Saturday, October 10, 2015

What a complete waste

I am not saying "fire Addazio" but today confirmed that he is not a great coach. Great coaches don't screw up games to that degree. And great coaches don't have whole units of the team (offense and special teams) this mismanaged in Year 3. That was the second time BC was shutout in three ACC games. When you cannot score (in the third year of a program) it is not just a quarterback issue. It is an issue in play calling. It is an issue in coaching your own players. It is an issue in evaluating your roster. It is an issue in how you practice in season. It is an issue in how you prepare all offseason. We miss Ryan Day more than anyone could have predicted. Addazio needs to seriously rethink everything on offense and doing that midseason is a bad place to be.

What is all the more frustrating is that this might be the best BC defense in 20 years. But it is all wasted.

When Addazio was hired I thought he might be an emotional TOB and that he would have a similar ceiling to TOB. Now that I know he's not doing anything special at BC, I hope he still can win as often as TOB did.

I will have grades and second viewing thoughts up late Sunday.

51 comments:

BCAlum2000 said...

One of the most embarrassing losses I have ever seen in 20+ years of watching BC football. A complete and utter joke. This is the worst coached team offensively I have ever seen. Dana Bible looks like Steve Logan when compared to the idiots in charge now. Wake Forest is so bad they pretty much tried to hand BC the win. What does BC do? It hands it back. Don Brown should take his defense and quit.

bc1900 said...

UCONN would wipe the floor with BC. Programs going in opposite directions. Again, why you guys watch this nonsense I don't understand. I don't see BC being any good in the near future. It's sad really, but no one cares now, so the show will go on.

Unknown said...

I could not have said it better myself!!! I also got worried once I saw that he cannot decide which QB to make the starter. That is usually a sign of a weak coach.The opposition knows exactly what we are going to run based on which QB is in there! Very disappointing!

BCAlum2000 said...

UConn has a football team? Do they play in the same conference as UMass?

CT said...

i cannot wait for the (over) reaction to this.

ccw said...

Over reaction? Are we supposed to shrug our shoulders at getting shut out by Wake at home?

eagleboston said...

This is not even close to the most embarrassing loss. The most embarrassing loss has to be Coughlin's team losing to Holz's Notre Dame 54-7.

It is in contention for the most frustrating loss. Unbelievably frustrating that a defense that has not allowed a TD in 8 quarters cannot be rewarded with a victory. It is frustrating that neither quarterback can move this team. It is also frustrating that the game management all season has been questionable at best. When is Addazio going to learn that you absolutely cannot burn timeouts in close football games? And why are we punting with a guy that has a leg injury? We seriously don't have a back-up? I love Howell, but he is not himself right now.

The defense will keep BC in nearly every game, certainly NC State, Va Tech, Louisville and Syracuse. We need to win all 4 of these. At this point, I'm going to concede losses to Clemson and Notre Dame. There is still a path to 6 wins (I'm gambling there will be too many bowl slots and BC won't need to have 7), but there needs to be massive improvement with the offense and special teams.

ccw said...

It wasn't as embarassing to lose to ND b/c they were loaded. Wake Forest is terrible and we got shut out at home. Getting punked by Army back in 96 or so was pretty bad.

JBQ said...

Very disappointing to be sure. Play calling continues to be "brutal". Just to be optimistic, I would comment on the 54-7 game. BC was 7-0 and Holtz ran up the score with a fake punt. This was 1992. 1993 was a different story with the left footed wonder putting one into the breadbasket of Touchdown Jesus and sent BC to the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Bravesbill said...

Spaz getting punked by Army a few years ago. BC losing in that Hail Mary to NCST was even worse. BC's loss to Syracuse with a BCS Bowl on the line was probably the worst. The way BC lost this game may top all of those.

70sGuy said...

CT,

You say don't overreact and Daz deserves 4 years, but what do you actually think will happen in Year 4 or 5?

Likely 7-6 seasons playing a brutal to watch field position focused scheme in front of 27K fans. What recruit or donor wants to be part of that clown shoes product.

When you have a young team at least show some creativity to keep defenses honest and try to get separation for your poorly recruited receivers. Special teams is just inexcusable that we are worse than last year.

Hat tip to the D.

What is truly stunning is Dazaster made his "name" on the offensive side of the ball.

Cut bait Bates.

Southern_EAGLE said...

Terrible, just terrible...all on Daz! Just pick the QB and go for it. Appears that Smith soften ups the defense the most. Have your offense ready to go at the whistle. The spot review at with 29 seconds definitely hurt, but coaches have to have the team ready. And I told my son that Flutie would fumble on the snap...just your typical BC heartache.

perkindc said...

The hyperbole is so over the top, I can't even stand it. We lost a brutal game. BFD. It's fair to wonder about the future at the QB position, but we've been a patchwork team for 3 years. The D is there, but the O isn't ready yet. Simmer down and give these kids some room to grow. We're 5 pts away from being a 5-1 team missing most of our starting backfield and a new OL.

Bravesbill said...

The coaching is a disgrace. Watching the replay of that last play is still infuriating. Smith didn't know he couldn't spike the ball either with under 3 seconds which is on the coaches too. My wife did chuckle at Daz throwing his headset down in disgust at the end of the game.

CT said...

If u fire him after the year it will be another 4 or 5 yrs to try to right the ship. I agree. The offense and it's philosophy is not what I would run/recruit at/to BC. Recruiting out of some imaginary "fence" is patently absurd. Have always said so.

The fact is he over-produced the first two yrs with Spaz guys. Imho, he gets a couple yrs with his own. Then make the decision. I mean, is the diffetence for you between a five win team and a seven win team that significant? For a crappy bowl? Those extra practices never got us any further ahead, btw.

Bravesbill said...

Why wait another 2-3 years and then another 4-5 years for the turnaround? Better to cut ties now and start the rebuild.

Danny Boy said...

CT, I normally agree with you, but the last 4 minutes were some of the worst coached sports time I've ever seen (of any sport). It was one bad decision after another. I was willing to give Daz this year to get his people in, but these aren't youth mistakes. These are bad coaching mistakes. These are bad decisions followed by worse decisions.

I don't know what is next here. I don't see a progression, I don't see a game plan. I see a terrified man, holding on for all he's worth, afraid to ,ale a decision.

I watched the game today with a Florida alum, who said addazio was a scape goat down there. He left before the end. Maybe he knew something

Erik said...

Not snapping the ball at 0:28 after a long play stoppage and clock stoppage is as bad as coaching gets. Not being on the ball and ready to go, letting 10 seconds run off when you have no timeouts left is infuriating. The play call wouldn't change no matter what the referees were deciding.

Very few teams could survive clock mismanagement and bad place kicking and time after time we've proven we can't either.
I feel so bad for the defense who is playing lights out.

Knucklehead said...

Flutie got screwed on the QB sneak call by Addazio et al. I was going ballistic in the stands when they brought him in there. It was complete BULLSHIT to put him in there and make him run that play. Cold off the bench; in and out of the game etc.

If Addazio doesn't or didn't take full responsibility for that call he ought to be fired TONIGHT.

Frankly the AD ought to be fired to. He cannot find a way to fill the stands.

The field-goal kicker is absolutely pathetic. That is Addazio's responsibility as well. Kicking has cost them what 3 wins and a tie(Penn St) over the last two years.

That game fucking sucked.

Knucklehead said...

Think about it. They cannot find 44,500 people in the greater boston area to come to the school 6 times a year. Lets say you have 20k people who go to all 6 games. That means you need to find 147k(24,500*6) additional people to go to a game.

I guarantee if they solicited alumni to attend games at just half the rate they asked for their monetary donations that they would be able to fill the stadium 6 times per year.



70sGuy said...

The narrative that BC can never draw crowds in a professional sports town like Boston is so self defeating. People also blame the weather but it all comes down to winning. Winning starts at the top. Leahy, Bates, and Adazzio. Not much of a track record of winning.

The New England Patriots struggled for decades and now they are an elite franchise in the NFL. You want a more recent example of people supporting winners...look no further than the KC Royals or Toronto Blue Jays.

BC is a school in a cosmopolitan town, with a healthy endowment and applications that have soared for 3 decades. People want to attend and support BC but the administration and football and basketball programs have floundered for decades.

Winning can and should be accomplished at BC. Just ask Mr. York and Tom Coughlin who was 9-3 in his 3rd year.



Knucklehead said...

Even at our best 42,500 was the max on a consistent basis(Maybe the ND or USC games soldout). There is something intrinsically wrong with that. The school needs to get of its high horse. Ask the alumni to support the sports programs and accept "marginal" talent from an academic not a social perspective to improve the success of the basketball and football programs

That being said a field goal kicker would have made that game today a 9-3 or 9-6 BC win.

Recruit a fucking kicker.

dixieagle said...

This was the first home game I've been able to fly in for in at least 5 years. Disappointing doesn't begin to cover what I felt today. Lousy time management, the refusal to pick a QB and let him develop, fumbleitis, no kicker... I'm afraid Addazio is all talk and no action. With even a mediocre offense we could be undefeated. The ending of the game was phenomenally embarrassing; WF tried really hard to hand us the game, and we handed it right back. As always, the D played its heart out. I cringe to think of what Clemson and ND will do to us, if we couldn't muster a single point against WF.

I'd like to know what they do at practice, because they can't possibly be working on offensive skills or kicking. Horrible, inexcusable, and beyond frustrating.

Unknown said...

- Make Flutie the starter since he is the only QB on the roster that can throw the ball, move in the pocket with the ball, and run with it if necessary. Very young kid, but give him all the starter reps in practice and live with the results.

- Fire the offensive coordinator in the morning...meaning tomorrow morning. Find someone on staff, or from the outside, who understands our current personnel limitations and create gameplans and in game adjustments to hide those shortcomings.

- give ALL of the defensive coaches raises! 😃

- I still feel good about our head coach to run this program, but they also need to hire a full time head recruiter. It's good to have the head coach very active in the recruiting process, but he needs to make getting the most out of the current roster his priority and also oversee what his coordinators are doing.

- and still....Go BC , 😭

CT said...

Yes. Danny Boy, Erik, even Knuckle... all right. Imho. Completely agree. First, we're conflating more than one topic with the attendance/Boston/pro sports theme.

My only point: this season in my mind was always just a step. Even with Wade. I get the frustration. I'm there, too. But I guess I'm mentally not in the game this year because I think there's something bigger going on. I was hopeful Wade would develop. My concern is not that we're wasting a defense, but that we're wasting any opportunity to learn about the future. But you guys are right about the tactical stuff. But Daz does get credit for the defense, too, no?

Knucklehead said...

There is nothing bigger. That is my point. No fans, no offense and no kicker.

Again if Addazio does not take responsibility for the QB sneak, for the lack of talent in the kicking game and for this loss he ought to be fired immediately.

TheGreat98 said...

CT,

After reading most of the posts here, I appreciate your long view of the situation. There have always been bad losses, there always will be (see Florida vs. Grambling). Making a decision in the moment is rarely a good idea. That being said, the kicking game is egregiously bad, so much so that it may require a 'in the moment' decision because it is costing BC games and probably recruits. No player wants to come work hard to lose games this way. And, the long term problem is in the gameday experience. Since I do not have access to the financials, everything might look great on paper in the head office, but the crowd (small as it was) was taken out early, and there seemed to be a general malaise amongst the faithful. This decision should probably not be made in the moment, but if I was Bates, I'd be looking towards a change.

eagleboston said...

The crowd was pathetic when Matt Ryan was the quarterback. I remember going to Alumni and staring across at empty seats and thinking "this is a critical ACC game and the people in Boston just don't care." This is a systemic problem that has nothing to do with Bates or Addazio or winning. We won more in the Ryan era than ever and seats were empty. It's just not a college football town.

We are all upset about the outcome and the anemic offense, but I want to give some props to the defense. I still don't know if they are great or if we have just played terrible offenses, but the stats are impressive. Wake was held to 142 total yards (versus 270 for the BC offense). Wake had 33 yards rushing on 28 attempts. They were just 2-15 on third down. Wake only earned 5 first downs. 5! The only points they scored were off a BC turnover where they had the ball on the BC 5. But the defense forced a field goal. This was a dominating performance by the defense and this unit may be the best ever at BC.

Unknown said...

I just saw the score. Tough loss to wake. I didn't know wake had a hockey program . what time does the football game kickoff? seems awfully late for an ACC contest

mod34b said...

What a bad loss. sp-D-az. #shapeupDaz #dazblows

Some reasonable suggestions

1. Daz becomes chief cheerleader, recruiter and spokesmodel for BC football, and direct overseeing of OL.. WTF with the OL...they suck.
2. No in-game clock management for Daz (too much thinking for Daz) (WTF??)
3. No direct role for Daz in the play calling
4. No direct role for Daz n the offensive game plan. delegate it all Daz.
5. Daz delegates all to coordinators.
6. Daz makes the current Special teams/LB coach, the 100% special teams coach, and they practice like mad. (how can this still not be fixed???)
7. No Fumbles. holy cow, why is this still a BIG problem
8. Flutie and Smith are not ready for ACC play and neither can run the BC offense (whatever that offense might be). Let them sit. Start a crash course to get Nosovitch into the action. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES ARE NEEDED

Kid can play QB:

"won the Maxwell Football Club's first Pennsylvania Player of the Year award and was named to the PARADE All-America football team following his senior season at Central Catholic High School ... coached by Harold Fairclough … also named the Maxwell Club's winner of the 27th Jim Henry Award ... is the state's career record-holder with 12,877 total yards and second all-time in the state in passing yards (9,249) and touchdown passes (106) ... led Central Catholic to a state title as a junior and reached the PIAA Class 3A state semifinals as a senior …was the 2010 Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year after leading his team to a 16-0 record and the PIAA Class 3A title."

9. Re-set the offense. Whatever it is that BC thinks they are doing on offense gets a grade of F! Just stop immediately with the crappy offense and play calling. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES ARE NEEDED. Dump Fitch, dump Daz, get someone else on staff to be the OC

10. Work on curbing all these really stupid penalties.
11. Hire Nate Freese as kicking instructor.
12. Brad Bates need to roll up his sleeves and get involved. BC is in grave danger if 0-for-ACC. BB get involved.
13. Daz NO MORE COMMENTS about players. Simply put: shut your mouth about the players. Talk about the crappy play calling and piss poor coaching if you need to say anything.
14. Daz you are now on the hot seat. Step it up or ship out.

mod34b said...

and, this: Daz, BC would have been the favorite in OT. Kick the damn FG again with 10 seconds to go - or throw a pass into the endzone. don't run. WTF. Have some confidence that BC could have taken Wake in OT....Wake's offense is worse than BC'S! - true.

what a dope

Bravesbill said...

"Could we have thrown the ball? Absolutely, but, you know, with our outfit right now, that was the right logic, the right judgement and that I stand by completely." Is this guy for realz?

"That's Football 101. It comes with experience," Demon Deacons linebacker Brandon Chubb said. "We said that before the play: `Don't get up. They have no timeouts. Slowly get up. Don't get up until someone pulls you up." It seems to me that the Wake players are a whole lot smarter and situationally aware than Daz.

Matt said...

Very well said. This is exactly how I feel.

BCDoubleEagle said...

When we win, people show up. It's that simple. Average home attendance since 2007:

2007 (11-3): 41,989
2008 (9-5): 41,036
2009 (8-5): 35,715
2010 (7-6): 38,369
2011 (4-8): 35,709
2012 (2-10): 37,019
2013 (7-6): 33,005
2014 (7-6): 34,270

In 2007, we had 40,329 against Army, 44,111 against UMass, 40,117 against Bowling Green, and 44,500 against Miami on Thanksgiving weekend when the students were gone.

This is not rocket science. Put a good team on the field and people will show up. Just ask our hockey program, which consistently wins championships and -- not surprisingly -- consistently draws the biggest crowds of any Eastern college hockey program.

JUST WIN.

BC fan since the 1960s said...

The coach's offensive philosophy will never be successful in the ACC because he will never get the number of elite athletes you need to be a winner with a three yards and a cloud of dust approach.

The fact that they have the worst kicking game in Division 1 is on the coach not the kids.

Wake is a team that gave up 30 points to Syracuse and Indiana - and they shut you out at home.

Smith clearly a better runner than Flutie BUT even Smith not fast enough to run that offense successfully in the ACC which is why they have not scored a TD in conference with him at QB. Saw Wake linebackers track him down on end runs yesterday.

I have thought since year 1 the coach's game management skills were terrible. Sometimes he is saved from that because of unexpected developments in the game. Yesterday, however, the shortcomings were on full display.

Starting with throwing Flutie in for the QB sneak on 4th down late in the fourth quarter. You could see when the team came to the line of scrimmage to run the play it had little chance of succeeding since Wake had the middle flooded. Ran the play anyway since the kid got yelled at/benched a few minutes earlier for changing a play at the line and ran out of time. He shouldn't have fumbled and that is on him but dumb play call.

Not calling timeout when Wake had 4th down with about 3 minutes left and was punting from their own end zone was ludicrous. By the time you got the ball back their was only 2:12 left.

Then you get a first down at the one with 29 seconds left and get a major break with the clock stopping for a measurement. Should have been up at the line to snap ball immediately and should have called a pass/run rollout option. You should have been able to get off at least 3 plays in 29 seconds. But they don't snap the ball until about 20 seconds left AND run unbelievably it into the line with Wake once again plugging the middle. That ensured a major pileup when they did not score and that pileup was tough to untangle. If you ran wide with the QB and you don't make it there is only the ball carrier and one or two tacklers, not a big pileup - or he could just throw the ball away. Finally, if they had been able to snap the ball with 3 or fewer seconds left the game would have been over anyway on a penalty since as the announcers noted you can't spike the ball with 3 or fewer second left.

Watch a replay. Look at the total disarray on the field from 29 seconds to the end. The running back is running around behind the QB barking stuff at him a few times before he gets set all while the clock is ticking. Why? They had the benefit of the timeout to get squared away. The camera shots at the sideline were very scary as the head coach was also running around with a deer in the headlights look.

Sad to say they have hired the wrong coach now three straight times (Jags, Spaz, and now Steve O). Take a look at those attendance numbers someone put up previously. There are two points. They were drawing 40,000+ with O'Brien's teams as the offense was entertaining. Would they do so again with another team down the road that can go 9-3 or 8-4 with offensive imagination? I am not sure because the other thing that has happened since the mid-2000s is they have priced some people out of the market with seat licenses and exorbitant fees for campus parking. Hard to say how good the product has to be to overcome that. I dropped my season tickets at that time. The school said they needed to charge more to compete in the ACC. Maybe true but they badly misread their market. Boston is not Tallahassee, or Clemson, or Blacksburg - and unfortunately the team went south at the precise time they significantly ramped up the cost of going to a game. Lethal combination. There is not even outrage in the press, only apathy. Today's Globe sports section doesn't have coverage of the BC game until page 17.

mod34b said...

1960s, good comments, but I think announcers we're incorrect on no-spike-if-under-3-seconds rule.

That Rule, I believe, only applies if clock is stopped before the spike play.

Pearl Washington said...

So white, slow , plodding not athletic BC has one of the best defenses in the country.

The first team QB and first team RB are out for the year .

The second team running backs are also hurt

The offensive line has 4 brand new starters.

2 quarterbacks are playing their first minutes as QB's.

The sophomore kicker Knoll was one of the top recruits in the country. The previous kicker recruit committed and then de-commited was the #1 kicker. The punter is good, really good. He is hurt and could be the place kicker.

And people want to fire the coach.

The game management was bad . I am sure he was hoping Flutie would get it but now he has to go with Smith and we will see 9 men in the box the rest of the year.

And we will not score. Because most of the skilled guys are hurt but really because he didn't recruit 2 more stud QB's .

NEDofSavinHill said...

How have the mobile QBs done in ACC play? Wade vs FSU Zero Points. Smith vs Duke Zero Points. Smith vs. Wake Zero points. Only the passing QB Flutie generated points. Butch Land is right. Start Flutie, throw 35 times and the team might score. The last series mirrored the first series. Take three straight five yard penalties and punt. Not prepared. The coaching has been terrible. Nineteen games total, thirteen games last year and now six this year and your kicking game isn't even at the high school level. The single wing doesn't work. Try PASSING. 2. The coach's emotionalism and nervous energy seems to be effecting the players. They seem to be on edge. The offense and special teams can't function. The best coaches of all time were Stoics ( Wooden and York). Take a deep breath. Stop berating the freshmen for mistakes. The team is losing because of the coaching not the players. Don't bench Gowins for one miscue. He was the best runner on the field yesterday.3. Everyone will find out if Daz is a clone of Woody Hayes on Saturday. He runs the same offense. Three yards and a cloud of dust. Now if he punches one of the Clemson players on the sidelines we'll know he is.

blist said...

I think The Dazzler is showing he has a higher ceiling than TOB for recruiting and motivation and for game management when things are going well. But he is Spaz-like when things are going unexpectedly in a game or in the season, like with yesterday's game and this season with QBs. Herm Edwards once hired a coach solely to manage the game clock and timeouts because he was so bad at it. Maybe Daz should hand off some of those types of responsibilities.

Knucklehead said...

eagleboston,
The defense is great. See what Florida State did vs. Miami last night.

James McGovern,
It is not irrelevant to you if you are logging on to a Boston College fan site, reading all the posts and writing a post of your own. You are a confused individual. Don't be mad because Daddy/Mommy went to Boston College and you didn't get accepted.

Knucklehead said...

Pear Washington,
Go away.

Knucklehead said...

ATL,
I recommend that you block Pearl Washington from the site.


ccw said...

Knucklehead has some thin skin.

Big Jack Krack said...

I am away this week for a consulting gig. I would have hurried back for the Clemson game, but decided on a day at the beach instead.

Really I am disappointed that the Head Coach continues to make or supervise bad decisions.

I am still a huge BC fan, but our average attendance is a paltry 30K this year - down over 10K since joining the ACC.

I, unlike some others, think the future is bright. Our players are very good and dedicated, and our youth will turn to experience.

Coach Addazio and AD Bates - please get it together. And if you want to play the Howards of the world - please find other employment. Fans have voted with their feet. Lower the price and welcome fans instead of whatever the hell you're doing now. It's not working! Hello!

Pearl Washington said...

Bill

Block knucklehead because he knows nothing about college football .

Knucklehead said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Knucklehead said...

ATL,
If you are truly on a first name basis with this turd let me know. If you are and you don't block him then I am done here.

Pearl Washington said...

Knucklehead

All facts . All of them . Not even opinion really . Read the post if you can.

Are you Pravda?

You involved with North Korea?

Again all facts. No opinions. Show me one sentence that is off so I can crush you like the BC D crushes running games.

Knucklehead said...

Pearl Washington,
I speak English not metaphor. Most of what you have trolled out there is beneath me. You couldn't crush a third grader with your writing ability or your backwards undercurrent let alone me.

BC is white and plodding but the "BC D crushes running games." You know the BC D that crushes running games is mostly non-white right? You are a confused tool.

Send this to Bill so that he can translate it for you.

CT said...

Please be on a first name basis.

Knucklehead said...

Then you can keep saying dumb crap and not get called on it.