Guest Blog: @eagle98alum shares his thoughts on the second town hall

Regular reader and BC twitterer @eagle98alum attended Brad Bates second Town Hall this weekend. Somewhat skeptical going in, he felt much better about BC's direction after the meeting. Here are his thoughts:

"Bates greeted everyone at the door. There were about 15 tables setup with a BC athletic dept representative at each one. Our table had Ciaran Cullen, the Assistant Director of the Flynn Fund. The meeting started off with Bates introducing Coach Addazio. Daz told us about his staff and what they each bring to the university. He wants great men, fathers and husbands on his sideline. He loves Ryan Day. He mentioned that Day was getting offers recently as last week for other jobs but Ryan is committed here and loves BC. This team will be tough and aggressive on both sides if the ball. 

Several people were allowed to ask questions. Some of which were about his offensive scheme. Addazio said he's done every offense and that they all work. He emphasized he wants a balanced offense but really wants to run the ball. He believes in smash mouth football. Daz was asked that in recent years our lines have been undersized and if he's going to look into getting bigger guys. Daz said when he looks for linemen, he isn't concerned with height and weight. He mentioned, Mike Pouncey who is 6 feet. He wants a lineman who has speed and will smash guys down the field. He loves seeing an OL follow a RB down the field, smashing Lbs and DBs along the way. He talks to many former BC OL alumni about bringing smash mouth football back to BC. 

[He also mentioned] No more bend but dont break defenses. We will be aggressive and attack. 

Someone asked him how he plans to improve recruiting, currently BC is 13th out of 14 in some ACC recruiting magazine. Addazio said he doesn't care about stars. He wants to find players who will be great four year players. He looks for a player who has "it." ...mentioned Flutie, Ryan and Tebow. Kids who are winners. He said a lot of 4/5 star players don't pan out. [Then he] told a story about Jamie Silva and how he recruited him at Indiana. When Jamie committed to BC, he knew he had "it." 'A hard working kid.' 

Daz was also asked about our future schedules. He said he doesn't care who we play, just wants fans to be loyal and support his team. His team will play hard and make us proud. He leaves all scheduling to Bates. An 80 year old alumni mentioned that Tom Coughlin entered in a more difficult situation at BC than he [Daz] did: 'Coughlin's first year the team struggled but played hard. The next year BC went 8-3.' The man told Addazio to be Tom Coughlin. Everyone laughed and Addazio said he loved to be Tom. 

Coach ended with a poem about an oak tree that bent with the wind, losing its leaves but remained strong because of its roots. BC is that oak tree. 

I originally wasn't enthused with the hire. But after hearing Addazio speak I am sold! So much energy and he is committed to BC. I believe he will bring BC back to at least 8-4/9-3 seasons. 

After coach left, Bates opened the floor to us to talk about the Gameday experience. Most concerns were about tailgating. Increasing hours, better access to the stadium. Too many senseless rules, especially on Shea. There was some random complaints about the band and what music they play. There was a question about expanding the stadium to 55-60,000. Person said other schools must use that vs BC in recruiting. Bates said until there is a waiting list for tickets, Alumni Stadium will not be increased. Some older alumni complained about our prime seats going to opposing fans and that season ticket holders should be held accountable. One gentleman complained about BC always getting a game on Labor Day weekend. Bates asked us if we would be ok with a game on the Monday of Labor Day itself. When asked about scheduling, Bates said the future home schedules will have 7 home games. 

The biggest theme itself was tailgating and access. Besides one old woman from Virginia who believes increasing tailgate hours will decrease spirit and they'll be more 'drunks with their beer suitcases,' everyone wanted a better GameDay experience. 

 We then went into a 10 minute discussion at our own tables with the BC rep. We each spoke about our concerns, mainly tailgating. The BC rep mentioned the possibility of 5 hrs pregame and 2 hrs post. [We] discussed parking in Brighton campus, expanding Fan Fest to other locations. Basically they realize they need to fix game day. It will not happen over night. Takes time. 

I left feeling good that we were heard. I've been a season ticket holder since graduation and have run a tailgate at BC for last 5 years. Tailgating is only reason to be going to the games last few years since the team hasn't been good, and yet tailgating on Shea and other places is embarrassing. It was good to let the administration know how we felt. Hopefully improvements are down the road.

Go BC!

Thanks to @eagle98alum for sharing his thoughts.