Irish BC Guys Need Not Apply

Replacing Gene DeFilippo presents a great opportunity for BC. I hope we don't blow it by hiring a "BC guy."  There are so many challenges ahead. Narrowing our search only to people who worked at or graduated from BC eliminates too many great candidates. Fans always clamor for the familiar or "one of us" but those sorts of relationships and expectations can also bring a lot of baggage. I also fear that hiring a BC Guy or Gal brings a lot of preconceived notions of what can be accomplished at the school.

I don't want someone who just assumes BC will always be behind the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins because "Boston is a pro sports town."

I don't want someone who will just accept the limitations and roadblocks from our neighbors in Newton, Brighton and Brookline with a shrug or an "it is what it is."

I don't want someone from the Old Boys' Network of Athletic Directors and former BC employees. I understand that this is a relationship business but the schools and the conferences that are making strides are hiring business leaders and forward thinkers. A successful executive can learn about coaching just as easily as a former coach can learn about Marketing, Budgeting and Fund Raising.

I don't want someone who approaches the job with a built in assumption that "I have to win over the BC Wall Street crowd and then get the Football Alumni onboard, and then throw a bone to the internet fans,..." A fresh start with all of the BC factions is important but I want the AD to learn that on his or her own, not because they know that from Gene or from being a member of the BC community.

There are many major projects and decisions ahead for our new Athletic Director. He or she will have to change the Department's attitude towards donors, fans and the media. He or she will have to decide the fates of numerous coaches. And the new AD will have to start multiple major infrastructure projects that Gene has been putting off for the last few years. Gene is leaving for a reason. We don't need one of his acolytes to take over and be a lessor version of Coach Flip. We need someone new and bold and someone who thinks BC can be the best athletic department in the country.