Don't count on Golden

There has been lots of Al Golden to BC as Defensive Coordinator talk the past 24 hours. I have been wrong on these things many, many times, but I don't think Golden is coming. Forget about the mismatch of styles or Golden serving as a threat to Addazio's position. I don't think it is happening for the very simple reason that Golden just moved his whole family back to New Jersey. Just moved, as in less than a month ago. New school for the kids. New house. Everything. Given that, I don't see him as the type of guy who is going to take an assistant job a few weeks later.

Whatever problems Golden might have as a head coach, he's been a pretty good at managing his career. His biggest mistake was probably not taking the BC job when Miami was still being investigated by the NCAA. While serving as a Power 5 DC might help rehab his profile, he might be better off sitting out a season and trying to get a head job next offseason. He might even be a candidate for BC should Addazio struggle again.

Maybe I am reading too much into the family and career issues, but once again the timing seems off for Golden to come to BC.

Looking back on what could have been: former BC coaching candidates

Having just faced David Cutcliffe and heading into a game against Dave Clawson, I thought it might be time to look back at what could have been. Both guys were very friendly with Gene Defilippo and were considered in 2006 when TOB left. And since we're going back, I thought we might as well examine Al Golden and Mike London too. (It always feels like the ACC is littered with guys who talked to BC about the job.)

David Cutcliffe
Of all the guys listed in this, Cutcliffe probably advanced the least in the process. I think his age, the lack of New England or even northeast ties, his health and his persona kept him from being considered strongly. After TOB, I think everyone wanted someone a little more passionate and a little more high energy. Cutcliffe is not as dry and reserved as TOB, but he is not rah rah type. I never wanted him and would have been livid if we had hired him. Yet maybe that was a mistake. He's exceeded everyone's expectations at Duke and turned them into a viable, somewhat consistent football program. Imagine what he might have done in Matt Ryan's final year or with someone like Chase Rettig? Since he was a Gene crony, Spaz probably would have stayed on as DC. In retrospect, that might have been pretty formidable. Even though our Whale Pants booster crowd might not have taken to a southerner like Cutcliffe as head coach, the guy is a devout Catholic (supposedly attends Mass daily). Maybe it would have worked.

Dave Clawson
I had never heard of Dave Clawson until the BC job opened up. His candidacy (and much of his career) was directly tied to Gene D. At the time, he was head coach at Richmond. While successful there, he had yet to coach at the DIA level. The jump to BC would have been massive and a real question mark in recruiting. Aside from his relationship with Gene, what Clawson did have in his favor was a track record of building good teams. First at Fordham and then at Richmond. That success continued at Bowling Green. Will he turn Wake into a winner? Who knows? But I don't think BC missed anything. Unlike Cutcliffe, who was more of Gene's peer, Clawson was Gene's mentee. That style of management blew up with Jags. It probably would have with Clawson as well.

Mike London
London was a serious candidate when Spaz got the job. A year later he got the UVA job. They've been very patient with him and he is still well under .500. I don't think BC would have had as much patience. At the time I preferred London to Spaz. In retrospect, he probably would have failed here too. I don't even know if he would have won as many games as Spaz did (London's winning percentage is below Spaz's). London is and was a better recruiter than Spaz, so the bottom might not have been as low, but there still would have been multiple bad, frustrating seasons.

Al Golden
For a guy who put so much planning into his career progressions, Al Golden's timing with BC has always been bad. Unlike the other guys, he was a candidate after TOB, Jags and Spaz. Now that the Miami fans are fed up, it looks like Al probably should have left when BC came calling after firing Spaz. Even if it meant a pay cut, it would have gotten him out of the mess he's been dealing with in South Florida. Of all the guys on the list, I think Al has the most in common with Addazio. They are both intense rah rah guys. Both are passionate about recruiting. And both are guys who raise a lot of questions with their game management. If we had hired Golden instead of Addazio, I think we would probably be a in a very similar situation: a lot of young talent, but questions on if the coach can take the team to the next level.

The timing is never right for BC and Al Golden

Al Golden should've been BC's coach years ago. But our timing and his was always a little off. Despite this most recent flirtation, I am afraid the timing is wrong again.

When TOB left, Golden was untouchable. He had only been the head coach at Temple for one season and finished 1-11. If he hadn't risked everything to rebuild Temple and stayed at UVA as Defensive Coordinator, he would have gotten the BC job. He had a good relationship with Gene. He knew enough of the BC staff and culture to make the transition. Heck, even with the stinker of a season, he was more of a serious candidate than anyone realized at the time. But it wasn't meant to be.

In 2009, he could have had the job again. He knew what went down between Gene and Jags, yet was still willing to roll the dice with Gene just for the chance to coach at BC and take over a BCS program. But Gene went with Spaz for reasons that had nothing to do with Golden.

When he got to Miami I thought the Golden-BC shipp had finally sailed. But then the Shapiro scandal blew up and Golden's name started floating again. Was this finally the time?

Some coaches shoot from the hip. Golden is a planner. I don't know if he ever saw himself at Miami, but he certainly planned on being at an elite program at this stage in his career. If Miami wasn't falling apart with the NCAA hammer hovering, he wouldn't entertain a BC offer. But our problem is that we are not the only option for Golden now. He is a real candidate for Tennessee. But the Vols are not on the same timeline we are. This is where the conflict comes into play.

BC narrowed its field already and is moving to the final stages. Golden will have to make a decision on his status with BC without knowing his chances at Tennessee. He also can stay at Miami and hope to salvage one more season before sanctions make winning an impossibility. This won't be about the money. It will be about which opportunity Al Golden feels is the best for his long-term career.

I don't think Golden is coming to BC. As much as he is a planner and strategist, he's also a confident coach. I think the chance of Tennessee is enough to keep him from saying yes to BC when we finally make an offer.

Understanding the "A List"

When the ideas of the search plan leaked more than a few scoffed at the idea that any current BCS-level coach would ever consider a move to BC. Even with the chaos of the last 48 hours, there is still some underlying qualities that make the BC job attractive. Per ESPN's Insider:

I know a couple of guys who actually want this job, even if it isn't officially open yet. They saw the ACC as vulnerable, even before this new round of realignment. They think there's room for BC, despite the academic limitations that similarly hamstring Duke and Wake Forest.

It's a beautiful city and campus and, let's be honest, the conference isn't that challenging to make the Matt Ryan years seem that distant. A couple of solid players on both sides of the ball, and the Eagles could be equipped to be a conference contender. Frank Spaziani, most everyone believes, is simply in over his head.

The three most well-known names to be rumored targets of BC are Dan Mullen, Bill O'Brien and Al Golden. We can assume all three will be contacted. I don't expect any to take the job, but there is still a chance one might. You make the phone call to find out. All three have specific reasons as to why they would take the call.

Dan Mullen
By everyone's accounts Dan Mullen has done a great job at Mississippi State. But he is a New Hampshire native and has family ties to New England.
Why would he leave? Remember the Cam Newton scandal. Mullen had successfully recruited Newton only to see Auburn boosters buy off Cam's dad to have him sign with the Tigers. That is the world in which Mullen has to operate. Plus he will always be behind LSU and Alabama is his own division. Mullen will leave Mississippi State. It is only a question of when and which job. He will be a top candidate for all the open SEC jobs.
Why BC? Aside from the family issues, Mullen might want to come to BC to escape the SEC. Even if Tennessee or Auburn come calling with promises of more money and the chance to actually compete with the Sabans and Miles, he still has to get dirty. He still has to recruit borderline kids and he still has to look the other way when someone throws money at these kids. I don't want to say that everyone at BC is a choir boy, but it is definitely a different sort of atmosphere. He can win the division in the ACC. He won't at MSU. Also if he comes to BC and rebuilds successfully, he will then have proven himself twice and be able to get any key job out there.
Will it happen? I don't think so. Mullen is going to have his choice of jobs and despite his ties to the area, I don't think that will be enough to have him pass on Tennessee or Auburn.

Bill O'Brien
O'Brien thought he knew what he was getting into at Penn State. Replacing a legend and healing a community is one thing, but the devastating sanctions were not anticipated.
Why would he leave? Losing coaches rarely get a second chance to be a head coach. Even though the team is playing well and even though he is saying the right things, Penn State will be playing with one hand behind their back for the next five years. If O'Brien presides over PSU's decline, no one is ever going to offer him a big time gig again.
Why BC? O'Brien was married in St. Ignatius. His wife is a BC grad. He grew up in the Boston suburbs. He dreamed of coaching in the ACC. He wanted the BC job last year, but BC didn't fire Spaz.
Will it happen? O'Brien has been very non-committal in his recent interviews. Any coach who leaves a school after one year is going to get vilified in the media and on the recruiting trail, but I have to imagine where there is smoke there is fire. Why wouldn't he be more demonstrative in his love and desire to stay at Penn State? He was gung ho right after the sanctions. Has the reality kicked in? If he's going to bail on Penn State, he will only do it for a job he really wants and in a place where he really wants to be.

Al Golden
Even going back to his days at BC, Golden's name always managed to float for a bigger and better opportunity. Now that Miami is facing huge sanctions, his name is popping up again.
Why would he leave? Golden is a smart guy and a guy who is always thinking about his next move. When he took the Miami job, I am sure he worked through scenarios in which he would leave and don't think BC would have been on that "Next Job" list. You take Miami as a path to National Championships or the NFL. But a bomb went off shortly into his first year and there are looming sanctions. His AD bailed and the school self-imposed a second bowl ban. Like O'Brien he needs to get out before sanctions sink his W-L record and his long-term career prospects.
Why BC? If not for timing, Golden would have been BC's head coach. He took the Temple job in 2006. If he had stayed at UVA one more year, Gene probably would have hired him. Our old AD couldn't steal him from Temple after one 1-11 season. Al could have replaced Jags too, but Gene never really looked beyond Spaz. Now BC would be a safe haven. He could rebuild and still be positioned for a very good job in four or five years.
Will it happen? Of the "A List," this is the most probable. He wants out and there are only so many jobs. He will be in the mix for the SEC spots, but I don't see them rushing to hire Golden. To them he is some guy who has been "ok" at Miami. BC fans on the other hand know about his recruiting and work ethic, know what a miracle the Temple rebuild was and know that he was dealt a bad hand at Miami.

Rumored ADs, rumored coaches and what it all means

RUMORS on the AD front

Blauds wants BC to hurry up and pick an AD. My guess is that his whining and criticism is on behalf of a source who also might be a candidate for the job. As is often the case, he's way off the mark on a few fronts. BC doesn't need to accommodate any candidates. All the public finalists would gladly take the job and should expect multiple rounds of interviews. None of the named ADs are currently with BCS programs. These jobs don't come along all that often and the potential pay raise and power of the BC job is worth the wait. Blauds also doesn't know all the candidates. I don't either but I've been told from multiple sources that there are others interested and being screened whose names have not leaked yet. Finally Blauds is off when he says the process is too long. Just having a process is a good thing. BC is going to narrow the list and have more discussions, and then negotiate with a finalist. It will be on BC's terms and probably wrapped up within the next four to six weeks. BC doesn't need to announce a hard date publicly because then if they miss the hard date it gives the appearance that something is wrong. The only real deadline is to have the new AD hired before football season ends.

RUMORS on the coaching front

First came the glowing profile of Al Golden from Dan Wetzel that mentioned he could be a candidate for other jobs. Then came the ESPN blurb that mentioned BC as a possible destination for the Miami coach. That got the message boards talking and rightly so. He'd be a great candidate to replace Spaz. But would he really come here? In my experience covering Al Golden from afar, there is a simple truth: if his name is mentioned for a job, he wants it and his people are probably leaking it. With his AD potentially leaving and the still unknown of NCAA sanctions, maybe Golden wants to bail before the program is crushed. If he stays at Miami he might endure a four or five year rebuilding process and that is probably too long for a guy like Golden. And after enduring all those losses he'll really only have value to Miami. He's not going to be a "hot" coach after multiple losing seasons. At BC he could avoid a decline, build year over year and then be in a prime spot to jump to a bigger program in four of five years (like right when his alma mater Penn State comes out from sanctions). I always viewed Golden as a better self promoter than coach, but at both Miami and Temple, he's proven he can win despite difficult circumstances. I watched good chunks of the Miami-NC State game and the Miami-Georgia Tech game. In both, his team played hard. I think he could do some great things at BC. But I don't think it will ever get that far. Even with a new AD, I would be surprised if we paid a new coach $2 million+ to come to the Heights. It's not a money thing either (the new ACC TV deal would cover the cost). It is a culture issue. I don't see our leadership willingly breaking the bank for Golden.

But when we make a change the new AD should at least call Golden. The leaks alone let us know that he'll have the conversation.

Sean Desai reportedly new Special Teams coach

According to coachingsearch.com, Sean Desai is BC's new Special Teams coach. Only 29, Desai is actually a BU grad and holds a PhD from Temple. He's got to be one of the most interesting candidates Spaz could find. While green, I endorse the move. We need to take chances and we need enthusiasm.

Desai overlapped with Mike Siravo at Temple, so I would guess that is his connection to Spaz and Gene. If he worked for Golden and Golden brought him to Miami, you know he is willing to work hard and recruit hard.

If the remainder of the staff has this sort of profile, I will be happy.

The lesson of the Miracle Workers

With one losing lesson on his resume and porous recruiting class set to sign, many are wondering what sort of hole Spaz will leave for his successor. I've made the argument on message boards, twitter and in numerous conversations, that it doesn't matter what Spaz does. If BC hires the right coach, we will rebound. You only need to look at the rebuilding jobs Greg Schiano performed at Rutgers and Al Golden performed at Temple to know it can happen. Both were black holes where coaching careers went to die. But both guys saw potential and believed in themselves and turned around moribund programs.

Before I get into my blueprint for Golden and Schiano, let me state that I don't know how they will do at their current jobs. Rebuilding is different in the NFL or taking an underachieving program like Miami back to elite status. I don't know if either are the greatest Xs and Os guys. But those issues aren't relevant to BC's potential issues after Spaz.

1. Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. Schiano and Golden both have a bit of used car salesman in them. Those sort of personas have always been a turnoff for me and other BC fans. But the reality of college football is you need the face of your program to connect to recruits, their families and their coaches. While Schiano and Golden had plenty of misses among their recruiting rosters every year and never delivered elite classes, they recruited harder and better than anyone ever did at Temple and Rutgers. As head coaches they were on the front lines and in the recruits's faces. That sets a tone. BC's next coach has to be the same way. Every coach we've hired since Henning showed a strong push on recruiting when first hired and then drifted from that focus. BC's next coach has to love to recruit and love to sell.

2. Facilities. You don't need the best facilities to win. You just need slow, continuous improvements to your facilities. You need to be able to sell recruits that "we've just done this and the really big project is coming." Spaz won't make a big deal out of it, but guys like Golden and Schiano would make our renovated weight room or the new turf seem like they were the biggest projects in Boston since the Big Dig. The momentum of those improvements shows progress and combats the coaches who say "BC's facilities are ancient." Eventually BC will have to build a permanent practice facility, but for now they just need to have an incremental upgrade each season.

3. Control. Rutgers gave Schiano total control when he was hired. They just lost a chance to hire Mario Cristobal because they wouldn't give him the same control. They feel they don't have to now. As BC fans know all to well, hiring a coach based on who he would keep on his staff is a short-sighted move bound for failure. Our next coach needs total control. That doesn't mean he can recruit anyone or doesn't have to graduate players. At BC, those things are a given. But it does mean he can hire his whole staff, set the schedule and play any style he prefers. BC's current coaches don't have those powers now.

These keys are the blueprint for a comeback but I think it is a bit of fantasy on my part. As long as Gene is making the call, no coach will be given the same latitude that Schiano and Golden were given when they changed two terrible programs.

The TOB tree is taking over the ACC

Since I've been tracking this for a while, it is time again to look back on Tom O'Brien's first staff. Now in the 12-team ACC 25% of the conference is coached by TOB's proteges. Now this sort of six degrees game can be played on many coaching staffs, but TOB deserves credit for finding these guys in 1997 and happenstance deserves a little credit for all of them ending up in one conference 13 years later.

Then (1997)
Tom O'Brien. Relatively unknown coordinator from Virginia set to begin his first head coaching job at Boston College.
Frank Spaziani. TOB's old colleague from Navy and Virginia. Had been in the witness protection program (his own joke) coaching defense in the CFL. TOB brought him back to the States to be his first running backs coach at BC.
Al Golden. BC was Golden's first official college football job. Amazingly TOB named him recruiting coordinator too. (Can you imagine a BCS program naming a totally untested kid recruiting coordinator now?). But Golden had impressed TOB enough while a GA at Virginia to give him such a crucial role at BC.
Mike London. London had a little more experience than Golden, but it wasn't screaming "Big Time" job. He had been a position coach at William & Mary and Richmond before TOB gave him his first DIA job working as BC's defensive line coach.

Now (2010)
Tom O'Brien. After becoming BC's all-time winningest coach, TOB left to be the head coach at NC State.
Frank Spaziani. Spaz moved from RB to the defensive side of the ball in TOB's third year. From there he shaped years of successful BC defenses before becoming the head man himself in 2009.
Al Golden. The ever ambitious Golden left BC to head recruiting at Penn State. Then it was onto UVA before becoming a head coach at Temple and now Miami.
Mike London. Like Goldon, London was certainly ambitious and made stops along the way at Virginia and the NFL. He won a national championship at Richmond and is now at Virginia.

I should also note that in 1997 TOB also gave Michigan State Offensive Coordinator Don Treadwell and former BC coach Jeff Jagodzinski their first BCS level jobs.

I don't know what it says about the ACC or TOB that all these guys got their first big break at the same time. It is also interesting to note that after building his first BC staff with young, aggressive coaches, TOB has stuck with a more mature and loyal staff since.