Thursday, April 12, 2012

Coaches with baggage

Let's assume BC football struggles this year and makes a coaching change in the offseason. We will look at numerous coaching candidates, but consider if you would want either of these two guys.

Coach A: Has been an offensive coordinator of elite offenses in the Big East, SEC and Big Ten. Has recruited the midwest including a focus on Cincinnati. Is 46, married father of three and a devout Catholic. Played QB at a Division II Catholic College. Is the son of a coach and his brother is a high profile coach. Has a stint in the NFL. Although his brother is known as a jerk, he is well liked by recruits and coaches. He has never been a head coach and never worked at a school like BC.


Coach B: Proven winner at multiple stops at the college level. Former Coughlin staffer. Runs explosive offenses and has a reputation for getting the most out of his talent. Is difficult to work for and with and has been fired. His reputation is tarnished, but if hired would certainly need to prove himself and rebuild his image at BC. Would probably win big at his next stop.


I don't think either of these coaches would be hired by BC. The problem is they are both Petrinos.


Paul Petrino took a job at Illinois to build a profile that was separate from his successful older brother. His name was hot when the Illini started strong in 2011. But as Zook's final season started falling apart, Petrino the younger fell off of people's short list. Looking for a safe landing he returned to his brother's staff. I don't know Paul personally, but from people who do know him, his reputation is that he is the anti-Bobby. He's personable and well liked. He's big on facing the music and working well with his superiors. The Catholic stuff is second-hand but fits with his father's profile too (Bobby Sr still attends Mass four times a week). In the past Petrino could have been a great sell from BC: "he's got Bobby's Xs and Os but loves BC and is here to stay." Now the association with his brother will be a negative and probably too much for BC. When Paul does get his chance he is going to have to answer questions about his brother. Other coaches will use it against him too. If his last name was Smith, BC would probably roll the dice post-Spaz. Now I don't see it happening. There are enough blank slates with upside, that I don't think Gene or BC would want to touch Paul.


If BC is going to roll the dice on a Petrino it would probably be with Bobby. Now let me clearly say that I don't think Gene or Father Leahy would touch Bobby Petrino with a ten-foot pole. The only way Petrino would get involved with BC is if the season gets so bad and Gene and Leahy are somewhat removed from the hiring process. BC wouldn't be a bad place for him to rehab his image. He knows he could win in the ACC and do it without media scrutiny. I have no idea what is going on with the Petrino's marriage or family, but Boston and a school like BC would be an extreme change of scenery from Arkansas. It might work. And as far as BC's reputation being sullied by association with a job-hopping, jerky philanderer, if framed correctly, BC could claim that we are a forgiving community and that we are helping Petrino rebuild his career as he rebuilds BC football.


In an ideal situation, I would like the next BC football coach to be a perfect guy, with the experience, track record and personality to win big at BC. I don't know if that guy exists. We might not need to take a chance with a Petrino, but we should consider guys with issues. A coach looking to build or rebuild his reputation while rebuilding our program is not a bad trade off.

25 comments:

Committee for a New Direction in BCA said...

The Committee for a New Direction in Boston College Athletics believes that both President Leahy and the current athletic director's career at Boston College should immediately come to an end. The Committee for a New Direction in Boston College Athletics is deeply concerned about the many allegations that appear to be backed up by present and former for employees of Boston College, and BC Alum. The BC board of trustees must become more transparent as past BC board of trustees have been. The question is will the board meet its fiduciary responsibilities or will it operate as a rubber stamp for President Leahy.

We want what is best for Boston College and realize that no one person is larger than the university.

It would be in the BC board of trustee’s best interest to also think of a replacement for President Leahy. BC now carries $700 million plus in debt. Like his athletic director the BC President appears to be a poor business manager.

As people who love Boston College we can blog till we are blue in the face about the ‘what if(s)’ or some other hope.

President Leahy does not like big time athletics that is clear. This athletic director is not a big-time D1A athletic director that has been clear for years. The tragedy taking place for years at the Heights is soon coming to an end beginning with this athletic director's exit however they wish to spin it. History will look back and judge Leahy and this athletic director harshly. Fundraising is what all colleges do but to exploit your (our) student athletes for more dollars and to pay a very controversial athletic director $600K to $1 million who is not D1A quality is the real crime here. Photo ops with Jerry York and Doug Flutie, and being decked out in BC wear reveals an intent to repair the damage done from recent disclosures – all of these calculated efforts have been noted by BC Alum and fans and is not going to save this athletic director’s job.

Important Fact:

1. Our greatest success in athletics came under the direction of Father J. Donald Monan, president of Boston College who is a sports fan.
2. Please note that two former Boston College athletes and alumni became our most successful athletic directors (Bill Flynn and Chet Gladchuck).
3. The interest of the student athletes were front and center.
4. When you have an emotional tie to something you will protect it.
5. The football team saved Boston College you (the board of trustees) now govern from the legacy provided by Father J. Donald Monan, Bill Flynn and Chet Gladchuck, and our incredible athletes.
6. All of these leaders made modest incomes and yet the university thrived as did our sports programs.

Join our cause:

http://www.change.org/members/15406828

Thx,

The Committee for a New Direction in Boston College Athletics

Knucklehead said...

I am not sure what the average debt situations are for Universities but the endowment numbers are good. If you look at endowment vs. debt(according to your numbers) there is 2.1/1 ratio.

I don't believe that the school is mismanaged from a financial perspective. That is evidenced by the fact that Boston College is still employing Spaz instead of taking the fincial hit of paying his severance to leave and then hiring another coach. It is also backed up by the fact that new group os assistant coaches are low budget hires.

I will go back to what I have been saying here for years. Gene is a good business person. He is not good at hiring coaches. This has cost the school in terms of success in athletics and in terms of dollars spent fixing mistakes. Gene needs to hire a consultant to assist in the hiring process of the next womens basketball coach and men's football coach.

Two names come to mind Jerry York and Tom Coughlin.

If I were Gene I would get a list of candidates and ask/beg Mr. Coughlin and Mr. York to interview the candidates and discuss who would be the most suitable for Boston College.

This would require relationship building and humility. It will be difficult for Gene however it would improve his success in hiring and possibily his reputation.

Knucklehead said...

Here is the endowment information:

http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/offices/endowment/top50endowments.html

NEDofSavinHill said...

Excellent post by the Committee for ND-BCA. All points are valid . Please God don't allow Gdf to hire any more coaches. Under Gdf BC sports have fallen to a new low . A 20-53 record.2. The only historical events of a similar debacle would be the collapse of the British Army at Dunkirk, the collapse of the British Army at Yorktown, the collapse of the British Army at Singapore and the collapse of the Italian Army in North Africa. 3. Maybe Fr. Leahy is a votary of Chinese philosophy and is practicing yin and yang. He had Gladchuk hire the best mens coach in the country(York) and for balance he hired the worst A.D. in the nation.4. 90% of the attendees at the hockey rally were students. More than half booed when Gdf was 1st mentioned.

Knucklehead said...
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Knucklehead said...

I was watching Illinois play Wisconsin this past year. Noon Espn game.

Going into a commercial ESPN had their sideline camera man on Petrino with his players.

He was going absolutely nuclear: Profantity, aneurysm face, berserk the whole nine yards.

Like the post says there is NO WAY IN HELL either of those scumbags is being hired by Boston College. I don't care if he played quarterback at Notre Dame and built his own church.

Knucklehead said...

Gladchuck worked under Father Monan.
Leahy and Gene started about the same time in 1996/97.

Gladchuk hired York, Skinner, T. O'B and Inglesse.

Committee for a New Direction in BCA said...

Dear Bloggers:

The debt piece is becoming a major concern as was noted by a former member of the BC Board of Trustees. Additionally, the cost to attend Boston College is now approaching $60K. The Committee for a New Direction in Boston College Athletics is concerned not only with the high debt and the new cost to attend Boston College but we are very concern that President Leahy does not understand that students come to Boston College because of D1A athletics in addition to reputation and location. With respect to letting great coaches exit Boston College we would like to share the following:

· Good business men or women leave demonstrated success alone. The key question in all of this is the breakdown of this athletic director’s compensation.

· The Culture under this athletic director is met to make this athletic director shine not our athletes. You have a D3 former QB who wants to feel like he is a D1A player/athlete and that he has a larger national persona than the great coaches he either fired and or forced out. The Committee now knows that Head Football Coach Tom O'Brien departed BC because this athletic director would not pay the assistant coaches what they were worth. Additionally, the Committee knows that this athletic director called the AD at NC State to speak negatively about Coach O'Brien even after he left BC. So the question here is, "what is the culture like working under this mindset?

Houston We Have a Problem:

§ The steady decline of a historic and significant economic base for the university.
§ The steady decline of the football program.
§ Loss of BC Football Alum financial support for the university.
§ Loss of significant BC Football fan base.
§ Declining BC Athletics ticket sales (gives away free tickets for appearances sake).
§ A shifting away from a traditional Athletics Director’s role to that of fundraiser.
§ A self serving motivation to receive higher compensation on the part of the Athletic Director, i.e. surcharging.

Hard to defend this reality, here it is:

Poor business manager of Boston College Athletics with a self serving financial arrangement (compensation: role of athletic director and role of fundraiser- additional compensation); Current Boston College Athletics Director (Non-BC Alumni) hires at Boston College:

§ Former Head Football Jeff Jagodzinski (11 Wins vs. 3 Losses; ACC Div Champ; #10 Nat'l Poll; Champs Sports Bowl; the Eagles were ranked second in the Bowl Championship Series standings); a winning coach, fired.
§ Current Head Football Frank Spaziani, poor coaching record.
§ Current Women’s Basketball Coach Sylvia Crawley, Just got fired (another medical issue announcement, or is it?).
§ Current Men’s Basketball Coach Steve Donahue, poor coaching record.

Note: Our AD’s public statement - The current BC Football Coach (Frank Spaziani) is the best coach this AD has seen at BC in 15-years (4 Years, 20-19); Where does this leave national championship winning hockey coach Jerry York on his list? What does this statement tell our present student-athletes about Boston College’s commitment to excellence in athletics?

eagle1331 said...

1) I don't know who this new found "committee" is, but signing a petition on change.org isn't something I'm about to do without knowing who is actually organizing something. Don't call for transparency and not offer it, that is hypocritical; "Hey Kettle, you're black."

2) Don't offer a petition and sell it as one thing and read as another. That petition is as ambiguous and multidimensional as Gene D's politico motivations. That petition calls for change in leadership just as much as it argues for compensation for athletes, whether that be the purpose or not.

I took out loans of over $200,000 for my BC education and am still paying them off, with interest. Only 1 program (Football) is profitable in and of itself during an average year at Boston College (yes, I acknowledge that they do provide marketing, sales opportunities, etc. for the school that you cannot attach a monetary value to). So on average, a 4 year student athlete is getting $50,000 in education and books, as well as a special meal plan, travel opportunities, and extra education assistant (scheduling considerations, Yawkey Center Aid, etc). Don't even get me started on admissions assistance (I love Jared Dudley, but as a BC Alumnus I am embarrassed by his terribly worded/spelled tweets). Sounds like they are getting compensated pretty damn well to me.

Big Jack Krack said...

I participate in Atl's blog to mainly discuss our players and their progress - especially football. I still get really keyed up with anticipation before a season or a game.

It was never about the coaches or the Athletic Director, although there are real issues surrounding those individuals.

Perhaps there will not be a new direction in BC Athletics until Fr. Leahy, and Gene DeFilippo both retire.

In the meantime, I'm rooting for Frank Spaziani, his coaching staff and his team because I'm an alumnus and this is our team and this is my team. I do not wish to denigrate my own team.

Some posters (on other boards) are predicting 2 and 10, etc.

Well, I've been watching college football for a long time and we have a chance to be fairly good this year. With a few breaks we could be very good.

I sure am glad we don't have some of these lying weasels as our HC.

I'll be there screaming my voice out versus Miami on Labor Day Weekend - and we're going to beat those guys.

Go BC

Go Atl Blog - let's get back to talking about the hard working players and our chances this year.
Let's draft on our hockey success and be positive.

Committe to End BS Committes said...

Well said last poster.

If the committee is going to effective they need to SIGN their own names to the petition and to pledge their "sacred honor" to the cause. Otherwise, they about as effective as any other blog ranter -- i.e completely ineffective, like me now ;-)

The committee says it is composed of former football player(s)? Big whoop. That does nothing for me. it is even irritating that people who paid nothing are complaining

There also is a another agenda stated in the petition, but not stated in the post on this and otehr blogs:

"Are Boston College athletes ‘all’ men, women, black and or white being exploited for profit inclusive of an incredible decline in Boston College Athletics under the tutelage of current Boston College President and this 'controversial' Boston College Athletic Director


The Committee is looking for a change in leadership, a new direction, and the restoration of the universities’ once highly regarded NCAA Division 1A athletic program, and to restore the reputations of nationally respected coaches wrongly treated to meet the self serving financial needs of the Director of the Boston College Athletic Department. We are seeking justice for the defaming and unjust firing of a legendary African-American men’s basketball coach Al Skinner; the unjust firing of women’s basketball Coach Cathy Inglese and others; and to end the excessive Athletics Director tampering of the internal relationships between head coaches, their staffs and the athletes causing grave harm to the relationship structures needed for a successful sports program."

Scholarship athletes exploited???? Hey coddled babies, try paying tuition & room/board & expenses for 4 years (about $250,000 after taxes for 4 years; $357,000 pre-tax or $89,000 a year in pre-tax value; add the cost of interest over the years and you are talking about almist $100,000 per year for each exploited athlete!!)

and tell me how exploited these athletes are. That is just not credible.

Justice for Al Skinner??? - Al gets justice to the tune of over a $1,000,000 a year in severance pay. I cry not for Al. He also mailed it in for the last several years before being canned.

So, really what is the committee about? and who is on it? Until there is some focus and clarity, it just a bunch of nothing

Anonymous said...

One thing that people should understand is that the BC Football and to a lesser degree, the Basketball programs basically support the many Title 9 programs which are non-revenue producing. So for all of those student athletes who participate in swimming, track & field, soccer, etc...watch out. You'll be the first ones to get cut when the revenues dry up due to the revenue shortfalls associated with the failures of the Football and Basketball programs...and forget about alumni/booster donations...that dog doesn't hunt.

Anonymous said...

One thing that people should understand is that the BC Football and to a lesser degree, the Basketball programs basically support the many Title 9 programs which are non-revenue producing. So for all of those student athletes who participate in swimming, track & field, soccer, etc...watch out. You'll be the first ones to get cut when the revenues dry up due to the revenue shortfalls associated with the failures of the Football and Basketball programs...and forget about alumni/booster donations...that dog doesn't hunt.

bceagle93 said...

Completely unrelated to thread, but nice, long ESPN story published today on Keuchly being a "sure thing":

http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft2012/story/_/id/7797075/2012-nfl-draft-linebacker-luke-kuechly-tackles-every-challenge

eagle1331 said...

I almost fell out of my chair laughing at "the committee to end BS committes" name... and later post... glad that I inspired something wity since I went a little off topic and got too serious. Well put.

CT said...

I'm taking the Bobby Petrino part as a late April Fool's Day joke.

Signed a 10 yr. extension with Lousville then left a few months later to become the Falcons coach.

Interviewed with Auburn secretly while Tuberville was still the coach.

Interviewed for neary every major college opening that came up when he was at Louisville. And you thought TOB was bad in this regard.

Left the Falcons mid-season with a note addressed "To Atlanta Falcon Football Player," hanging in everyone's locker. Introduced at Arkansas the next night. Despised by every Falcon player, to a man.

Had an affair, improperly used state funds, and half-apologizes b/c he's, you know, such a good guy.

Oh, he'd love recruiting for BC. "What do you mean they have to know how to read?"

If you disgrace an SEC school, you know you need help.

A quitter, a cheater, a thief... he scores on the field and off. Loyal to only himself. Other than that...

NEDofSavinHill said...

Gladchuk and FR. Leahy fired the corrupt Jim Obrien. After a vicious smear campaign by the Globe Gladchuk left. Gladchuk worked with Leahy initially. Later Gdf hires the Fenway group(Globe) to do BC's p. r. Ryan at the Globe smears Skinner with the "lazy" label. Does Fr. Leahy have any problem with the Gdf-Globe arrangement?

Anonymous said...

Interesting that DeFillipo's daughter scored a job with the Fenway Group...the same Fenway Group that scored a contract with BC Athletics...no conflict of interest there.

Big Jack Krack said...

Pray tell, what exactly does Fenway Sports Management do for Boston College?

I see that Mary DeFilippo is the "Coordinator, Sales".

Bubba, maybe you're on to something - something that could get Gene DeFilippo fired or pushed into early retirement.

Seriously, FSM bills itself as creating succesful, integrated sports marketing programs - and all of its clients, except for Boston College Athletics, are professional (Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC, LRMR/Lebron James, Major League Baseball Advanced Media, NESN, PGA Tour/Deutsche Bank Championship, Roush Fenway Racing, etc.)

What would be going through an AD's mind to sign on with these guys? What do they really do for Boston College besides providing his daughter Mary with employment?

You know, Gene - I'd really rather spend my time thinking about my BC Teams than your inside deals.

I'm going to get a cheer going this year during TV timeouts at Football games.

Gene DeFilippo - RETIRE! Give me an R, Give me an E, give me a T, give me an I' Give me an R, give me an E - what have you got? RETIRE, DEFILIPPO - RETIRE!

Go back where you started - Springfield.

Knucklehead said...
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Knucklehead said...

The Boston Sports Group relationship with Boston College goes back to John Harrington(BC Grad) and the Yawkey(Tom Yawkey owned the Red Sox and left Harrington in charge he and his wife died) Trust Group that ran the Red Sox before the current scumbag owners bought the Red Sox in the early 2000's. You might know that the "new" football/athletic offices annexed to Alumni Stadium are in a building called the Yawkey Athletics Center.

The Fenway Sports Group first real client was Boston College. They were behind creating the current logo and keeping BC football on WEEI(who has rights to broadcast Red Sox).

Not sure if there is a legal/ethical issue with Gene's daughter working for them but the relationship between the John Harrington/Yawkey Trust/ Red Sox/Boston College has been "out there" for years.

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/rvp/pubaf/03/yawkey.html

Knucklehead said...

The relationship between Harringtons/Yawkey is why the Boston College baseball team was allowed to play the Red Sox in Spring Training. Now Northeastern and Tufts and these other schools get to play but Boston College was the first.

Big Jack Krack said...

Does the Yawkey Foundation have any relationship with Fenway Sports Management?

I think the Yawkey Foundations (original and II) are great family charitable foundations - and Boston College has been a beneficiary for sure.

FSM is a different deal, correct?

Knucklehead said...

Boston College is the relationship between the two. The Univeristy was a beneficiary of the Yawkey Trust and the first client of Fenway Sports.

dixieagle said...

The president of the Yawkey Foundation, Jim Healey, is a BC Alum and wonderful guy (I admit I'm completely prejudiced, as he is a close friend.)