Sunday, November 25, 2012

Spaz fired

The most predictable move of the offseason has occured as BC fired Spaz. Now we begin the unpredictable search. I will have more tonight.

37 comments:

Fenwick 111 said...

Mangini

AA said...

Worst coach ever.

AA said...

Spaz, not Mangini. Maybe Diaco from ND

ccw said...

I still blame Gene. Apparently he never heard of the Peter principle.

Knucklehead said...

I would seriously consider Martin.

The programs needs to purge though.

Unknown said...

Let's get Diaco

nceaglefan said...

Can we get a 2 for 1 special and get rid of Donahue as well!

Unknown said...

And if we make a play for Diaco, we should do it ASAP before the national championship game so he and ND are sufficiently distracted as they prep!

eagle98alum said...

Golden should be our first call. Spend the $$ and get a solid hire. Next call Diaco.

AA said...

BC doesn't have the $ to get a big time HC. A top assistant, yes. A MAC head coach, yes.

rick_nadell said...

TOB was let go too. Its sort of poetic the two are fired on the same day

DonovanEagle08 said...

@ AA... A 1.8 Billion dollar endowment is not enough for a big time coach? BC has the money, let's see if they have the stones.

mod34b said...

Me thinks AA is a BC hater, possibly a BC rejectee

Unknown said...

BC definitely has the money...,whether or not they choose to pony it up for a big name is a different story. I say they do so this time around

eagle98alum said...

Bc definitely has the money! The Flynn Fund will help. It'll be interesting to see if Leahy let's Bates spend it. The program is a mess. Major changes are needed. Starts with a splash hire

ccw said...

AA is right. This is not a great job for a host of reasons.

The endowment comment is a joke. Do you really think our Jesuit sports hating president is going to allow that money to be tapped for anything other than capital projects?

People who make the money comments have NO IDEA how college sports economics work. None.

NEDofSavinHill said...

Money is not an issue. The new playoff payout will add at least $4 mil per year more than the BCS system. If BC wants a proven winner to get back to the 10 win level bring back O'Brien. Skinner too.

Unknown said...

No idea????? Pretty interesting comment and assumption considering you have no clue what our experience is. If you know so much about college football economics, why don't you educate us. Would LOVE to be enlightened by your superior perspective and wisdom

Knucklehead said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Knucklehead said...

There are two old adages that still hold true today despite living in the age of ipads, Patagonia jacket wearers and people who say "work smarter not harder."

1) You get what you pay for.
2) You need to spend money to make money.

Both of these lessons were taught to Gene in his handling of TOB but never learned.

ccw said...

We still have Spaz's buyout. $4M doesn't buy you as much as you think - especially if you want to upgrade facilities.

As for Stolberg, it wouldn't take much to educate you given the ignorance you've shown so far.

The athletic department has to take care of itself. That's the goal of all universities and BC is no different. The comment about the additional ACC TV money is on point b/c we can use that for a coach.

The Flynn Fund is a joke as far as athletic funds go. The trustee that quit b/c of Gene made the comment about how he donated $2M to make sure the HC is taken care of. That's 1 year's pay for a good HC. We don't have anywhere near the fundraising power of other schools, including the ones looking for coaches now (TN, Auburn, Cal).

BC isn't going to tap into its operating budget and certainly wont' tap into the endowment to pay for a coach. At most you'll have the university "loan" money to the athletic department.

But there isn't any need to worry about breaking the bank b/c no big name coach worth $3M+ a year will touch this job. Minimal university and fan support. Weak recruiting base. No history of success beyond the very good O'Brien/Jags years. Flutie was a LONG time ago.

Big Jack Krack said...

Tom Coughlin's second and third years weren't bad. His first year was full of hope and improvement.

It can be done.

chicagofire1871 said...

Agree with BJK, it can be done. If Syracuse and Duke can win at hoops and Miami and USC can win at football. All being small, private "good academic" universities, then with the right funding and leadership, we can achieve similar results. The question rests with Fr. Leahy. Is hiring the right coach worth the money to do so or is a middling D1 football team acceptable as long as we have high graduation rates.

Fr. Leahy, the balls in your court.

ccw said...

College football has changed since TC walked the sidelines. The arms race for coaches and facilities is extraordinary.

BC fans point to the additional ACC TV money and feel like we have the financial firepower we need. We don't. Middle of the pack programs that we outperformed have bigger budgets and are trying to spend their way into the top rank.

We don't have enough of a fan support base to go beyond the success we had under TOB (I count Jags successes as TOB's). We don't the fans to pack a stadium and generate that revenue. We don't have the kind of donor base in terms of breadth like a big state university and we don't have a Phil Knight or Boone Pickens writing checks.

I want to get back to 7-9 wins and an occassional 10+ win season run at the conference championship. We don't have the resources to do better than that over the long haul.

Knucklehead said...

It is simple.

Hire someone with successful hc-ing experience who is not afraid to relate to other human beings, opposite of the person fired today. It doesn't matter if he is from UNH or Kent State or the NFL.

The school sells itself and the program is back on solid ground in 2-3 recruiting cycles under th curcumstances above.

The program is clean and has been successful for extended periods over the last 40 years. We have a had a 3 year lull. We will be back soon.

The problem was Spaz as a head coach. He is gone. We will back to being a successful program soon.





EL MIZ said...

we paid Spaz at least $1m per season according to various sites that track coach salaries. a MAC coach like Doeren makes $400k (and that was after getting a raise and fat extension), while a guy like Kirby Smart the Alabama DC makes just below $1m.

people who float big names fail to appreciate that sort of dynamic. that being said, we don't have to pay a guy $2m per season to get success. you can offer a good mid level coach (like a MAC coach for example) over double his current salary plus a bigger conference and better resources, and you just have to hope you pick the right guy.

i'd imagine a guy like Diaco, who will have plenty of exposure over the next 4 weeks on ESPN, will command north of $1.5m to start and will have better offers than BC.

BC is a middle of the pack job, it doesn't mean we can't hire a good coach given our resources. i expect Bates to make a solid hire from a smaller conference.

Knucklehead said...

Here is another guy that might get a call . . .

Luke Fickell from Ohio State.

Handled last season well as interim HC by all accounts

Soxx22 said...

Hey Bill, when you post your list of possible coaches, can you list them as 'Reach Coaches' 'Legitimate Chance Coaches' and 'Safety Coaches'? this is after all a college sports blog.

ObserverCollege said...

What a stupid move. First of all, Spaz doesn't deserve to lose his job because of Jags and Gene's failures. Jags leaves the cupboard bare while Gene constantly interferes with Spaz's work, yet somehow it's SPAZ's fault that the PLAYERS went 2-10. Uh, no.

Having said that, I understand the argument that Spaz has to go simply for PR reasons. But that doesn't mean he has to GO. Mr. Bates, there is such a thing as a DEMOTION. You tell Spaz that he won't be Head Coach, but that he'll move down to Defensive Coordinator. McGovern in turn goes down to LB Coach. Then if Spaz or McGovern say "No", then they are in violation of the contract and you don't have to pay them anything.

But OC, you say, what about the HC gig? Who are you going to bring in who can hold onto Spaz as DC? Who can you bring in who will be able to hold onto this recruiting class regardeless of what Spaz does? For after the damage Jags and Gene did, you cannot lose this recruiting class! These recruits aren't going to wait for you while you dilly-dally interviewing coaches. They have offers--they'll jilt you for the Stony Brooks and the Bryants and the Worcester Polytechnic Institutes.

Well, what you do is you go after only the winningest and thus the greatest coach in BC history--one Thomas O'Brien. Pay TOB what he wants, and Spaz will stick around to help out his good friend. That means you finally maintain stability in the program, and you salvage this recruiting class.

Finally, the University that houses the Center on Retirement Research actually gets to practice what it preaches, and solidifies the retirement accounts for two great coaches who need to secure their golden years. It's a win-win all around, and it's a just outcome. Let's see if Bates has a clue and can make it happen.

eagleboston said...

I feel like John Lennon in 1971. Happy Christmas (the Spaz era is over!)

Let's hope brighter days are ahead.

Unknown said...

Is ObserverCollege Blauds or TOB?

Bravesbill said...

Ned, you're on crack if you want to bring either back. It's telling that Al never got a head coaching gig after BC and that TOB got fired from NCST on the same day Spaz got fired.

JBQ said...

I am with "Unknown". What is "ObserverCollege" using for toothpaste?

dixieagle said...

Satire, people, satire!!!

mod34b said...

Observer. U r losing your edge.

U get a "C" for that.

Maybe our new super stiff AD could be a new focus?

Unknown said...

Totally

Unknown said...

They have money. They don't have the balls to do it