Commissiong still on campus (and staying) and three new coaches hired

First an update on Jeff Commissiong. Despite Rivals report, he was still on campus today and telling people he is staying. That makes sense as BC has backfilled three positions without mentioning him leaving or staying.

We already knew about Sean Desai. The other two newcomers are Aaron Smith and former Eagle Al Washington. All three fit the prototype BC needs: young and hungry for a shot at the big time.

Smith comes from Columbia where he has held a variety of roles. He played college ball at UConn and Maryland. With an Ivy League background you assume he understands the type of player BC can and will recruit.

Al Washington is a name I floated from the beginning. He seems like the perfect fit in that he is young, understands BC and can help provide a little emotion to a team that seemed lifeless at times. Washington was an undersized DT for BC but always served as a team leader and someone who could achieve beyond his physical talents. Since his playing days he's stayed in the BC circle, first as a GA with TOB at NC State and then as a DLine coach with Swepson at Elon.

The coaches leaving were not a good sign, but I think Spaz really did the right thing with how he filled the openings.

Spaz needs to hire an African American assistant ASAP

Quotas are messy and controversial. As I said during the Lively controversy, I don't think BC or any of its leaders are racists and leveling that charge is a cheapshot. But now that Jeff Comissiong also left for Rutgers, BC football is without any African American staffers. Spaz needs to hire an African American replacement soon. It is not about quotas. It's about combating negative recruiting. Every school uses negative recruiting and the race card is often played against BC. Other programs say Boston is a racist city and that the school is full of rich, white kids. Now those other coaches will throw in "they don't even have a black coach." Most recruits and their families see through the negative BS, but it will hurt. And the timing stinks. As Spaz just told Ivan Maisel, recruiting during the "Junior Days" period is critical. BC is talking to future targets right now. They need staffers quickly and they need diversity to combat any negative perceptions.

As much as I thought the departures of Sirmans, Day and Brock were losses, from a coaching standpoint Jeff Comissiong's departure is addition by subtraction. Comissiong had been on the hot seat at various times during his tenure at BC. He was never considered a great recruiter nor a solid position coach. Ironically he interviewed at Rutgers a few years ago and Schiano passed. This should be an opportunity for Spaz to upgrade.

Fortunately there are multiple, young African American BC grads in coaching. Doug Goodwin and Al Washington are two that come to mind. Spaz will fill these openings. As I said in my earlier posts about the staff changes, I hope he uses this as an opportunity to bring a new energy to the program. That way BC can change the perception to outsiders and the reality to the players.