Sunday, June 19, 2011

Nuggets from Blaudschun's ACC article

BC beat writer picked the middle of the summer to rehash and look back on BC's move to the ACC. Blauds has always been a subtle critic of the move and used BC's lack of championships as a jumping off point for the piece. Most of it is worthless regurgitation of old talking points, but there are a few worthwhile pieces of information inside.

Spaz's pessimism
Spaziani has continued to build, although he sees some choppy waters ahead.

“When we came into the ACC, Florida State and Miami were in down cycles,’’ said Spaziani. “Now they’re both on the up cycle. It’s not going to be easy.’’


This is another example of where I think Spaz needs to change his approach with the media. It comes off as lowering of expectations. That public attitude impacts players and fans.


Obligatory quote from Tranghese

Former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese, who had an up-close look at BC’s departure six years ago, says that while he didn’t agree with the way BC departed, he understands the reasons.

According to Tranghese, the BC president, Rev. William Leahy, “had concerns about the league getting away from its base and adding schools, and Gene [DeFilippo, the athletic director] was worried the league was going to implode. And both of those concerns had some merit.’’


Tranghese's certainly softened his stance. This is as much of an "I was wrong. They were right" admission as you will ever get from him. It probably doesn't hurt that he is no longer employed by the Big East. But I also hope he realizes that his attempts to bully and belittle BC publicly only made the BC community that much more determined to leave.


UMass update

With the University of Massachusetts moving to the FBS level, DeFilippo has offered it two-for-one deals over a six-year period, meaning the Eagles would host UMass four times and play twice on the road (which would be at Gillette Stadium).

“We’ve offered UMass what we’ve given every MAC school — a two-for-one deal. I think it’s fair,’’ he said.



I've been on board with the UMass series, so this confirmation is good news (for me). A two-for-one with the away games at Gillette is a no brainer. Hopefully UMass will take it. They are unlikely to find four road games against a BCS opponent that would be a bus trip.


Scheduling


But DeFilippo also helped by not overburdening the Eagles in their nonconference schedule, turning seven-win seasons into nine-win seasons and nine-win seasons into 11-win seasons.

BC’s nonconference record since 2000 is 48-9. But in those 57 games, it faced only five ranked opponents. In fact, until the Eagles faced (and lost to) No. 13 Nevada in last season’s Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, they had not played a ranked nonconference opponent since 2004.

“It helped Tom to build,’’ said DeFilippo. “Tom’s a good football coach and he did a fine job here.’’


So now the narrative as to BC's watered down schedule is that it helped TOB build. I got it. Still that doesn't explain the current philosophy. Who are we helping build now? I clearly understand Gene's point. I was a student when our non-conference schedule was Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State and Army. We don't need to do that every year. I also don't think we need to play a schedule more difficult than most. But Gene also needs to realize that a big name opponent will help interest in the program.


The only thing about the article that surprised me was the timing. I am not sure why Blauds is writing it now. It will be interesting if some of the talking points established here will get reused if BC struggles this year.

14 comments:

CT said...

You know, one man's "pessimism" from Spaz is another man's "telling it like it is." FSU and Miami are on the upswing, and I do think making a championship game will get harder, especially now that Fisher is getting his pieces in place and they're on our side of the conference. But even if BC won 10 games every year, Spaz would still bemoan his circumstance, so that's just how it'll be for the forseeable future. His ability to recruit and Rogers' ability to get something out of Rettig is all that matters, as Spaz has proven to know defense.

Tranghese all of a sudden sounding rather diplomatic. A few years too late, I'd say.

I think there's been an overall trend toward softer nonconference schedules from most FBS schools, so I don't think GDF is doing anything out of the norm. That kind of schedule doesn't matter in Athens or Columbus or Austin, because they'll go watch the water boys practice, but at BC...

Happy Father's Day!

blist said...

I've defended Spaz before, but yeah, come on. You could also look at it as -"Yep, it's a great challenge but I have faith in our guys to play hard. Then if you win in the ACC, you have a good shot at playing for the national title." That would be refreshing once, Coach.

On scheduling he was a little too critical - even the 2006 sked he cites, you can't expect BYU to be weak when you schedule it a few years out, and Navy's not a push over. Plus the simple fact is BC football is better overall, so therefore our OOC opponents appear weaker by comparison.

Lastly, I think Blauds ignores the fact that the level of competition in everything but basketball got better all around in the ACC, so BC having a near identical record shows an improvement.

Real nice to see Tranghese drop the act and start being a little more frank. He was a decent commish before it fell apart. Funny to read yet agin how Penn St in 82 or 83 ruined Eastern football, though.

mod34b said...

Miami is on the upswing? NOT.

NEDofSavinHill said...

So far not so good for Spaz. He's 0-2 in bowl games, 0-2 versus Notre Dame. TOB was 7-0 in bowl games and dominated Notre Dame. GDF's coaching hires cannot compare with Gladchuck. It was Gladchuck who hired York, Engelese, Coughlin, O'Brien and Skinner, BC's winningest coaches. GDF paints a false picture of BC when he arrived. BC already had stellar coaches in place. GDF can take no credit for the success of TOB, York, Engelese and Skinner. So far, his replacements are demonstrably inferior to the people he sacked. GDF had proven to be the Dukakis of ADs: good press, poor results.

eagleboston said...

Mod,

Miami is definitely on the upswing. Their coach turned around Temple. Let me repeat, their new coach took Temple to a bowl game! Notre Dame has a phenomenal coach in Kelly and Miami has a terrific leader in Golden. If not for the issue of timing, both could have been at BC. Unfortunately, due to prestige, tradition and now coaching, BC will have a major task in beating Notre Dame and Miami in the near future (in fact, the Notre Dame series appears to have taken a dramatic turn with 2 straight losses after years of dominance).

eagleboston said...

Ned,

You are forgetting that TOB got swamped by Colorado in his first bowl game with BC. To be fair, most of the BC squad was suffering from the flu but it is still a bowl loss.

mod34b said...

Eagleboston - you could argue that Miami has bottomed out and therefore it now must be now heading up.....but who knows. No great field results to speak of as of late, coaching upheaval, recruiting issues. heck, they could still be sinking.

The U of today is in no way comparable to FSU, who will be a formidable opponents for years to come - (and a roadblock to get back to the ACCCG). But we could have easily beaten FSU last year with a break here and there. So I am concerned, not intimidated.

But let's see if Golden can right the ship before we bestow accolades. Temple is a far cry from Miami.

eagleboston said...

Hi Mod,

I would agree that Florida State is our biggest obstacle. I'm also keeping an eye on Maryland. I think we are about even with Wake, Clemson and NC State. The ACC is such an evenly matched league and we could go anywhere from 3-5 wins to 8-10. Just don't know at this stage. That is what makes it fun!

Even though it has no bearing on the ACC, I live in Notre Dame country and I really, really want to beat them.

BCNorCal07 said...

Thought it would bear mentioning here, but Alejandro Bedoya had a huge game for the USMNT today against Jamaica. He was all over the place in the first half and was really instrumental in the US attack. He likely ensured himself of a roster spot and a role as a key sub as World Cup qualifiers get underway. If Charlie Davies ever recaptures his prior form, there's a strong possibility we could see two Eagles on the USMNT!

Mr. Tambourine MAn said...

Always enjoy the blog ATL, but your obsession with whether Spaz is enough of a cheerleader is misplaced. Coughlin wasn't a cheerleader. I don't think you'd be hearing him go on and on about how he could beat Miami, he did just fine.

Its pretty common for coaches to downplay their own team and play up the competition. Its a combination of superstition and an unwillingness to provide bulletin board material.

"Great Motivators" like Parcells were known for this type of stuff. For every Pete Carroll, there's a Nick Saban or an Urban Meyer.

If the team doesn't come around this year with an established QB and a good OC, then go after Spaz for his coaching. His press clips aren't the problem and I doubt you'd be going after a successful coach over these same comments.

Erik said...

I Disagree with GDF here:
"DeFilippo has tried to schedule wisely, aware that, for fan interest, wins can count as much as — if not more than — competitive but losing games against big-time opposition."
The only two things non-conference games can do is 1) get you to the BCS Title Game over the Orange Bowl, and 2) get you bowl eligible.
We're usually good with 32 and don't have to worry about #1, so give me the chance to beat a good team instead of a likely win vs Kent State.

As far as Spaziani, his attitude is definitely a theme of ATL's blog. I can't quite share Bill's criticism because I'm not sold that he is like that with the players in his pre-game speeches or in weekday practices. He can take a difference approach to media interviews than he does while working with kids. I don't really know what he's like in that regard, but I'm not going to assume the worst.

Erik said...

By "32" I mean "#2"

JBQ said...

GDF offered UMass a two for one deal. Previously, this was the same offer for BC by ND. This is a sign of dominance. I did not like this at all for BC. I support the comment of NEDofSavinHill.

BCMike said...

Dominance?

First, comparing any team to ND for a scheduling convo is pointless--they're a unique player that can afford to act like the belle of the ball because...well, they are. At lease scheduling-wise.

BC's approach to UMass offering a chance to play a local opponent under an hour away is just smart, and if anything, nice of us to offer at all.

It will continue to be a zero-win game for BC outside of local exposure. Beat them, you're supposed to they're tiny and just started D1A. Lose to them, you're awful and the new power in MA (this is remarkably similar to the UCan't argument).

I'd be fine not playing them at all...but if we want to, I think this sort of deal is more than fair and UMass will jump on it without a doubt.