In his off-campus Pow Wow before Thanksgiving with select "friends of BC," the group told Brad Bates that three names would be deflating hires to the BC fanbase. Those names were Tim Murphy, Sean McDonnell and Steve Addazio. The three-tier plan discussed at that meeting was executed but now it looks like Bates wanted Addazio all along. This wasn't a case of BC getting spurned at the altar. BC didn't get into money issues with the realistic candidates. We offered the job to Steve Addazio and no one else. I am part of the half-full group on Addazio and like many of his attributes. But I think Brad Bates risked too much equity on this hire. This was Bates' first major decision at BC. He better hope Addazio overdelivers, because Bates used up a lot of goodwill with the move. Let me explain why.
A blank slate
When BC hired TOB, no one knew him. It was another circus search where people turned us down, multiple candidates thought they were getting the job and then out of nowhere we named the Virginia Offensive Coordinator our new head coach. TOB was himself from Day 1, so fans weren't ready to run through brick walls for him, but we bought into the "plan." TOB was going to rebuild BC the right way. And when there were stumbles in the first two years, TOB still had our support because we had no preconceived reason to doubt he would turn the corner. If TOB had come to BC off of a losing season at another program and hired a bunch of Henning assistants, that unanimous support would not have lasted very long. You can raise money and sell tickets around a blank slate. Addazio has a fire to rally around, but brings enough skepticism that some will withhold financial and emotional support until he wins.
Blank slates also have bigger upside. You never know when the next coordinator turns into the next championship coach. Addizio is so much better than Spaz, but I don't think many see him winning championships. Perception is that if he was of that caliber Florida wouldn't have passed over him and he would have had a better first year in the Big East with Temple.
Baggage
I am President of the Ryan Day Fan Club. I think Kevin Rogers deserves a Nobel Prize for pointing out Spaz's idiocy. I think Day will be a great OC. But when we struggle next year and possibly longer, there will be questions as to why we went in this direction. Smart fans know what they saw here and can read the terrible stats that Temple produced this year. If we had hired someone completely removed from the Spaz drama and with a more productive offense, people would be more excited about this change. Plus people know about Addazio's true desire for this job. He desperately wanted it four years ago. So now when he is finally hired and slightly less attractive due to how things played out at Temple, he has the feel of a retread or a guy that Gene Defilippo might have called.
The Interview
Watch this video of Bates Tuesday night courtesy of Conrad Kaczmarek.
You can tell he was genuinely surprised by how much Addazio knew about BC. (Other candidates were supposedly ill prepared.) As we saw at the press conference, Addazio is a salesman, but should he get special credit for knowing BC inside and out? Because of his relationship with Day and Rogers, he knew the roster and the program's recent challenges. He probably knows more than Bates. If he wanted, I am sure Addazio could have called up John Defilippo and got a rundown of some of BC's biggest donors. Addazio still had to deliver in the interview, but he shouldn't get credit for acing a test for which he had been given all the answers. If the interview was the deciding factor, I hope Addazio's access to the program was at least recognized.
The politics of the search
I don't know how political things were at Miami of Ohio, but Brad Bates is a Michigan Football Alumni. He knows how his fellow Wolverines made Rich Rodriquez's life hell because he wasn't a "Michigan Man." BC is not that sort of culture, but you do have to do things the right way. Bates had more of a process than Gene ever had and did reach out to many people. Yet there were plenty of coaches and agents who reached out to BC and didn't get any acknowledgement back. There were also some key BC and BC-friendly folks who wanted the job and weren't handled very well. And when you take the time to gather a small group of heavy hitters and then ignore their warnings, you start things off on the wrong foot.
Where do we go from here?
I am ready for some fun and passion. I predict good things for Addazio. I think he will achieve a TOB-level of success. However, my worries about Brad Bates have bubbled up. We will have to replace Jerry York one day and might have a basketball search on our hands sooner rather than later. Is Bates going to take the same approach in those searches?
Let's hope Addazio unites the fanbase through victory, because this process didn't.
Posts
51 comments:
jeez, hardly a ringing endorsement for BATES. sort of bizarre to seek out opinion and then blatantly disregard it. could almost be read as an "FU" to those giving it.
i will hope for the best with Addazio and the rest of Spaz's coaching staff, but if/when this doesn't go right...
also, "BC didn't get into money issues with the realistic candidates." who were the realistic candidates? since nobody was mentioning Addazio, i am curious as to who else we engaged.
I'd love to know who reached out for interviews and was turned down. Be interesting to see if the Bates tweets of how he had really impressive candidates was true or PR spin
Teams with worse offenses than Temple this season ... Maryland and UMass. Teams with worse passing offenses this season ... Air Force, Army, Navy, and New Mexico.
Really glad this young exciting OC Ryan Day is coming back to the Heights. His offense seems dynamic.
This is an atrocious hire who has an anemic offense. Bringing back old Spaz assistants ... you can't make this shit up.
I feel both better and worse now.
Better that at least someone remotely connected to the program had the awareness to warn Bates that Addazio would be a deflating hire. When this news broke, I was positively baffled how no one could have told him the reaction would be negative. At least now I know he was told and just ignored them.
Worse because, obviously, he ignored them. Not an inspiring start for the new AD. Who knows- maybe Addazio will work miracles with our Spaz retreads, but it feels highly doubtful.
Bc doesn't care about alumni or what they think. most good academic universities don't bow to alumni but they listen and cultivate relationships. bc does neither. I have dealt with people on boards at other schools, sat in boxes with presidents of schools much more prestigious than bc. they do things differently in regards to alumni, fundraising, and athletically. Leahy is a below average president ay best and has zero personal skills. I used to bleed for bc but my kids won't go there as I have much better options through my wife family legacies and donations. I have been to many bc events for alumni, they are a joke compared to my wife's alma mater. a complete joke. until Leahy is gone this will continue. I don't give any money to bc currently and won't till they treat alumni better. our reunions are cheap and a joke and if you ever go to a football game you are harassed by police. If you ever spend time at any other universities equal but primarily much better academically than bc you will come to the same conclusion. The school does not care what you think, realize that and move on.
Addazio is only the second worst hire in BC athletics this fall. Bates is the worst. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but bringing in a coach who is bringing back old Spaz assistants is the opposite of a good idea.
This guy is completely in over his head. Even if Addazio leads us back to being somewhat respectable, it doesn't change the fact that this is a terrible decision by Bates.
Bates is shaping up as a guilable fool. He was giddy and gushing about Addazio, his new "friend"
Bates really buys into nostalgic bs and overblown notions of loyalty . Check out the comments when he hired Don Treadwell at miami OH 2years ago. (note: Before Treadwell was hired, Miami Oh was a bowl team. iIn each year under Treadwel, Miami went 4-8 each under Treawell -who now is a 'hot seat' coach.
But check out the words and think about what Bates and Addazio said today:
Bates says that, with Treadwell at the helm, Miami is in excellent hands heading into the future.
"Don Treadwell is a man of integrity, enthusiasm, passion, intellect, competitiveness, loyalty, love and honor - all the characteristics you expect from a Miami Man," said Bates. "His pedigree, mentors, extensive responsibilities, cumulative experiences in five major conferences and values distinguish him as a great teacher. Don designs football curricula within athletic classrooms to develop future leaders who make a difference in the world."
Treadwell, who played for Coach Tom Reed, was a four-year starter at wide receiver at Miami (1978-81).
"It's a dream come true to return to my alma mater, Miami, as head football coach. Miami has always held a special place in my heart, and the opportunity to be a part of the ‘Cradle of Coaches' is a privilege as well as a responsibility.
Note this too: Treadwell, Addazio and Bates played mediocre football from 1978 -1981.
Eagle ATL - I agree with everything you say, and I'm willing to give Daz a chance. However, perhaps the worst aspect of this hire is the anemic offense. Daz is high energy, enthusiastic and seems to be a man of integrity. I can see why he is a good recruiter. But he was run out of Florida because of his offense and his track record at Temple shows why those fans were concerned. Even if Day is the best OC in the country, will he have the freedom to run a balanced offense and pass when we need to in order to win. I get the sense the answer is no. Seems like this guy has very similar philosophy as Spaz and it won't resonate with fans when we lose. I'm so upset about this aspect of the hire that it trumps all the positives.
Addazio was Florida OC in 09-10. here are the amounts of points per game Florida scored in those seasons:
W62-3
1-0 (0-0)
Sat, Sept 12
vs
Troy
W56-6
2-0 (0-0)
Sat, Sept 19
vs
Tennessee
W23-13
3-0 (1-0)
Sat, Sept 26
@
Kentucky
W41-7
4-0 (2-0)
Sat, Oct 10
@
#4 LSU
W13-3
5-0 (3-0)
Sat, Oct 17
vs
Arkansas
W23-20
6-0 (4-0)
Sat, Oct 24
@
Miss. St
W29-19
7-0 (5-0)
Sat, Oct 31
vs
Georgia*
W41-17
8-0 (6-0)
Sat, Nov 7
vs
Vanderbilt
W27-3
9-0 (7-0)
Sat, Nov 14
@
South Carolina
W24-14
10-0 (8-0)
Sat, Nov 21
vs
Florida Int
W62-3
11-0 (8-0)
Sat, Nov 28
vs
Florida St
W37-10
12-0 (8-0)
Sat, Dec 5
vs
#2 Alabama*
L32-13
12-1 (8-0)
ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL
Fri, Jan 1
vs
#3 Cincinnati*
W51-24
2010 FLORIDA GATORS SCHEDULE
DATE OPPONENT RESULT/TIME RECORD/TICKETS
Sat, Sept 4
vs
Miami (OH)
W34-12
1-0 (0-0)
Sat, Sept 11
vs
South Florida
W38-14
2-0 (0-0)
Sat, Sept 18
@
Tennessee
W31-17
3-0 (1-0)
Sat, Sept 25
vs
Kentucky
W48-14
4-0 (2-0)
Sat, Oct 2
@
#1 Alabama
L31-6
4-1 (2-1)
Sat, Oct 9
vs
#12 LSU
L33-29
4-2 (2-2)
Sat, Oct 16
vs
Miss. St
L10-7
4-3 (2-3)
Sat, Oct 30
vs
Georgia*
W34-31 OT
5-3 (3-3)
Sat, Nov 6
@
Vanderbilt
W55-14
6-3 (4-3)
Sat, Nov 13
vs
#23 South Carolina
L36-14
6-4 (4-4)
Sat, Nov 20
vs
Appalachian St
W48-10
7-4 (4-4)
Sat, Nov 27
@
#22 Florida St
L31-7
7-5 (4-4)
OUTBACK BOWL
Sat, Jan 1
vs
Penn St*
W37-24
8-5 (4-4)
* Game played at neutral location.
Florida fans thought he was the worst offensive mind who has ever walked onto a football field.
09 offense:
tebow 2900 passing yards 21 td 5 int 68% completion (pretty amazing stats considering how bad a passer tebow is now); 910 yards rushing 14 TD.
demps 750 rushing yards 7 TD
riley cooper 960 receiving yards 9 TD
aaron hernanez 850 receiving yards 5 TD
in 2010, with tebow gone, fans grumbled about misuse of brantley, who finished with 2000 yards passing, 9 TD 10 INT
demps 550 rushing yards 5 TD
rainey 350 and 2 TD
trey burton (who said that addazio was the reason he went to UF) had 350 rushing yards and 11 TD, and 210 receiving yards.
i know, thats the point. look at the #'s. their offense put up 30 almost every game in both seasons. florida fans make it seem like they were scoring in the single digits.
"Even if Addazio leads us back to being somewhat respectable, it doesn't change the fact that this is a terrible decision by Bates."
If Addazio leads us to "somewhat respectable" -- which i interpret to be like 7 or 8 wins and a bowl win every now and then and not totally crapping the bed in every single big game -- then this was not a terrible decision by Bates.
This isn't Florida and Addazio isn't the OC, he is the HC here, and Day is the OC. Same setup as last year at Temple. Those numbers more closely resemble what an Addazio-Day team produces offensively.
2012
122nd ranked total offense out of 124
120th ranked total passing offense out of 124
2011
116th ranked total passing offense out of 120
There is no way to positively spin those atrocious numbers. We are going to be running a high school style running attack, where putting the ball in the air is an afterthought. Zzzzzzz I won't be renewing my tickets.
more facts about steve addazio:
he and urban meyer coached together at ND for 2 years, 99-01. urban's first staff at Florida he hires addazio to be the OL and TE coach. addazio recruits aaron hernandez from connecticut to florida. florida wins 2 national championships. dan mullen their OC leaves to go to Mississipi St., Addazio is named OC. 09 florida tebow puts up insane numbers but loses. 10 florida has brantley in his first year and new WRs but also burton who addazio recruited emerges as a huge playmaker (and is currenly probably their 2nd best player on offense watch them in the bowl game).
where on Spaz's resume is 2 rings or coaching with a guy like urban meyer for 7 years?
addazio got the 2 best playmakers from new england to go to florida in hernandez and burton. what if he got one of those guys to commit to BC?
also, i know the temple numbers and they are definitely worrisome, but you can't just pretend that the Florida years didn't happen. they did, addazio was a big part of them, he has been successful.
In two years, if we win 7 games with this coach. No one is going to care or be excited about it. Bates had a chance to bring new blood into the program, invigorate a fan base that Spaz put to sleep. Yet for some reason, he decided to go with a coach in Addazio who loves to run the ball and have a pathetic passing game. Run the ball and defense, where have I heard this formula to nowhere before???
So again, if we win 7 games two years from now, we will be right back to where we were in Spaz's 2nd year. Winning games 14-13, putting fans asleep in the stands, and going to the Crap.com Fight Hunger Bowl. Thanks Bates, you suck.
7 wins and a bowl win, to me, sounds like a pretty great season. in 2 seasons that'll be a team full of underclassmen, trending in the right direction.
what is your ceiling wiseguy? and who was the coach to get us there?
No need to worry about the next hockey coach. Jerry York will name his successor and that will be that. BC would be incredibly foolish not to listen to him.
As for football, recruiting talent is a huge portion of the battle in terms of winning at this level. Oftentimes, great players make ordinary coaches look great. If SA can raise the number and quality of recruits that we get and keep them in the program, winning at a TOB level will take care of itself. If he's actually a good coach and the coordinators pan out, we can easily exceed that level of success.
Unless Bates hired someone of the likes of Nick Saban, I don't think anyone he could have hired would have immediately erased the years of ill will, frustration, and anger that have developed between the program and the fan base. We are going to have to give this AD and head football coach the benefit of the doubt and the chance to repair that relationship. It will not happen overnight, and the fan base will need to bury the hatchet and make an effort to forgive the institution for the past 4 years.
There is no chance that BC ever competes for a national championship. With that realized, the team and athletic department should make the team as entertaining as possible. Playing it safe, aka playing not to lose is incredibly boring and not worth watching. This is what BC football has become. I don't care about winning 7 games and winning the Crap.com bowl. This should not be heralded as success.
If the goal is to push away anyone who might find the product entertaining, then this is the right hire. Jags showed us what entertaining football can look like, then Spaz continually made me question why I even go to the games. Daz is just more Spaz. Zzzzzzzz. Wake me up when he's gone
Nick, you're right that winning will cure a lot of this ill will, but hitting Addazio has not bought Bates much time. Fans would have given Diaco 4 years. Addazio is on the clock today.
Miz, your points argument is inherently flawed. Against any decent team in 2010, Florida's offense stunk up the joint. What were Florida's actual offensive team stats that year? 2009 is not a very good indicator because Florida had the best player in college football by far as it's QB. Also, how many points did Florida's defense set up with short fields or sccore? Last time I checked, its defense and special teams were pretty darn good. And you're giving him way too much credit for bringing in Hernandez and Burton. Florida sells itself as does Urban Meyer. It had recently won a championship and Meyer was probably the hottest coach in football at the time.
Wow, that's depressing to read. From all of BB's talk of a partner, I had gotten the impression he planned on Addazio all along and turns out that's true. I think we have to hang some blame on the hire of BB in the first place that it wasn't vetted that he had a candidate in mind. This smacks of how GDF operated.
What's the worse thing that could have happened? We hired another person in way over their head like Spaz and suddenly we're in a lost decade like Syracuse. I think Addazio is a good chance of avoiding that b/c of the supposed ability to recruit - long term for BC, not sucking and getting back to top 30 consistency, as Bob Ryan puts it, would be best. I mean he was smart enough to get Montel Harris this year. That's smarter than Spaz.
As far as Ryan Day et al, I think they give us a good shot at winning decently with who we have next year. There's no denying Spaz enforced his fortress of suckitude on everyone - look at how exciting the offense looked on Doug Martin's first game to how it was at the end. I have to think he was Spazified over the course of the season.
We're all frustrated because we know we should have been at worst 6-6 this year with a decent coach. Addazio is a decent coach. BC isn't Florida, but we're also not Temple. I wanted someone who could bring the promise of getting to Florida-like status, but I'll be okay with getting back to BC. I think it's okay to have people who want to be at BC and know BC here - Spaz does not mean we have to blow everything up.
The die is cast. Let's hope they don't screw up.
Oh, and thank God he didn't hire Sean McDonnell or Tim Murphy. How id Addazio's name come up at this pow-wow anyway? Did BB bring it up originally as a test ballon?
8 wins is the official "everything broke right" ceiling for BC. 4 wins is probably the new floor. Get used to it
Have all you negatives Neds thought about trading your BC degrees for degrees from Alabama? Sounds like that's what you want. Bitch, bitch, bitch. Go post on an SEC blog.
ATL's post explains the secrecy surrounding the hire --- Bates knew that had Addazio's name gotten out there, there would have been a number of BC folks making it very clear that they would not have been pleased with the hire.
That's pretty remarkable, if you ask me.
Also, I watched the press conference. I was markedly unimpressed. He's a less polished version of Jags who himself was a hollow salesman. Once again, it seems likely that BC will be well behind the curve of any developments in the game of football, i.e., this is the 3d of our past 4 coaches whose approach to the game has not changed one bit since 1970 --- and for whom this consistency is a point of pride rather than embarassment.
To be honest, i was pretty deflated by this hire. i was hoping for Diaco, Roman, Golden, etc. However, 80% of college football is recruiting and motivating the players - neither of which Spaz could do and by all accounts Addazio can do both. so even though i wasn't crazy about it when i first heard who was hired, i actually think he could be successful. He was able to cut his HC chops at Temple, so he can learn from any mistakes he made there - much like Belicheck with his time in Cleveland. Will he be a savior that we were all hoping for? who knows but i'll certainly give him a chance to try.
From my new favorite website:
The 5 Things That Make Addazio Awful
1. Inability to Adjust
Steve Addazio completely lacks the ability to adjust the gameplan as the game goes on.
In 2009 against Tennessee and Mississippi State, we saw Florida come out trying to run the ball up the middle. It was completely shut down, but Addazio refused to change it, and continued to call futile HB dives that were stuffed over and over and over again. Later in the 2009 SEC championship game, Addazio decided to come out 5-wide and throw against the Alabama defense. It did not work, but Addazio never adjusted, and Florida never even tried their hand at the running game.
In the 2010 opener against Miami OH we saw it again. Addazio continued to call screen pass after screen pass, even though they were stuffed for no gain (at best) every single time. The one time they let Brantley throw downfield, Deonte Thompson dropped a 50 yard touchdown pass. Miami OH had no safety back deep all game long and the Gator wide receivers could manhandle Miami OH’s weak DBs, but they never got a chance as Addazio continue to call screen passes and HB dives against stacked fronts.
2. Pass Routes Have No Purpose
When an offensive coordinator sits down to draw up a passing play, every route has a purpose. They may have a slot WR on one side run a short drag and a slot WR on the other side run a deep in, so that a linebacker playing zone in the middle would have to pick which to cover, leaving the other wide open. They may run streaks on the outside with a TE running up the seam in the middle with the intent of exposing the hole in a cover 2 defense. However, I am convinced that this concept is completely lost on Steve Addazio.
When Addazio sits down to draw up a play, I’m convinced that he just randomly picks routes. ”Hmmm, I’ve got five wide receivers. Let’s see, this guy should run an out, this guy should run a hitch, this guy should run an in, etc”. There is no design to his passing plays, they are just a random collection of routes. There are often two receivers in the same area, in each other’s way, and there is never any design to them to get a certain player open.
3. Inability to Develop Talent
No one has ever done less with more than Steve Addazio. Every player he has coached has underachieved. Tebow regressed as a passer in his season under Addazio, and everyone that has played for him has underachieved. We saw this most recently with Mike Pouncey’s attempt at playing center against Miami OH. There’s no excuse for having an entire offseason to teach a guy how to snap the ball and not being able to do it. Further, there’s no excuse for not replacing him if it’s clear he can’t do it. High school stars will not want to play for Florida much longer, because they know that Addazio will destroy their future.
4. Does Not Use Player’s Strengths
Why is it that Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey, two tiny scatbacks, are always running HB dives up the middle while Emmanuel Moody is always running tosses to the outside? Why is John Brantley running the option and not dropping back to pass?
5. Scared to Throw Downfield
A huge part of Florida’s success under Dan Mullen was that if team’s started to stack the box and play the run, he would punish them by throwing over the top. Neglecting the deep ball is one of the main reason’s Florida struggles to run the ball at times. Florida’s receivers have 10x the talent of Miami OH’s defensive backs, and Brantley throws a great deep ball. Yet Florida continued to let Miami OH play the run and the short pass, and never take advantage of the mismatches in single coverage that the defenders had down field. After Deonte Thompason dropped the long TD pass against Miami, it was two full quarters before Florida attempted another pass that was more than ten yards downfield.
Florida has got to stretch the field with the vertical passing game to open up the running game and the underneath passing game. They have all the weapons to do it, the only thing holding them back is, you guessed it, Steve Addazio.
Great analysis peanut. I never knew that you worked at the highest level as a renowned football genius. Did bates know that you were available, and still hired SA? Shame on him and BC. Just think, you could have saved us all.
I was addmittly disappointed by the hire at first but really I'm not sure why this is "the worst hire we could have made" and it was so easy to get pumped for guys like Hazell or Doreen or Roman.
Also I dont want Day back ethier but it not really "all of Spaz's assitants".. It's just Day (who was hired by Jags) and Rogers (who agreed with and liked Spaz so much that they got into a fist fight after one game)
I get being disappointed and that fair but
I want to get on board with this and believe the guy, but I'm sorry, if you took his introduction speech two years ago at Temple and just did a find and replace and for the word Temple with Boston College, you would have the identical speech. I got this great used car for ya ...
Also for the old Florida compliants copy and pasted by Peanut... I noticed this one as I skimmed it over:
3. Inability to Develop Talent
everyone that has played for him has underachieved. We saw this most recently with Mike Pouncey’s attempt at playing center against Miami OH. There’s no excuse for having an entire offseason to teach a guy how to snap the ball and not being able to do it. Further, there’s no excuse for not replacing him if it’s clear he can’t do it.
Yea Pouncy was developed so poorly at Florida that he only ended up being the 11th pick in the 2011 first NFL draft and is a starting Center on Sundays.
http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2012-12-05/sports/35603221_1_diaco-gus-malzahn-john-chavis
Excellent post Bill. As someone who reads your stuff regularly, I appreciate the amount of time and thought you put into your writing. The community is very lucky to have you.
Re: this hire -- I think what it highlights is the continuing huge misalignment of expectations for the football program across three primary constituents: the Administration, the Athletic Dept, and Alumni (as we buy the tickets and make donations). There is no commonly agreed answer to the question: "What do we want BC Football to be known for?" Father Leahy seems to have one answer, the new AD may have another, and alums appear to have their own. As long as this continues, we are going to cycle through coaches, lose recruits, and see Alumni Stadium emptier and emptier on game day. In the process, BC football will become increasingly vulnerable as conference realignment continues. Essentially, what we have is a marketing problem.
Maybe it's the era I am from, but I personally believe the model we should be using is Tom Coughlin. He was young, passionate, ambitious, and focused on both winning and developing the men he had as members of the community. He returned to BC after previously being an assistant under Jack Bicknell (who did not leave alums with a great taste in their mouths then). People forget TC was only at BC for 3 years, and while he did not win a championship (The Kick aside), he delivered success both on the field and off with much less talented players (as a whole) than we are getting today. He has gone on to great success in the NFL, but has remained loyal to the University, and whether you are a Giants fan or not, he continues to represent all of us in the BC community (on the field and off) in a manner I think we all can appreciate and respect.
I thought when we hired Jags we may have regained some of this, and that is why I got excited. Obviously, his professional interests ultimately took priority over his interest in becoming a long standing part of the BC community. In the process, it appears the Administration may have felt snake bitten by this ambition and has shied away from seeking candidates who look at BC as a stop on the way, not a destination "dream job".
I don't know what kind of football coach Addazio can be at BC, so I am willing to reserve judgement at this point. But until the three main constituents can align expectations for BC football, I will remain concerned about it's future.
FWIW
My attorney is/was/has been the attorney for a few Florida assistants since about 2005.
Here is his take:
- Will be the best recruiter we have ever had here
- If he delegates to assistants and concentrates on marketing the program we will be fine.
- In general he is an a--h--e but he will get good to great football players in there it is all how they are managed and developed
BCAlum2000 - how many different ways can an introduction speech go? how many different ways can you answer the same questions that come up at every such press conference? I would bet that almost every new coaching hire has very similar introduction press conferences.
Soxx, my point was more around the "this is my dream job", "this is where my family wants to be", "I am in it for a long-haul", comments. Keep in mind this is the guy who was trying to land the UConn job a month after taking the Temple job and was trying to land he Rutgers job after his first year at Temple. He then leaves Temple after his second year, a year in which they went 4-7 in the pathetic Big Least, and comes to The Heights with the same script. Again, Im trying to get on board with this, but it is a struggle.
Bravesbill, i love how you follow up asserting my argument is flawed with a flawed argument of your own. so let me get this straight -- OC addazio wasn't responsible for success in 2009 because the QB was good, but then was responsible in 2010 because the QB wasn't good? wasn't he just responsible in both years?
since you asked, and since they are so easy to find but i assume you either (A) google them and then realize it hurts your position so you don't mention them or (B) don't even know how to find them, here are the stats you asked for:
2009 total team offense:
florida was 9th in the country in points per game with 36. they ran for 222 yards per game (10th overall) and passed for 458 per game (4th overall). any way you slice it, Steve Addazio was the offensive coordinator for that team.
2010 total team offense:
florida is 43rd in scoring offense, averaging 30 points per game. they passed for 351 yards per game (82nd overall) and ran for 166 yards per game (44th overall).
draw your own conclusions, one offense had some very good players, the next year many of those players had graduated. how many would be upset with a BC offense that scored 30 points per game, and had a balanced passing/rushing attack?
also, "you're giving him way too much credit for bringing in Hernandez and Burton" -- um, no i'm not. addazio recruited both of those guys. burton is from FL and got offers from Florida St, Miami, and West Virginia.
"After being recruited by Steve Addazio, Burton committed to the Gators on July 31, 2008"
Read more: http://www.gatorcountry.com/football/article/8_days_to_kickoff_rb_trey_burton/14864#ixzz2EHpEXA5D
aaron hernandez from Bristol CT had two offers -- one from florida, one from uconn. BC didn't even offer the guy. addazio again was the one who saw talent and recruited him.
i agree with some of the critiques of addazio (and Bates' process), but some of these detractors are literally acting as if there is nothing good about this guy, which is just patently not the case. open your eyes and stop refusing to accept reality.
Peanut.
I think you overlooked something. SOMETHING BIG.
Daz ain't going to be the OC. Day will be.
Also, under Daz at Temple, Daz was run crazy. Why? his QB sucked. That does not mean he will ignore Rettig's skills and run 80% of the time. Daz said the offense skills available will dictate the offense to be used.
But let's think about Rettig. He is a good pocket passer who had two big problems last year. 1) bad pass protection and 2) bad running game. That is to say, because BC did not have a credible running game, the opposing defenses were all over our pass game. BC needs a credible run game to allow Rettig to pass.
So I am glad Daz is going to revive our run game - it is a key to our passing game and success.
Good post M34b and miz. Remember tho, the truth will not distract the negative Neds. They won't ever want to hear about the increased level of competition in the BE over what Temple faced in the MAC. They can't look past the raw numbers ,and frequently can't even see those.
The MAC was at worst on par with the Big Least. But other than that, you are correct.
Both Cincinnati and Rutgers lost to MAC schools. They finished #2 and #3 in the Big Least. On the other hand, none of the top 5 teams in the MAC lost to a Big Least school.
Florida's offense sucked big-time AFTER Addazio left...ever see them play with Weiss calling the shots? This year? Also, how do we know Hazell, Doerson aren't this year's Turner Gill? Last year all the rage was screaming for Mike Leach...how'd that work out so far? I'm on the Addazio-train, partially because I'm burned-out on negativity from Spaz running our program into sub-terranean regions.
This hire is kind of like hiring Ty Willingham after Bob Davie stunk the joint up. It will keep stinking and then some more until Boy Scout Bates and Sgt. Slaughter are fired. Do you think Al Skinner is available to fix the bball program? Anything is better than the Marty McFly we have.
I think we can all agree this is a major upgrade over Spaz. The guy has energy (heck, he actually has a pulse), he can really recruit, and he can really motivate. That's more than half the battle right there. So let's give Bates some credit for a MAJOR upgrade. However, there are MAJOR questions about the other parts of the equation (asst. coaching hires, game-planning, in-game coaching) that go into being a head coach. Could we have done better? I have no doubt. But at least we have a freaking chance now.
Given that Florida's offense has regressed further in 2011 and 2012, I would think you could argue that 2010 might have not been entirely Addazio's fault. Perhaps the FL fanbase had unreasonable expectations that their success under Tebow would last forever. Give the guy a chance.
Ivan Maisel in today's "3-point stance":
1. Steve Addazio is so excitable and so enthusiastic that I think he believes every word he says when he says it. Here’s what he said Wednesday: “This is my dream job. I’ve been a lot of great places, and everywhere I’ve been and all the friends that know me and the people that I’ve worked with, knew that I wanted to one day be here at Boston College.” And here’s what he said two years ago: “My message is make it a destination to be at Temple. Don’t be passing through….(N)ow I’m honestly living my dream.” Addazio believes it. Boston College hopes he meant it.
Really is pathetic how negative this blog has become. Am with Big Jack Krack and Ry on this. Just flat out pathetic.
Now that Joseph is on here, Mod has been promoted!
Actually, I think someone kidnapped Mod. His recent posts have been cogent and on the mark. The Mayans were right.
Obviously this has all turned us into Nostradamus's's's's'...trying to predict the future based on two seasons at UF and two at Temple. Anecdotally, I didn't hear a lot of good things about him as a playcaller here in Atlanta during his time at UF. SEC fans, who tend to keep up with this stuff more than your average Joe, thought he was uninspired with some of the best collection of athleticism in the country (and a Top 5 college QB/player of all time). I'm willing to wait and see. Everyone agrees that he's an incredible recruiter, which I've been arguing has been our biggest shortcoming in the last five years. This just wasn't a talented team.
Two points: if he can build both lines, I'm in. The Oline deficiencies are obvious and have been talked about ad nauseum it seems. You could see it two years ago in the opener vs. Kent State. We got beat all day up front and it only got worse over the next 20+ games. We need to get back to being a pro-style offense that mauls.
Just as importantly, the Dline is outrageously deficient in capability.
The second point is one brought up by BC93 above (really good point): expectations. I'd be curious to learn more about the perception about the team from the various inputs--admin., athletics, and incredibly intelligent blog posters (a couple of you notwithstanding). Perhaps ATL has written about it extensively before, but was wondering if this hire reflects in any way on that or if the new AD is shielded somewhat from that owing to his recent hire. There seems to be in ATL's posts a subtle vibe about the tension between the various personalities and bureaucracies involved with the team. As someone on the outside looking in, I think of it as the TOB 8 win philosophy writ large vs. the reality of the landscape of college football.
Anyway, winning has a funny way of enthusing a fanbase. Hard to go down from here.
Joseph, stop drinking the BC Athletic Department's Kool-Aid. This is was a dreadful hire. It's telling that both Florida and Temple fans wants to give Addazio the boot. Miz--my only argument was that you were giving Addazio way too much credit and relying on the worst stats (points per game) to back up your argument. Also, anybody can look like an offensive genius when you have the best QB in football playing for you. Finally, Addazio may have a good eye for talent (Skinner-esque maybe), but how will he do recruiting players multiple schools want? I'm not saying he will do poorly, but you give him way too much credit for recruiting at Florida.
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