Davis final 2 and other links

With less than a week before signing day, Addazio is making a final push on some key targets. One is Florida Running Back Robert Davis. He will be in Boston this weekend. Currently he favors Memphis. 

This didn't get much attention but a pipe burst in the Yawkey Complex over the weekend. The water damage was extensive, but fortunately no people or equipment will have to be moved. 

BCI wrote a good piece on how BC can emulate Stanford's football success. 

For those wondering what sort of offense we will have, Tim Boyle's coach thinks our QBs will run 15-20 times a game. 

Gerry Ward will represent BC as an "ACC Legend" at this year's ACC Tournament. Congrats to Gerry. (Does anyone else chuckle when these guys who never played in the ACC are tapped as "Legends"?)

The honors keep piling up as Jerry York will now enter the Beanpot Hall of Fame. 

Report: McGowan to join Addazio staff

In their report on Mike Siravo heading to Temple, Philly.com also noted that former Temple Linebacker coach Sean McGowan would reunite with Addazio in Boston. BC has not made an official announcement. What I find curious about hiring McGowan is that Addazio could have hired him early on and chose not to. It was only after McGovern left that Addazio felt the need to add McGowan to the Defensive staff. In a way McGovan is the second staffer who Addazio initially passed over before bringing him on board at a later date (Washington being the other). You would hope that Addazio isn't settling.

McGowan's never worked at a BCS level, but he has solid experience in the north east. He should be a good addition to the staff.

Addazio still needs to add one more staffer. I am surprised and disappointed that it has taken this long. Every day we recruit without a full staff is another opportunity lost.

When will we turn the corner?

I know I've been down on this team lately, but how can we not be? Forget about losing close games or having off shooting nights. Tonight it felt like the guys didn't even come to play. We are playing North Carolina on national TV at home and the guys were sleep walking. Other than Hanlan and Odio, did anyone else give off the impression that they were ready to play and thought we could win? Worse I don't know what Donahue can and should do at this point. He mixed up the lineup and minutes tonight and it didn't work.  Clifford has been good change of pace lately but only played four minutes tonight. The apologists can talk about how young the team is or the holes in the roster Donahue inherited, but that doesn't matter now. Guys need to get better. Effort needs to get better. Coaching needs to get better. We have another chance Saturday. Let's hope things start to click. Other thoughts on the game...

Likes
-- Hanlan's aggressiveness. I think he needs to drive on every possession. The motion around the perimeter is not leading to good shots.
-- Odio's blocks. He'd be a great asset as an energy guy on a decent team.

Dislikes
-- Van Nest's near the basket. I was hoping he'd be a spark, but he wasn't tonight. We need front line minutes but he's got to be more aggressive and grab more boards.
-- Anderson settling for mid range shots. I am sure he's getting worn down, but he's at his best on the low block.
-- Lonnie Jackson chucking it. We know he's streaky but today it felt like he just threw some of them up there.

Comments update

I've heard from enough of you to know that posting comments is now cumbersome since I reinstated Blogger's  "word verification." Because I respect reader feedback and contributions, I have turned off the verification. However, this means I need your help.

Given the randomness of my schedule and other commitments, I cannot monitor the comments sections with any consistency. Therefore we could face spammers or comments that break the template code and impact the blog's display in some browsers. If this happens, please alert me via email or twitter. I will do my best to clean it up. If any of your comments get deleted, know that it was probably related to fixing things, not anything you wrote.

Thanks for your patience, you support and your lively opinions.

Addazio recruiting like Cortes

Legend has it that when Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortes got to what is now Mexico, he had his ships burned. Like many historical anecdotes, I am sure there is some embellishment, but the lesson is simple: if you want full commitment, a leader needs to make sure his team has no other choice. That is sort of how I feel about Addazio's QB situation. First he landed a dual threat QB and now he has basically told our highest rated recruit Tim Boyle that the system is going to favor dual guys.

Boyle liked BC from the very beginning and has stayed true despite the terrible season under Spaz and the coaching change. I feel for him. That doesn't mean he is owed anything. Maybe Addazio is doing him a favor. He's now free to go where he is wanted.

As for what it means to BC...I hope Addazio has something in Walsh or has another ace up his sleeve. I don't know if Boyle would have been special, but he was a nice insurance policy. Now we are all in on dual threat QBs. It makes you wonder how we are going to use Rettig this season.

Boston Magazine confirms Hohler is the Globe's hatchet man

Boston Magazine posted a great feature on the demise of the Boston Sports media. It is well worth your time and touches on how out of touch and provincial the biggest names can be. But what I found most interesting is that the article pulled back the curtain on how the tough news is covered. The beat guys can't risk access to the coaches and players they cover every day so they turn the hard news and gossip over to Bob Hohler. Although he hasn't put BC in his crosshairs lately, Hohler has written many negative articles on BC in the past.

So when you are wondering how player issues or coaching fights or other newsworthy subjects are ignored by the Globe or Herald, remember that access remains key. Or in a case like Blauds and Spaz, sometimes you just want to go easy on your buddy.

New QB and the good news of the weekend

Although I questioned Addazio's need for a third QB in this class, it doesn't mean I am not happy for our latest commitment Ohio QB James Walsh. He fits the much discussed dual threat mold that our new coach has been looking for. Walsh previously committed to Ohio. I don't think he is a program changer, but at this point he is low-risk hedge. The only downside to taking him is the chance that one or more of our other QBs leave. I hope they don't. They should at least see if Addazio is true to his word and plays the best guy and not just the system QB.

The Women's Ice Hockey team crushed UConn.

2014 recruit Justin Neslon liked his visit to BC. 2014 recruit Thadd Smith also enjoyed his visit.

We haven't taken a JUCO player in a few years, so it is surprising to see our interest in Marvin Fan Fan. He's a Tight End but could probably play in a few other positions too.

What's the worst thing that happened to BC this weekend?

Where to start?

I would start with the basketball team losing to Virginia, but that is to be expected. Virginia is a good defensive team and made life difficult for our best player (Anderson). Don't read too much into us leading at the half...as we still haven't shown we can play 40 minutes of quality basketball.

The Hockey team usually provides hope to everyone around BC athletics, so when they lose back to back games you start to worry. It was the first time Maine had swept us at home since 1993 (when Maine was at its peak). The last time BC lost consecutive games at home to anyone was 2007.

But the strangest news of the weekend, was the Heights report that our 2013 game against New Mexico State will be a road game!?! Everyone assumed it would be a home game, especially when we settled on playing a team like New Mexico State. Brad Bates has yet to explain why he selected this game and why he seemingly cut a one-off deal where we travel, but I assume it is all about money. I know BC talked to plenty of schools about coming to Boston and all wanted huge guarantees. If we travel we don't pay the opponent. In fact depending on the price of buying a game at Alumni against a lessor program, this might be more lucrative and less risky. Now New Mexico State won't provide the same sort of pay day that travelling to a BCS conference school might have (like Ohio State), but they are FBS. That means that a win in Las Cruces will help our bowl eligibility. The perceived momentum of another win next year might help Addazio and Bates as they rebuild. I know ticket buyers are upset about not having another home game, but would there have been much demand for NM State? Would it have sold out? Probably not. Until we show we can support a six game homeslate, I don't see the Administration in a rush to add a seventh game.

And if that wasn't enough, there's water damage in the Football offices.

What sort of QB does Addazio need?

BC has a strong history recruiting pro-style, pocket passers. Jags recruited some dual-threat guys but Spaz reverted right back to the pocket mold when he took over. Despite his challenges, Spaz even landed two tall pocket passers for this upcoming class in Tim Boyle and Mackay Lowrie. When Addazio came on he said he was going to play to the team's strengths and build on what is here. Yet despite his proclamation and the connections he built with Boyle and Lowrie, Addazio went hard after a third QB in Michael Julian. 

Julian is an late blooming athletic kid from South Carolina. The recruiting sites categorize him as a "dual-threat" QB. He's right in line with Addazio's ideal QB based on his system at Florida and Temple. Even with the promises to the Spaz commitments, I had no problem with Addazio's decision. He needs to find the best players he can. But now that Julian has said "no" to BC, I am starting to wonder what sort of QB BC should recruit. And with the rise of the running QB in the NFL, what is a "pro-style" quarterback anymore?

A lot of the pro vs dual style is cover for race. If you look on the recruiting sites, "pro" style are predominately white, while "dual" are predominately black. For a variety of reasons, BC has been an easier sell to white, pocket passers. The guys who wanted to be the next Foley, Hasselbeck or Ryan. But that doesn't mean that there aren't exceptions. Bordner is a white QB from Maryland, but he is probably best categorized as "dual." Codi Boek was also recruited as a "dual" threat. But the color of the skin shouldn't really mater. What should mater is the QB's ability to throw and run. The ideal QB -- the guy I want BC to get -- is someone who can do both well. 

But stepping back, I started to rethink about Addazio's need to get a third guy. Shouldn't the offense execute well as long as the QB does most things well and right? Take Brian Kelly as an example. In all his stops he's used running and throwing QBs interchangeably  The framework of the offense is the same, but the types of plays and what the QB does is different. Steve Logan was the same way at BC. We ran the same offense with Matt Ryan as we did with Chris Crane, yet with Crane we ran the ball much more. If Addazio is going to have success at BC, he should be able to win with the QBs we have. The only way it makes sense to go hard after a third QB is if he thinks Boyle and Lowrie are not ACC caliber. 

We won't know if the new guys are any good for two years. We will know how adaptable Addazio and Day are well before then because Rettig is not a "dual" guy. I hope that they can score regardless of the QB's strengths, because if not we will have a lot of square pegs trying to fit in round holes. 

Questions about the basketball team

The mens basketball team gets a chance to turn things around Saturday vs UVA. But at this point I question if they will. In fact I have a lot of questions born out of frustration with the team's progress. These are rhetorical obviously but I hope Donahue and staff are working through similar thoughts. If he is going to get these guys to turn a corner next year, he needs to lay the foundation now.

-- Should Van Nest and Caudill get more minutes? Dennis Clifford is limited out there leaving us very small. Yet we have two bigs sitting for most of the game. Why? I understand that neither player is going to be "All ACC' but they should be better than they are. Word is the shine has worn off Van Nest and he's got some lingering injuries. But even if he is not the player they hoped and he's a little dinged, I am sure he's healthier than Clifford.

Caudill is slow and I guess  he's not in the type of shape Donahue wants. But how can a second year player not be in shape? How is the staff not riding this kid? Did they not get him on a S&C program last year? My cynical belief is that Donahue wants to free up a scholarship and is getting minimal playing time to send a message.

-- When is Heckmann going to grow up? I don' mind the missed shots, but the sloppy passing is inexcusable. Once again, what are the coaches doing to prevent this?

-- How should Donahue use his open scholarships? We need more and varied talent. Preferably with some size. But Donahue doesn't have much free space due to the large sophomore class. Saving this season is primary, but recruiting should be his next focus.

Recruiting territories and other links

Eagle Action released the individual recruiting territories for the Addazio staff. Although with open positions and an still to be named recruiting coordinator, the assignments could still be fluid. What I found interesting was some of the focus. Addazio will have three staff members assigned to Florida and just one to the other New England states. All the staffers will split Massachusetts. We will also put effort into Detroit and St. Louis for the first time in decades. I don't really care where we recruit. I just think BC needs to get a dozen kids each year from the Northeast and then find another 8-10 around the country. If we find pockets -- like Cincinnati -- where our message works, great! But the key thing is finding areas where there is talent and it is receptive to BC's pitch.

Basketball prospect Terance Mann likes BC.

Now that he is back and doing well, Jerry York night has been rescheduled for February 8.

Anyone who thinks we need to add seats to Alumni should read this article. More and more college football is becoming a TV sport and BC needs to be ahead of the curve in how we fill seats.

Coming up short against Maryland

Maryland played poorly and didn't fully capitalize on their size advantage and still won by five. This is getting old fast. Normally I would point to the closeness of the game as an indicator that BC is about to breakthrough, but I am starting to have doubts. What's most frustrating is that we were terrible down the stretch again.

Likes
-- Anderson avoiding foul trouble. It is a sign of a smart basketball player when he can guard bigger men all night and still score in the post without picking up too many fouls.
-- Lonnie Jackson sparking the run. In an ideal world this is how we would use him. When he hit those 3s in the first half the team had new life.
-- Hanlan making his FTs. It was nice that there wasn't a hangover from his last game.

Dislikes
-- The offensive decision making in the final two minutes. Our pace was slow. We waited too long. We couldn't find good shots.
-- Second half turnovers. It wasn't Maryland playing better. It was our carelessness.
-- Shooting. Do we need to go over this again?

The BC Band in Inaugural Parade

Congratulations to all those who took part. As always they represented the school well.

Mike Dawson joining Chip Kelly in Philly too

Remember when Spaz took over and he hired a bunch of guys with UNH connections? We never turned into "Oregon East" for variety of reasons, but it is interesting to see that Chip Kelly is collecting a bunch of BC guys on his NFL team. First it was McGovern, then Bob Bicknell, and now Mike Dawson.

What's interesting about the Dawson hire is that he left big-time football to work as a high school AD. Although it was a quality of life decision, I guess the opportunity to work for his old friend at the highest level was too much to pass up. Best of luck to him.

Thanks to reader Greg for the link.

McGovern to Philadelphia Eagles

Long-time BC staffer Bill McGovern is leaving BC to join Chip Kelly. I teased this news on Twitter Friday, but waited to make the full announcement until I got further confirmation (as I've been burned before). Although I appreciate McGovern's contributions to BC over the years, I think it is best that he moves onto new things.

First McGovern gains NFL experience. He also gets to be part of the Chip Kelly-NFL grand experiment. If this works, it could be the type of coaching hire that changes the League. Finally it allows Addazio and McGovern to have a fresh start with the BC Defense.

McGovern was invaluable to BC over the years, but no one knows how this transition was going to work. Taking a demotion and working for yet another BC coach might have dulled McGovern's energy and outlook. Was he ready to recruit hard again? Was he going to work well with Don Brown? McGovern's been very adaptable over the years, but this was going to be different.

This also allows Addazio to distance himself from Spaz. The continuity benefit that McGovern provided isn't as critical with Day and Washington on board. Now the staffer most closely associated with Spaz is gone...and although there was plenty of blame to go around for our 2012 defense, it was technically McGovern's job. There was some subtle pressure to keep McGovern, so now Addazio has free reign to hire any LB coach he wants.

I think McGovern will do well with Kelly and in the NFL. Players love him and he's a sound position coach. Best of luck to him.

Pantale's Shrine game and other links

Chris Pantale caught two passes in the East-West Shrine game. The West side won the game.

Men's Hockey bounced back from Friday's loss to beat Northeastern.

Silas Spearman is now one of BC's main recruiting targets.

Hockey, Beyonce? and other links

The Men's Hockey team lost at home to UMass, 5-2. We hadn't loss to UMass at Conte since 2007.

Delaware hired former BC Offensive Coordinator Dave Brock as their new head coach.

The Women's hockey team beat Mercyhurst. 

Chris Pantale is making the most of his opportunity to impress at the East-West Shrine game. 

Finally, check out this picture of Beyonce:

As reader Brian pointed out, that is a Flutie-era Boston College helmet. Isn't it? I can't think of any other college or pro team that ever looked like that. What is it doing there? My guess is that it was just some prop the photographer or GQ had lying around. But the pic is random. Someone should show it to Under Armour and Bates and explain that it would be a much cooler alternate helmet. "See, the white stripe helmet stinks. Let's go with the Beyonce helmet! That will make us seem cool."

Codi Boek is blogging about his Turkey adventure

Former BC special teamer Codi Boek is back in football, only it is in Turkey. He is coaching and playing in Istanbul and has started a blog to share his experience. Codi's early entries are strong and show his sense of adventure and excitement of being in a new city. If you like travel logs and diaries, it should be a fun read.

Why my blogging experience makes me suspicious of Notre Dame and Te'o

I try to avoid the news of the day on the blog unless it relates to BC, but there is something about the Te'o situation that compelled me to post. Based on my experience blogging about a college team, I don't believe Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick when he said that December 26th, 2012 was the first time the school learned of the hoax.

As I've referenced, people send me all sorts of gossip and conspiracy theories revolving around BC sports. Obviously 99.99% of it is garbage or very difficult to confirm. If I ever think anything is serious but don't want to write about it, I pass it on to whoever I feel can help resolve the situation. I imagine a school like Notre Dame has a similar culture and network...only bigger and under more of a microscope. If Te'o was allegedly confronted December 6, I doubt that it didn't get back to Notre Dame sooner. His childhood friend  Robby Toma is a Notre Dame WR! Just based on my experience, I would suspect a Grad Assistant, a Sports Information Director or at least a position coach heard about something at some point prior to December 26.

My blogging experience also has me questioning how a Notre Dame fan didn't sniff this out sooner. Anytime I blog about a sad Boston College story or a current or former player in need, I always get emails from people either trying to help or sharing their story of how they reached out to those involved. I am only one blogger and BC is a much smaller community than Notre Dame. If a BC star's girlfriend died in season, I know there would be dozens of BC fans who would reach out to her family...even if the family asked for privacy. The media reported this fake girl died in Southern California and even named the hospital. There are thousands of Irish fans in Southern California. Appropriate or not, I am surprised that not one of them attempted to reach out and inadvertently discovered the hoax.

These things are always hard to keep underwraps. The more people that know the more likely it is to unravel and with a fanbase as engaged as Notre Dame, I just don't see how no one heard anything prior to the Te'o family sharing the secret.

Basketball blows a chance at a big win

BC showed a lot of heart tonight. I also think they outplayed and outcoached Miami for most of the game. Yet here we are with another loss. You can call it growing pains, but I think it was just bad decisions and a little bad luck via the refs. Here are my thoughts:

Likes

-- Dennis Clifford's hustle and defense. He earned the "C" on his jersey tonight. He's playing smart and moving better and had a real difference against a big team like Miami. I know he won't be 100% this season, but spurts like this would be huge for BC.

-- Hanlan driving. In my opinion he didn't drive enough. Good things happen when he goes to the hoop and he has great touch with his floater.

-- The gameplan. The pace probably wasn't where we wanted it, but defensively we were smart and well prepared. On offense we got plenty of open shots against a long team.

Dislikes

-- Hekmann's decisions. I know he is my whipping boy but tonight he earned his rep. He passed up shots and missed the ones he took. 

-- Playing Rahon as much as we did. He wasn't playing well and had trouble moving and then made a turnover late. I know it was a borderline call, but does he even pick up his dribble if he is not hurt?

-- Missing foul shots. It wasn't just about Hanlan's miss at the end. The other misses were in a sense as costly.

Kuechly finishing his degree and other links

Luke Kuechly is back on campus this semester finishing his degree. He shared that news and thoughts on the NFL in this Q&A with BCeagles.com.

Stewart Mandel gave BC a "B" for our coaching hire and like most thinks snagging Don Brown was a coup.

Most of you might have seen this already, but Gene is now teaching people the basics of football.

Adding an essay to the BC application process drastically cut the number of applicants and that is probably a good thing.

Fitch, Washington join staff officially

BC finally release an announcement confirming that Todd Fitch and Al Washington will be part of Addazio's new staff. Fitch will coach Wide Receivers and has a ties to the Midwest and New England. Most recently he was OC at USF, so you hope he brings some Florida connections to the mix too. While USF's offense was BC-like this year in its ineffectiveness, Fitch will only be in charge of the WRs. He should be more than capable.

Washington staying is not a surprise. Washington coaching Running Backs is. When Spaz was fired, the three names who gained the most support from Football Alumni were Barry Gallup, Bill McGovern and Al Washington. Gallup will always have some job at BC and McGovern is probably back where he belongs. Washington was the wildcard. His resume is short, so those who went to bat for him are basing it more on the person and his playing days. And I have no problem with that. While you don't want your staff filled with Alumni, having at least one is important. He can relate to the players. He can fill in the gaps with the staff and he can be a bridge between the past and the present. Washington also brings some much needed youth and diversity to the mix. The red flag is that he's taking over a position that he's never played nor coached. While this has been uncommon among BC hires in the last decade, it is not unusual for college football. Guys switch sides and take on new positions all the time. Breaking down film and teaching is universal to coaching regardless of which position you coach. The drills and little nuances can be learned and on a staff of offensive, run-focused veterans, I am sure we will be fine with Washington. What he will need to do is recruit  hard. On most staffs that is what is expected of the young guys. They have the energy and they can relate to the high school players. Washington wasn't a huge factor in this most recent recruiting class, but the based on player tweets, he can connect. Now he just needs to keep going strong.

One more thing on Washington...go watch this video and remember this quote: "all Washington was doing was defending his teammate." We talk about loyalty a lot, Washington is a guy who has proven it on the field.

Let's shake up the divisions and use history as our guide

I've been thinking about ourconference schedule since the ACC released the new format. The addition of Syracuse and the limited cross-division rotation was the latest reminder that the conference needs to reorganize the divisions along old conference ties. We need to have a "Big East" Division and an "Atlantic Coast" Division.

As the conference continues to grow, we continue to lose identity and history. We are now just a collection of east coast schools that are too good for the Big East and or haven't been poached by the SEC or Big Ten. Pockets of our fanbases are unsatisfied and say they miss the good old days. If you realign, you help reform that history yet still get the financial and voting strength that the larger conference provides.

The move would be fairly clean and still keep things balanced with regard to football strength and potential. Look at this potential mix:

East
Boston College
Louisville
Miami
Pitt
Syracuse
Virginia Tech
Wake Forest

Atlantic
Duke
Clemson
Georgia Tech
Florida State
North Carolina
NC State
Virginia

Obviously the one problem is that there are only six teams with historical ties to the Big East. One ACC school would have to play elsewhere. In this scenario I moved Wake since it helps balance things based on football history and size of school. Other candidates to play in the east could be Georgia Tech and Florida State (since both joined the ACC in modern times) or Virginia (so they could be geographically aligned with Virginia Tech).

But the big thing this does is placate the old school fans in North Carolina who still feel the newbies ruined the conference. I also think it would help the "east" teams with fan and media interest. BC, Syracuse, Pitt and Miami should be playing each other on a regular basis.

The politics of this are tricky and I doubt anyone is going to push a proposal like this forward. It is too bad since a common sense move like this could strengthen the conference short-term and long-term.

Another York surgery and other news

Jerry York had a follow up eye surgery Monday. Yet once again, BC took a real casual, calm tone in their press release. The assistants will continue running the show and BC Celebration to honor York on January 18th has been postponed.

Purdue hired Jim Bollman. Normally I congratulate coaches when they land on their feet, but not in this case. It seems Bollman is poaching BC commitment Dan Monteroso. I know it happens all the time, but in general BC and its former employees have shied away from the practice.

BCI  put up a good chart showing who we might play in the second week of the 2013 season. My guess is Florida State.

Olivier Hanlan earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors.

No official word from BC, but Washington did "like" BC Mike's Facebook comment on Washington staying on as RB coach. (See screen grab.) There must be some validity to it all. I will comment more on Washington staying and his new position once BC releases their announcement.

Al Washington staying?

BC has yet to make an official announcement on the potential staff holdovers from the Spaz regime. Speculation has been McGovern would be the only one to stay. Now recruit Myles Willis is tweeting that Al Washington is staying too. In my opinion that is good news but incomplete until we know his role and who else is staying.

ACC finally gets around to cable network

Sports Business Daily is reporting that the ACC is once again exploring the viability of its own cable network. The conference has missed various windows and opportunities over the years and now it might be too late. I still think they need to move forward just as a hedge in case the market turns again. I don't know if there will ever be demand in various markets or if we can ever generate the carriage fees the Big Ten and Pac 12 Networks are now getting, but the ACC needs to try. Of course ESPN -- our lone partner -- is lukewarm on the idea. They've already committed to the SEC Network and truthfully they have no need to help us. Our contract with them is pretty binding. But as I've said before, it is in ESPN's best interest to keep the ACC healthy and whole. If they don't, they will end up paying more for content they already have and surrender even more control.

Weekend Roundup

While most of us were watching football, the Women's Hockey team staged an improbable comeback and win in OT.

New WRs Coach Todd Fitch's hometown paper is keeping tabs of his recruiting in Ohio.

With their win over Clemson, the Women's Basketball team already exceeded their ACC total from last year. Congrats to Coach Johnson.

The Men's Hockey team lost Saturday's game to UNH.

BC wastes opportunity at Wake

I am not greedy about this team's progress. I know road wins are rare and Wake is improving, but we cannot let ACC wins slip away like that. Although we fought back to make it close, BC could and should have controlled the game. We made too many lapses defensively and too many turnovers and wasted FTs. Other thoughts:

Likes

-- Jackson getting hot. He's driving well and he made some huge shots to help our momentum at different times.

-- Heckmann's offense. Defensively he had some head scratchers and bad fouls, but he was very efficient on the other end. 

-- Fighting back. I mentioned it above, but the team did show some poise by chipping away at Wake's lead in the final minutes. 

Dislikes

-- Rahon's day. If you put that much on a freshman's shoulders, a bad day is bound to happen. He couldn't buy a shot including his drive in the final seconds. 

-- Anderson's foul shots. He's got to convert those in a tight game.

-- Defense on Harris. He's a good player but we made him look great. The coaches need to make adjustments especially when Wake doesn't have a team full of scorers. 

Hockey wins without York and other links

The Hockey team beat UNH 5-2. It was the first of two games the team will play while York recovers from his eye surgery.

It's comedic, but EDSBS likes the Addazio hire.

In the last question of Bruce Feldman's mailbag, he mentions Don Brown as a great addition.

2013 ACC Football opponents announced!

I know football just ended and many are still skeptical after four years of Spaz, but I got a tingle in my spine when the ACC released our opponent for next year. Our old home and away series as well as our cross divisional games got shuffled a bit due to the arrival of Pitt and Syracuse. New looks for BC include a home game against Syracuse and the Virginia Tech series getting tweaked so that they come to Alumni again in 2013. Our lone cross-divisional game will be UNC (the only ACC team we have yet to beat in Football).

I don't know about you but this has me excited. September can't get here soon enough.

York surgery and other links

Jerry York will miss two games after having eye surgery. While I am sure the surgery was serious and the recovery slow enough for him to miss games, the tone of BC's press release was fairly calm. In his absence Mike Cavanaugh and Greg Brown will split his duties. Here's to a speedy recovery.   

I feel for Chris Pantale. Had he been healthy all season, I think his stats would be much more impressive and he'd probably be drawing more NFL interest. He did earn and invite to the East-West Shrine game. It is not considered the best All Star game, but there will be enough scouts there for him to make an impression.

Profootball Weekly named Luke Kuechly Defensive Rookie of the Year. 

Following right behind the men's team, the women's basketball team beat Virginia Tech. 

I know Matt Ryan is an elite QB, but that doesn't mean I can't laugh at this.

Basketball gets road win!

Virginia Tech is a terrible basketball team but BC played well in getting their first ACC road win since Donahue's first year. What is misleading about this game is that the team played really well but still nearly blew it.  But step one in improving is beating bad teams. Then you try to steal a few from good teams. But this road win can be a step to our recovery.

Likes:
-- Rahon and Hanlan penetrating. The two of them do it differently. Hanlan did it to push pace and get his own shot. Rahon picked his spots more and looked for an easy basket or open teammate. Regardless of who or how they drove, both styles gave us efficient plays.
-- Aggressive Defense. Once again, VT is not talented but that doesn't capture the good help, good defensive rebounding and clogging passing lanes.
-- Lonnie Jackson finally making 3s. He went 5 for 8 from downtown and had a few that killed VT runs.

Dislikes:
-- Clifford's mobility. We are thin so we need him and he's playing hard, but man he is having trouble on D. If he gets out of the paint, his legs are so bad right now that he cannot get back into the paint if someone drives.
-- Terrible Free Throw shooting again. This number is misleading because Jackson made some key FTs in the final minutes. Against a better team it would have cost us.
-- Heckmann's dumb fouls. It seems like every game he does something that hurts the team. Tonight he made multiple dumb fouls. It forced us out of small ball.

More staff rumors

The latest rumor from the different BC message boards is that Addizio is close to bringing in Todd Fitch as his Wide Receivers coach. Fitch was most recently Offensive Coordinator at USF. He's got a good background with stops in New England (at UConn) and a few BCS programs. I don't see any obvious connection to Addazio, but the coaching community is a small world. We'll see if it comes to fruition.

Rahon's big week and other links

Joe Rahon's play earned him ACC honors as well as two different features. One from his hometown paper and one from ESPN Boston. 

Here is a nice feature on Gaudreau. 

BC finished 108th in USA Today's final football rankings.

HD thinks we will be at the bottom of the conference again next season.

A group of BC Athletes are using their last days of vacation to help out in New Orleans. You can follow their experiences at BCeagles.com.

Baldwin goes big time

Bates hosting Town Halls

Brad Bates wants to hear from BC fans. He sent out a letter to season ticket holders inviting them to a Town Hall. One meeting will be held before the Miami basketball game and the second before the Clemson game. If you are a season ticket holder and you were invited, I highly recommend you attend.

At this point Bates knows most of the major issues regarding our game day experience. But if we want him to embrace new ideas and try new things, we need speak up. If you think you have a better system for parking, say something. If you want improvements at Alumni, you need to take this opportunity to meet with Bates.

It will be interesting what people have to say and how Bates reacts. As a group season ticket holders are informed and a little disgruntled, but they are probably the easiest group to win over. They want to hear good news and believe all their years of support will finally pay off with better game days.

Since I don't attend many home games, I don't have much skin in the game. But I am curious to see how Bates communicates in that setting and if the fans will believe that change is coming.

Lessons from Syracuse

Syracuse is in the market for a new coach and of course people are saying that under different circumstances, Steve Addazio would be in Upstate New York. I know Addazio is not leaving BC right now, but in a way I wish the Orange would come after him and I wish he would go. It might finally wake up those in and around BC who still believe all this "dream job," "love for BC" nonsense. I want my coach to be excited about working and coaching at BC, but coaching remains a mercenary industry and the sooner we start realizing that, the better hires we will make going forward.  I don't think Addazio was hired strictly because he claimed his love of BC in the interview, but I know that passion did win over some.

It will be interesting to see who Syracuse hires to replace Marrone. Names mentioned in our search will pop up. I don't think Syracuse has the money for Mullen, but I could see Roman there. Despite the chance they might pick a great coach, I am not sad to see Syracuse lose Marrone. He was solid and had them headed in the right direction. 

Marrone's slow but subtle success is the best takeaway from all of this. Syracuse's low point was worse than ours, yet solid coaching and recruiting returned them to respectability. If Addazio cannot mirror that same sort of recovery at the Heights, we hired the wrong guy.

Belated thoughts on moral victories

Sorry for the delay in posting about BC's loss to NC State in basketball. Even though the game was meaningless in the big picture, it left me with mixed emotions. I was excited to see the team compete. I am encouraged by how the offense is adapting but we shouldn't consider conference home games "moral victories." I am as guilty as anyone else of this mindset too.

The biggest problem as I see it, is that even when the team plays better defense and moves the ball well within the motion offense, we are still missing too many shots we should make. We only converted 24 of 37 free throws. We only made 7 of 22 3-pointers. For a team of shooters, that is not going to get it done.

But the defense was better, especially against an athletic NC State team. I also liked going small for long stretches. The small ball does raise the idea of what to do with Clifford once he is 100%, but Donahue managed that well yesterday.

So what is the real BC team? Is it one that can hang with anyone like Baylor and NC State? Can they pull off some wins? Or was yesterday a result of our best effort against their offday? We will find out more this week.

Albert official and other links

As speculated Ben Albert joined the staff as Defensive Line coach. He's a solid addition with a mix of northeast college experience and a stint in the NFL.

The Marching Band will be part of the Obama Inaugural. I'm sure they will do us proud.

The Women's Hockey team beat St. Lawrence. The men tied Yale.

BCI recapped our uniform combos from last season. My vote is pretty consistent. Gold helmet with maroon stripe. Maroon jerseys at home, white on the road. Gold pants at home, maroon on the road. One crazy Under Armour helmet and uniform a year.

It's a family affair

Steve Addazio's son is transferring to BC. It is a nice story and although he's oft-injured, Louie might be a good addition to the team. But aside from the nepotism involved, bringing on his son doesn't tell us much about Steve Addazio's approach to offense or recruiting. How he deals with John Wolford might.

Wolford is a rising QB star from Florida. He will be part of the 2014 recruiting cycle and just got his first SEC offer. Many other BCS programs are interested. He's a good kid, who plays at a Catholic School, in recruiting hotbed and most interestingly his brother Bobby is a current BC linebacker! BC should be a factor in his recruiting. But will we?

Towards the end, Spaz couldn't connect with family recruits. While blood and legacies shouldn't always be binding when it comes to recruiting, you would hope that it would give BC an in with a prospect. Under Spaz it seemed to drive players away. Perhaps they knew how bad things were. One of the most overlooked aspects of recruiting is current players. There is a lot of self selection going on and if the current players don't like playing for a coach and don't show a recruit a good time, it is tough to get a player on campus. I don't know what Bobby Wolford or his parents think of Addazio. I don't know how happy they are with BC. But maybe a new approach and new leadership will have John excited about the opportunity to play with his brother.

The other aspect of Wolford's recruitment is if Addazio even wants him. In his press conference he mentioned playing all styles of football and playing the best players. But the reality is he has a preference for dual-threat QBs. His pursuit of Michael Julian is proof of that. Will Addazio adapt his offense and adapt his recruiting preference so that he can take Wolford -- a highly-touted "pro style" QB?

Addazio is going to bring in a lot of players. Given his background and our admissions office, they are all still going to be good kids. But I hope that as he changes the culture around the program, siblings, staffers' kids and legacy players want to come to BC and that we use ever recruiting angle we have.

Report: TOB in talks w/UVA and other links

David Teel is reporting that TOB is considering joining Mike London's staff at UVA. While not a done deal, this is the most unpredictable thing I've ever read about the most predictable man in the business. TOB doesn't need the money. As a BC booster recently told me: "Tom still has his first communion money." TOB told many former staffers and players that NC State was his last job and that he was nearing retirement. However, he didn't leave NC State on his own terms. Maybe being fired struck a nerve. Or maybe he realized he's still too young to retire. I don't know, but I am surprised he would consider a staff job. I heard he had interest in Cincinnati. He has a long relationship with London and always loved UVA. Maybe he will go back into coaching. Just when you think you know a guy...
London did clean house and does need a DC, but I don't think Spaz will be in play. TOB is an empty nester and Spaz still has kids in school in Massachusetts. I doubt Spaz is willing to sacrifice any buyout money to go be an assistant somewhere else.

This is from a few days ago, but Doug Martin is returning to New Mexico State. Best of luck to him.

Johnny Gaudreau is on a great run in the World Juniors.

The Heights posted a good preview of the basketball team heading into ACC play.

The women's basketball team lost to Hampton.

Luke Kuechly might not win Defensive Rookie of the Year, but he is getting credit for changing the Panthers defense.

New staffer under wraps

<p>According to Rivals.com Justin Rowland, BC has hired a new defensive line coach but the program can't announce it yet. This sort of secrecy may seem a bit extreme but as always with college sports, politics and recruiting are factors.

Speculation is that the guy is current Temple Dline coach Ben Albert. Albert would fit Rowland's hints as he has ties to Massachusetts and worked for Addazio. If it is Albert one might wonder why he wasn't named earlier when the other Temple guys were. This is where politics come in. When Addazio left, he caught Temple's leadership off guard. If he took the whole staff with him right away Addazio could've devastated his Temple recruiting class and burned more bridges. Now that Temple has hired a replacement, other former Addazio staffers can move on.

If it is someone else, I suspect the guy is still coaching in a bowl or recruiting and can't go public just yet. Either way it sounds like we will know shortly. It also sounds like no other Spaz guys will stay on.

New year, new logo?

We've got rid of the italics (a.k.a. the slanty number). Reebok's been gone for many years. The regime that ushered the logo is now an old memory. Maybe 2013 is the year we should finally refresh the BC logo. I don't mind the eagle above. I also can live with the spacing and the gold/white trim. I just want to get rid of the slant. Or we can go with something completely new. I just think now is the time to get moving on the new look. Make all the relevant decisions in the next few months and then roll it out in September with the new school year! It will be the fresh start many of our teams need.