"I'm mad. I'm pissed off at myself. I'm pissed off at my coaches. But ranting and raving won't do anything."
-- Jimbo Fisher
With a day of reflection after his team got thrashed, Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher pointed most of the blame back at himself and his staff. Steve Addazio did the same thing. Even if neither believes it, taking the blame is the smart decision.
When a guy misses a kick or the D allows a key conversion in a close game, you can point to that one moment. When you lose by 49, there are no such moments. Losing like that speaks to huge issues. And since there are so many issues, the Head Coach has to take the blame. He approved the gameplan. He picked and empowered the staff and he recruited most of the players.
Addazio also spoke to the failure of the scheme. He thinks they made things too complex and slowed the players down. They weren't reacting. They were overthinking. I don't know if this was the main issue, but it is consistent with the formations on Offense. On D, we were less aggressive.
We won't know much about Addazio's fixes until after Wagner and Buffalo. Hopefully he won't have to explain away another disaster.
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If he plays Lindstrom in this game, instead of letting him rest and rehab his injured ankles, Addazio will surprise me.
It will be very telling.
What fool would actually attend this game?
Daz now says the offense was too complicated and too much for the "young" and "inexperienced" OL. He is going to dumb it down. Expect going forward a constant diet of Hilliman into the line all day long.
Scotty Loeffler Did try to mix up play selections vs VT -- and it failed. Scotty was a turd OC and Vt and Auburn, and now he is 1/2 a turd at BC.
Back to the truly miserable Daz offense. This should ensure more losses. Indeed, Daz's natural response to any stress is to turtle and hide. Stick with the familiar even when you know it can't work and the other side knows what you are doing.
Daz is a real simpleton. Fight Songs and Toothbrushes are core to his thinking about football.
"For Boston"
"And that’s what football is. You can’t wait. We’re looking forward to it. This Saturday, this game, getting in the locker room and playing well enough so we can sing the fight song in the locker room. That’s how my brain works. It doesn’t work any differently than that."
"For Tooth Brushes"
"The key is your fundamentals are so engrained, it’s like brushing your teeth. No matter what happens, you might be so exhausted, you might be half out of it, but it’s like brushing your teeth. You brush your teeth every day. Every day. The goal in football is that."
Daz really is a dope.
Wow - that was the most simple and unimaginative offense I have seen in college football this year (in any game I have watched). I called almost every play (but one). How could we possibly make it simpler? On the jumbo package with the one wide receiver that comes from the outside into the line as an extra blocker (on 1st of 2nd down) - are we going to not split them out anymore?
Isn't the one advantage of having a higher admission standard for players that they should be able to digest a more complex playbook?
At least the players, coaches and administrators learn something by playing good programs - even if you get pulverized at times like last week. It eventually pays off as long as you are hell bent on getting better and taking the necessary steps organizationally - rather than looking for an excuse to drop out and give up. Playing the likes of Howard and Wagner does nothing more than confuse the team and coaches and is an extremely bad use of their limited time. It just makes you wonder about the depth of our Athletic Director and what in God's name was he thinking here.
The people who attend the Wagner game are the same ones who attended in the 0-11 year. They are called loyal fans. Most fans are front runners and fair weather types.. 2. Bates should implement a plan that gives Daz one last chance. He has to beat Clemson or he is gone. A loss to Clemson would make him 0-13 in his last 13 Power 5 contests. Ample evidence to show he is inept. Didn't he promise to run a pro style offense? This isn't one. No one thought the O could be worse than last year. They are averaging 7 points per in ACC play. They had nine last year. Contact TOB. See if he would come back for 1.2 mil per year. Bates should cut his own salary by a third. This arrangement results in 1.5 million less spent per year. That sum pays the Daz buyout. BC would be no worse off financially. TOB would restore some hope. His last year was 2006. The team won ten games. The next year with all his players including Ryan whom he recruited and developed. they won 11. TOB had the program at a 10 and half wins per year average. Among the best in the country. 3. When Miami suffered an historic loss to Clemson last year what did they do? They fired their coach. They brought in a better coach. Are they better off than they were under Golden? BC should follow that model.
You can't teach an old dog new tricks. This has been going on forever and will never change. We NEED to fire Addazio ASAP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kbn8JSET5OE
The toothbrushes analogy makes 100% sense for what he is trying to ingrain. He wants the team to be so good at the fundamentals, the muscle memory so highly developed, that it's like they're brushing their teeth.
I did the same thing with my rowers when I coached. We would work on all of our fundamentals at the end of practice, when they were tired and worn out, because it would be what they reverted to when they are tired. It's the same idea.
They sent me an email asking me for money today ... this is what they got in response ...
I might consider donating again when my beloved Alma Mater decides to actually care about sports and not make us the laughing stock of the entire country. The highest paid employees at the university are likely the head football coach, head basketball coach and athletic director. Their combined futility is beyond pathetic. No other major university that plays in a power conference would allow this to continue. However, the hierarchy at BC just does not care. Sadly, I have stopped caring either ... though when you completely capitulate and lose 49-0, its hard not to be completely and utterly embarrassed. 0 for the ACC last year and no hope that this will change this year. What a complete joke.
Interesting. I got the same request for money today in my email box. Here's my response:
I have always supported BC in my own modest way and will continue to do so. However, please let Fr. Leahy know that there’s increasing unrest in the alumni base regarding the sorry state of BC sports. While the academic side of BC has continued to grow under his care, the high profile sports have become a national disgrace.
Fr. Monan understood the positive connection between athletic success and academic reputation. While BC continues to collect healthy ACC paychecks, it doesn’t invest in its two most visible sports – football and basketball. It’s time to change our thinking about the revenue producing sports. It’s time to compete again. I’m tired of being embarrassed by my alma mater. ‘Ever to Excel’ is our motto; that should apply to the gridiron and basketball court as well as the classroom.
What poor timing for the Development Office to send out an email! I answered as follows and urge others to do the same:
Beth E. McDermott
Vice President for Development
University Advancement
Ms. McDermott:
I must admit my disappointment at the University’s lack of direction in regard to major sports in the athletic department.
I have followed BC teams since freshman year orientation in 1964. Our current football and men’s basketball programs are at an all time low point. Despite a record-breaking lack of success, Mr. Bates has seen fit to give undeserved, inexplicable extensions to the head coaches of these sports.
I believe Mr. Bates is not up to the task of Athletic Director, especially in his selection of coaches. Mr. Bates, Mr. Addazio, and Mr. Christian should all be terminated as soon as possible and replaced with “BC people” in the spirit and mold of Bill Flynn, legendary head of BCAA, and Jerry York, our best role model and most successful coach.
I suggest that the Board of Trustees make use of the wonderful resource they have in Fr. Monan in moving forward to save these programs, which represent BC’s “brand” to the outside world.
"Ever to Excel”
Leonard A&S ’68; Law ‘77
Eagle79er,
I would challenge the notion that academically BC has improved under Leahy. We have sat comfortably between 30-35 on the US News Report for the past ten years. In fact, this year we fell from 30 to 31. Applications are down for the third year in a row, it is hard to continue to blame that trend on an additional essay.
Whats frustrating is that investment in athletics could help propel us into the top 25 or higher as a university, rather than being content to stay in the 30s.
Well SOS - at least academics is treading water. Seems like BC needs a shot in the arm across the board. College enrollments are growing at a far slower pace due to birth rates and changing demographics. The academically elite top tier schools will continue to survive and prosper. The rest will struggle for lower quality students - and many of the smaller privates (other than the small ivies) may not make it. BC cannot take anything for granted and needs to do everything it can to get into that rarefied air of a top 25 academic ranking. It should be a stretch goal for the entire leadership team at the school. And the favorable attention that athletics can provide helps draw more applicants which, in turn, raises quality which favorably impacts rankings. We need a university president with energy and drive to move the school up the ladder in all areas including major athletics.
SoS. - digging into the stat jar. Interesting.
Did you know the best academics ranked school in the ACC is BC
THIS LINK
Different stat jar
But to nap's and sos's point. I agree: why is BC not climbing the USNWR ranking?
BU is #39. Jumped 5 spots or so in last few years
That should light a fire under some Jesuit tush
Love all he comments to Development and Ms. McDermott. I haven't sent mine yet, but it will be along the same lines.
Golden was supposed to be the answer at Miami and they fired him after 3 or maybe 4 years after the loss to Clemson and the obvious downward spiral. Did they fire him right after that game, or wait until the season was over?
Lenny - I loved your response. "Despite a record-breaking lack of success, Mr. Bates has seen fit to give undeserved, inexplicable extensions to the head coaches of these sports.
I believe Mr. Bates is not up to the task of Athletic Director, especially in his selection of coaches. Mr. Bates, Mr. Addazio, and Mr. Christian should all be terminated as soon as possible.............."
Big Jack Krack
Jack Crowley
B.S. Finance, 1968
Love these!!! I hope they're getting an earful from all of us.
College rankings are a joke. What's with the obsession? They're fueled by algorithms, previous rankings, acceptance rates, etc. I'd bet most college administrators despise them but probably realize that not joining in does more harm. Because, you know, people are sheep. Who like lists. BC better than Duke and Cornell? Sure.
Come on. BC has gotten much better than it was when most of the posters on here even went. Believing in a stupid list is akin to believing in NFL power rankings (there are playoffs!). Marketing majors take heart. Apparently people believe your crap.
Daz gets this whole season to prove whether he can improve. I don't know about buyout amounts, but if we're uncompetitive vs Clemson/UL/FSU, that'll do it for me. I think we're due for one upset. Anyway, can't wait to read the same posts over and over again. With stats.
The unfortunate reality is that despite every administrator's disdain for school rankings, in particular the US News list, they recognize they are a required evil. I recall reading a story a few years back about how Clemson mastered the art of manipulating the algorithims to boost their ranking. All that said, on a pure comparative basis, they hold some weight with me. I too noticed hapless BU moving to within 8 spots of BC. That is absurd. Almost as absurd as a crap school like Brandeis being ranked #34 ... or Notre Dame #15 for that matter.
BTW, BC's applicant pool and acceptance rate plummeted a few years ago simply because they stopped accepting the common app. This eliminated thousands of applicants who just clicked a box and had no real interest and/or no real chance, to get into the school.
BC just needs a new leader period. Leahy has been in charge for 20 years now. Thats enough. Bring in a fresh perspective.
The first couple paragraphs of Monday's press transcript just enrages me. All the damn excuses in there! There was the excuse that we had to go on the road the first three games and had to start off against GTECH instead of a bum school. He actually called UMass a very good football program. He set the whole meeting up in those first two paragraphs to protect his job, provide excuses and paint BC as having an unfair advantage. Please, stop! We play a 3-9 GTECH on a neutral field. Life isn't so tough! Then 22K fans were at Gillette, most BC. As Cris Carter would say, C'mon man!
I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of the importance of school rankings (especially USNWR) due to the weight current and potential students give it for determining a school's value. During my second year at Emory Law, we fell from 22 down to 30. Everybody reacted as if they were attending a different law school. Administrators feared a significant decrease in qualified applicants for the following year and a lot of first years considered transferring. Then we rose back to either 22 or 23 the following year.
In the interest of fairness, I am posting the polite response I received from the Development Office:
Dear Leonard,
I wanted to thank you for taking the time to write in response to the annual fund email appeal you received yesterday morning. I am very appreciative of your feedback and have shared your sentiments with other members of the University's administration, as I think we are all frustrated with the performance of our leading sports teams.
I hope that we will soon be back to having a winning record and to counting you among our loyal donors.
With good wishes,
Beth McDermott
Beth E. McDermott
Vice President for Development
Office of University Advancement
Cadigan Alumni Center
Boston College
o 617.552.9151 | m 802.999.4604
Stay in touch with your BC family at bc.edu/forbc.
Received the same response, word for word, to my email.
The fact that they drafted a "form letter" response would seem to indicate that a lot of alums replied in a similar fashion to the solicitation.
I got the same
Golden might be the answer. Recruited well at bc. Would need a legitimate oc and DC. I don't think a hc can win on his own anymore. Need invest from top all way down to grad assistants.
Ouch. Same response verbatim is not cool. Though not surprising. Never was a fan of the admin. That really is lame.
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