity for this to work. Granted, it isn't a shoe in, but I just am not buying the fact that the program is screwed for the indefinite future- unless someone cares to expand upon the open disdain for the selection (beyond simply age).
I wish Spaz the best but I think this is the wrong hire. The UNC and Miami analogies stick with me for some reason. In the college game it is important to have a coach who can do the X's and O's, but it is equally important to have a guy that is charismatic and can charm the alumni, recruits, and the media.
If you look at the top programs (Florida, USC, OU, LSU) they all have coaches that are alive in front of the mike and camera. Hell, even Joe Pa shows a little flair. I am just not sold on Spaz as that guy.
IMO the right (and more difficult) thing to do would have been to take your time, interview anyone and everyone who is interested and decide from there. As much as it kills me to say it, to hell with the recruits this year. If that's what it takes to get the right coach so be it, it is the cost of doing business.
I am miffed right now but I will give Spaz the benefit of my doubt and root for him. I hope his mustache proves me wrong.
As I have said before, I am not overjoyed with this hire but see the advantages/appeal of it and am cautiously optimistic as well as thinking Spaz deserves it. What I really want, is for all you people decrying this selection, WILL SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE SOME REASONS! there have been numerous posts to the effect that our decline is now "inevitable" or that spaz will fail but no one ever says why.
In terms of charisma, when did this become the be all and end all. We suffered through TOB, and Spaz certainly has more than him. And you know what, often the other side of the charisma coin is a greasiness and used-car salesman attitude in college football. Plus there are plenty of college coaches that are very succesful and aren't necessarily "pete carrol" types - Frank Beamer, Mack Brown (i don't think he is charismatic"), Fulmer never was, Dennis Erickson hardly was, etc. Sure, there are some Pete Carrols, Mike Leaches, and Les Miles out there (his own fans have a love hate relationship with him, saying he is all charisma no strategy).
I don't buy that he will be awful at recruiting. He is obviously a good coach. All the haters out there, please explain why he is the wrong choice. You would prefer someone like Addazio who just got promoted to OC at FLA a couple weeks ago when their OC left? Why, what has he proven accept that he is young? How do you even know he is charismatic apart from age? Same with Norvell. Plus maybe they didn't want out job, but decided to stay with their ultra-talented programs another year or two and then get offers from Auburn, Tennessee, Clemson, Notre Dame, etc. Just because they exist doesn't necessarily mean Gene didn't try to contact them or that they were dying to get this job.
Spaz was a good choice, but more importantly he IS the choice. Stop complaining and lamenting the decline of our golden era unless you have some real points as to why that is the case
Eagle 1, Job on the line only the Trustees know for sure. But his reputation is on the line. He was public about replacing TOB with someone that would take BC a higher level. While Jags won some games he proved a failure and it all come out in public mess with lousy timing for BC. Gene then hires a guy from TIOB's staff who he passed over two years ago. So that ups the ante and his reputation as a big time AD is on the line. You cannot be a big time AD and have never had a successful major sport head coaching hire. It is what separates the administrators from the truly good AD's.
On the other hand, best thought Spaz go prove them all right or wrong as the case may be and win the ACC. Will put up plaques, have parades, and other outlandish celebrations that will wipe any bad memories.
Most important question: will Spaz keep wearing the towel on the sideline??
SPAZ ... what a weak choice.
I wonder if it was a money issue. Since they had to buy out Jags, they could not go to the well for more??
I feel like a NY Giant Fan entering the late 1970s early 80s, enter a veery dark period of noncompetitiveness...
the one silver lining, is that Spaz will probably exceed the exceedingly low expectatiosn we all colelctively have.
A Very disappointing waste of an opportunity.
ps... i like these HTML tags... any other one we can use other than b, i and a??
Christopher:
I know that there's honestly very little data to go with as to whether or not Spaz will be a good coach. There have been rumblings from within the program that he is prickly and can be hard to deal with (someone posted here claiming to have been a manager a few years ago). The people who say he's a good recruiter just throw out that the program's best defensive players without data as to who he's actually recruited. This just proves the man can coach, not that he can recruit. Hell, defensive coaches often recruit offensive players and most of the heavy lifting is done by positional coaches, not coordinators.
The only significant data point, therefore, is the bowl game from two years ago. I was there and I remember, even after the TOB WTF games, the team looking extremely unprepared, especially - and this is not a good harbinger - on defense. Now, it was just one game against an extremely tough offense to defend, but LSU did just crush GTech in their bowl game. If we had really played well in that game and Spaz had shown he knew how to get a team prepared, I would be less worried right now. However, I am very hopeful that he does some bring some hardware to the Heights.
I don't think Gene will get fired no matter what happens with Jags, nor should he. Gene has done a tremendous amount for the school during his time here. The ACC move is just part of it. The graduation rate is amazing and there are a lot of low profile non revenue sports that are in the national conversation each year (hockey, men's and women's soccer and I am probably omitting a few). Football and Men's hoops are perenial top 30 teams while sending more than their fare share of athletes to the professionals, both the NFL and NBA.
Looking at athletic progam and school 20 years ago, now, and 15 years in the future, it is on an amazing track and Gene is a part of that. I am definitely a BC homer, but I think the school is becoming a slightly poor man's Stanford, which isn't a bad place to be the grand scheme.
I'm also in the camp of being optimistic about Spaz and not understanding why so many are so down on him. From what I can tell, it seems like the two main reasons people are down on this are that Spaz is not a "splashy" big name and that he is not charismatic, face-of-the-program type coach.
Now I know I probably won't convince many people by comparing Spaz to TOB, but let's remember that we had a sustained degree of success with TOB, and he might be the least charismatic coach in the ACC. Though never top 10 material, his staff brought in consistent recruiting classes and identified good talent that was overlooked. Even now he's starting to turn around the NC State program. The reason we weren't able to get to the next level with him likely had nothing to do with his lack of charisma in front of the media. The patented TOB WTF losses came down to his game day coaching and inability to adjust, an area in which I am optimistic with Spaz, especially if he brings in/retains the right coordinators. True, the team came out flat in those games, but that happens with any coach, even with Jags.
Some of you are freaking out way ahead of time. There is no way any of us can predict future outcomes, good or bad. None of us has any idea whether Spaz is a good hire or a poor hire. Only time will tell. I say he has earned the right to represent the university so let's give him 3 years to show what he can do.
Someone mentioned the Navy bowl game. Do you realize how hard it is to defend the triple option? I was also at that game and if I remember correctly, Navy threw the ball much more than usual. How do you defend that? Further, the offense played so-so and Spaz's boys were on the field a lot that day. Bottom line is he got the win.
By the way, I posted after the Vandy game that next season is going to be a let-down. Even teams like Va Tech have never been in 3 straight ACC Championship games. We have a very tough schedule and the teams in the ACC are only getting better. We have to replace the run stoppers on defense and we need desperate help with the QB position. Let's don't jump all over Spaz if he barely makes it to 6 wins next season. He's the coach. Get on board or go with Jags and don't let the door hit you in the ass.
I think it's fair to bring up the bowl game because it's our only real data point to judge Spaz on as a head coach. Do I think it's indicative of what he'll do as our HC in the future? Ehh, who knows. And yes, it's very hard to defend the triple option. But our best defensive players (Glasper particularly) looked like they didn't know what they were doing. Also, you can't give Spaz - the head coach for that game - a pass on the offense. It's the head coach's responsibility to make sure that every unit and player is ready, not just those of his area of expertise.
For the record, I'm not decrying the hire or claiming that the sky is falling. I'm just not all that excited, either.
What's of most concern to me is why Spaz is the right guy now when he wasn't the right guy two years ago. I don't think the outside competition today was worse than Jags, thus tilting the calculus, nor do I think Spaz is somehow better today than he was two years ago.
That said - I join others in hoping Spaz does well and lasts for a long time. I don't want another search in 3 years when Spaz hits 65 and decides to retire.
Whoever said that "BC is becoming a poor man's Stanford" is purely ignorant and crass. BC is a great institution that has many unique qualities and has one of the best reputations on Wall Street. Ten years from now, it will be an impossible school to get into (it already is extremely difficult to get accepted).
Obviously he isn't a sexy choice, but many so-called "name brand" coaches don't work out anyway. We got a guy who's been part of the program forever and he's still a top notch defensive mind. I like that he's still around, and the only legit concern is regarding his recruiting ability. I guess we'll see in 2 years.
Thumbs up!
NYCEagle, is Wall Street really the place we want BC's name being thrown around right now?
Juuuuust kidding.
Wasn't Spaz an offensive coach in the earlier part of his tenure at BC?
Let's hope he moves away from the zone blocking and takes advantage of BC's position as a natural landing spot for behemoth offensive linemen who become studs who play on Sunday. It's too early to tell for sure whether Jags' guys will fit this mold or not, but I tend to doubt it.
Concerning the bowl game when Spaz was the "Interim" Head Coach - it's unclear to me when exactly he was given that assigment. Initially, O'Brien was going to coach through the bowl game.
The TOB news came on December 6th, I believe, and the search for his replacement took up almost 2 weeks. Jags was announced about the 18th of December - one day after Spaz himself was "interviewed". The game in Charlotte was less than 2 weeks later - December 30th.
I'm willing to give Spaz a pass on that game in the sense that we did win the game - lucky or not. I can only imagine how difficult it was to actually prepare well for Navy, under those circumstances, all things considered.
These guys are human and so are their players.
One thing is for sure - Frank Spaziani is our Head Football Coach - let's get some positive energy going.
The beauty of having a Spaziani coached team is you get a game day coach with smarts who knows the ACC offenses. GTech was held to what? 16 points and we lost to them because, prophetic of the season, WE COULD NOT SCORE ON OFFENSE. The triple option was handled. If we could put points up, we would have won some games that really hurt us. This year we had no plan to move the ball without the Ghost of Matty taking the snaps.
ESPN canonized our Defense because they scored and snuffed the run and took the ball away. The BC Big D was the deal this year. Jags and Logan were put in position to win games by our defense, but the Jags Meister couldn't find a kicker? And happily "managed" games with both QB's? WTF was he doing after the year of Ryan? Recruiting, right? Really--let's celebrate Spaz--who shut out Notre Dame when USC couldn't do it, nor anybody else in a long time--and at home.(ND had been shut out only 3 times in history--and Spaz's BC D is now one of those 4.) Eagle brothers and sisters--this guy has already made his bones on the field. Vandy had 15 shots to make 1st on third down and made ONE. OUR LAME OFFENSE LOST THAT GAME because we had no plan and the QB was still clueless. Coaching? Right.
Spaz has been putting BC in a place to win for a very long time. All this negativity on his hire reflects a very shabby collective memory of what was real this year and in past years. The Defense is The Force in football--if the other guys can't score we've always got a shot. This year was a great opportunity to get to that 1st tier everybody wants so badly. Spaz got us closer to that than any coach I can think of in recent memory. Our D was ranked in the top 10 in everything. Jags' and Logan's offense were ranked in the lower 40.
None of our other candidates are ready immediately to move this very promising BC '09 team. Spaz is our guy. He's a proven commodity with great respect in the conference and in the locker room. So let's appreciate what we've got and watch the magic.
Take Brookline's bet and we'll all line up for a big payoff...
Matt forgot co-ed sailing!!! When all other teams fail miserably, co-ed sailing comes through! Indeed, I would liken the team to UW women's cross-country.
And don't forget women's sailing.. both the co-ed and women's teams won National Championships last year. Add men's hockey and that's 3 NC's in a single year--unprecedented in BC history.
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