Donahue is done. Obviously he's not done coaching this season nor as a coach of basketball. But he has no future as the coach of Boston College. I am not going to pile on (you can get that elsewhere). I am not going to breakdown what went wrong (I'll wait until the firing is official). But he won't be coaching basketball at BC next year. There is too much at stake to let things go on and Brad Bates has no equity tied to Donahue. If anything, keeping Donahue hurts Bates more than firing him would. Like anyone proud person, Donahue is getting somewhat defensive of how things have turned. He said that he's building things the right way and that the schedule hurt the team's confidence. I don't really believe him on either account. But what I think doesn't matter. What he thinks doesn't really matter either. It's all about Bates and BC's other leaders. But if Donahue really believes this is all a taxing schedule gone wrong, than the loss to Harvard should be a turning point. If he wants to show that he really knows what he is doing, he can prove it with the ACC schedule.
For whatever what went wrong with the out of conference schedule, the ACC schedule should not be a surprise. The players have played in the ACC venues and against these teams. They should have "confidence" to know they can win and compete. While the defensive rules changed things a bit, Donahue and his staff should have fewer issues scouting and preparing for the ACC opponents. This is the familiar part of the year. Donahue had so much confidence in the team's ability to compete in the ACC, that he rolled the dice on the non-conference. If he wants to impress future employers and if he wants to be a head coach elsewhere, then go out and win nine ACC games. Show others what this was supposed to be. Prove that you can "out coach" the best in the business. Recapture some of that X and O acumen that has been missing so much this year. Nothing is going to save his BC's tenure. So Donahue needs to coach for his next job.
The players need to kick it up a notch too. We probably won't get the full story of the collective regression for months, but nearly every player has regressed this year. They will all be playing for a new coach next year. Now is the time to start impressing the new guy. Any new staff worth taking over this program is going to watch these games this summer. Players need to start playing hard. Show toughness, smarts and basketball skills and you might get a fair shot with the new guys.
As we saw with football, when things go bad it is very hard for the coaches and players to come together. Odds are this will be a miserable end to a miserable season. But if all those involved are smart and proud, they will make the most of the rest of the season. It might not pay off this year, but they will all see benefits down the road.
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The regression has been mind-boggling. I don't understand how that even happens, after the improvement we saw late last season. Did they sit around eating bonbons all summer? Have they forgotten everything they ever learned about the basics? I just cannot fathom this.
not much more to say. this season has been a total disappointment and Donahue will be sent packing soon enough. excited to see who emerges as candidates and who Bates ultimately chooses to right the ship.
ATLEAGLE do you have any early thoughts on who the candidates may be or the direction Bates may choose?
The two defensive quotes from Donahue are kind of disturbing.
It's true there is not much left to say. I'd like to move on to the search for a new coach ASAP.
Will anyone be going to this Townhall that can report back to us?
I will be there and certainly update
I'm 10x more excited for that compared to the game.
Given the way the search for a head coach in football was conducted by Mr. Bates and Fr. Leahy, what would give anyone confidence in such a process for basketball?
The candidate chosen was expressly excluded by the advisory panel. The process was singularly not transparent. The criteria for selection seemed to be attendance at daily Mass (not necessarily a bad thing; but not the sole criterion) and the ability to sell used cars.
I suppose there is the roundball equivalent of Daz lurking around some place, probably ready to install a 5-man weave as the leading edge offense. We know the players will be recruited to wear matching blazers. If they possess team speed and skills for the modern game will remain to be seen...in about five (5) years.
Those of you interested in Bruce Pearl or other worthies can forget it. Its not the sport, its the Public Relations polish to the BC Brand that counts in the hire. Those of you drinking the Daz Koolaid know that by now.
U must have have been under a rock the past couple months
liquid lunch today lenny?
Lenny deserves a lifetime ban for that stupidity
I'm certainly no expert in the politics of the hiring process of the revenue drivers at BC. I'm certain some of it is, as in most any typical D1 school, a clash of ego, money, and influence-seekers.
I'm just confused as to how anyone watching the same football team can come away with such an impression. If the staff wasn't responsible for wringing every last win out of that group, who was? And here I was, as an Atlanta sports fan, thinking I was jaded.
Perhaps there's something more personal to the 1:42pm post than we'll know.
In any event, the mere mention of Bruce Pearl is an entirely separate issue from Donahue, Daz, and Bates. Pearl is still in his "show-cause" penalty phase and can't recruit I thought until the middle of next year, were any school to hire him. The cookout invite, knowingly breaking rules, is one thing. Lying and asking family members to lie seems to preclude him from "Excelling, like, Ever," which is our motto, no?
I was at the Harvard game and it is clear in person that Donahue can coach. He's got good sets running and his offense gets his players in positions to score. But the man CAN NOT recruit. Harvard was so much more atheltic than BC at every single position on the floor. If Tommy A can recruit athletes to Harvard (and their facilities are terrible, they are never on TV AND they have high academic standards) then we are doing something wrong if we can't get them to BC. The man has to go and it is sad that Coach Flip's legacy will be destroying the Football and Basketball programs
We can be a TOP 25 Program in FB and MBB
An Old Italian proverb asks, "What does he gain, who learns when he loses?"
In any college sport, especially in a DI conference such as the ACC, the victory is determined by the athletes. If ya don't have the horses, ya can't win the race.Gotta have guys who can play.
I'm astounded by the blogger ennui on this site of late: so much whining and attacking the individual-- coaches, players and each other.(It's even come to petty right wing shots at the POTUS and the liberal left...WTW?) What really matters, all this wimpy BS aside, is that if we don't have a Matt Ryan or a Jared Dudley,no Tom Coughlin or, yes, even an Al Skinner can save a team.
PLAYERS, top notch athletes, Keuchly's & Herzlich's, Cloud's and Peterson's. Ah, the Fluties...They all need a good supporting cast. Both Montel Harris & Andre Williams were on the same team but there were still not enough horses around them to win the big games. This year we had No consistent QB's, No "go-to guys", the D was easily outclassed by better players-- The kind of Hockey Players we see annually on York's BC roster. That's the blueprint. Those are the people who win titles and trophies, year after year. The quality of the BC team in any sport from top to bottom has to be superb. Or you lose in the ACC, The PAC 12, the Beanpot or the Frozen Four. It's not the fault of the very nice kids on these BC teams that lose-- they're just not at the level they need to be in order to win against better players. Hell, even Duke figured that out in their football program. Duke!
Recruit some great athletes across the roster and the culture changes. To put an all-star Heisman finalist like Andre in a crew that couldn't dominate the O Line or catch a crucial pass--that was a crime. He deserved better. So did Montel. So does Hanlan...It's like asking Jimmy Hendrix to play with the Bee Gees.
Want to see what we don't have on the basketball court or the football field? Watch Jerry York's Eagles at Fenway against ND on Sunday. (Just leave the politics and H8 stuff at the door--that's what sucks the most. We never hear this whine Country negativity around the hockey program... but then, we have 20 Eagles in the NHL.) So embrace the buzz of greatness.
Let's enjoy the BC hockey team at Fenway,Sunday night... and learn something about what BC should be all about. Wish I were there with you--Go Eagles!!
I saw nothing in the Daz hiring process which encourages me to put any faith in the Donahue replacement hiring. I fully expect Mr. Bates and Fr.Leahy to choose a replacement based on criterion which have little to do with success in basketball.
AS for fellow BC alum, Bruce Pearl:
On August 23, 2011, Pearl was given a three-year show-cause penalty for lying to the NCAA, effective until August 23, 2014. This means that the sanctions imposed on Pearl will remain in force if he is hired by an NCAA member school within that period. Specifically, he is prohibited from engaging in any "recruiting activities", which means he cannot contact recruits, although he may evaluate talent during that period. If a school does choose to hire him and chooses to challenge the NCAA restrictions, it must appear before the NCAA Committee on Infractions and "show cause" for why the sanctions imposed on Pearl should not follow him to that school.[Andy Katz-ESPN]
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During the football season, I was encouraged in some instances when the "offense" worked against lesser teams. However, the games against Syracuse and Arizona exposed the weakness of such a limited offensive approach.
What bothered me more was seeing what is possible watching Texas Tech, Baylor, Texas A&M and other modern, up tempo offenses. BC looked lost against Arizona's offense. That is on coaching and prep.
OMG even Duke's football team looked better than us.
Next season is year 50 for me following BC athletics. In basketball, I'd be happy to see us get back to where we were when I attended my first game in Roberts as part of THE ZOO. Even now, Couz could probably coach as well as any of these guys. I know Johnny Austin would have loved the 3-point shot.
mmason
loved your post. 95% of both Football and Bball are the athletes. The other 5% is what takes up 99% of the comments on this blog.
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