Most of the security comes from a lack of true leadership. Brad Bates is out and his replacement won't be around to make a timely decision. Father Leahy and BC obviously have the power to make a move on Christian whenever, but they won't. Unlike Addazio, who has plenty of detractors and people he's pissed off, the basketball program is faced with apathy. Many people care, just not enough and not nearly as many as those that care about Football.
I've never been thrilled with the Christian hire, but this has been worse than I thought. Barring a small turnaround with the remaining schedule, there has been no signs of life or improvement. His talent is marginally better than Donahue's but the execution is just as bad. With Donahue you could point to a frustrating, but statistically defensible Offense. With Christian, both Offense and Defense are bad. Scott Spinelli keeps beating the bushes for any talent, but do you trust JC and the staff to develop it?
We can debate the idea of an immediate firing, but we are stuck for another year. I do have a little hope. It is based on the belief and faith that the new AD will not repeat Bates' basketball mistake. The new AD will hopefully have time and a plan and deliver a clear message with a new hire. Until then we are left with another lame duck year with Christian.
Posts
33 comments:
Ever to Excel
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
My sentiments exactly Big Em.
Problem though: very difficult for a new AD to do two big money sport searches in any year, let alone their first year at a school. So unless the new AD already has a candidate in mind for football and/or basketball, we will likely be stuck with either Daz or Christian for ANOTHER year after next season.
This also brings the BC insider vs. outsider question into play. A BC inside candidate (or one with knowledge of the school, politics, and coaches) can move much quicker because there will be little evaluation time needed. Theoretically they could make a call on Christian on their first day at The Heights because they know he is deadman walking (much harder to do so on Daz that close to football season). This is why I like the idea of Al Skinner coming back (a move an BC insider would consider).
An outsider is going to want to time time to assess the problem and coaches, get the feel for the politics involved, and decide the right course of action to fit the vision they have for the overall athletics program. If you are going for a full reboot, this is the course you take, but it will likely mean football and basketball remain in a holding pattern until 2019-2020.....
Just to alert all watch for a Robinson transfer in light of playing for a lame duck coach and then a new coach for his fourth year he is being advised to sit a year get stronger and play a year or two for a real program
If Robinson or Bowman transfer, they might as well fire Christian, because it's a pattern.
If Christian fails to land a big man or two - and starts off badly next season, they should hand the reins to Spinelli by Christmas.
They could then move Christian into a new position with unattainable goals, and fire him for non performance - hence no additional pay.
We've got to turn this around and it will be apparent before ACC play ext season. 2 wins in 2 years! "CANTTAKEIT" for sure.
canttakeit - can you give any more details???
Safest job - bunk I say.
drain the swamp. start from the top. all must go. we are an embarrassment to division 1 sports.
Heck, he got a one year extension after going 0-18 in ACC play last year!
If I was an AD candidate, one of my first questions for Fr. Leahy would be how much is he willing to eat in terms of contracts? Our two main revenue sports are headed by coaches with 7 figure salaries with quite a few years left. I think Daz is signed through 2020 and we have 3 or 4 more years of Christian. Addazio is owed roughly $10 million and Christian is owed over $4 million. A lot to swallow, but can Fr. Leahy afford not to do it?
I have SIGNIFICANT concerns with the way that BC as a school approaches athletics and with the way the Athletic Department has been run. Our major sports are in shambles, and BC is acting like the Pittsburgh Pirates of the early revenue sharing in MLB (ok, thanks for the conference money, we'll just keep that!).
But I think that ATL is too harsh on Christian. He wasn't a good hire, there's no doubt about that. Of course, that's not his fault -- he took on a massive rebuilding project made harder by the fact that his hiring indicated that BC no longer took basketball seriously.
Given those circumstances and the absolute dumpster fire of a roster situation that he inherited.... I am not willing to write him off.
First of all, he's a good man. Ask around the Athletic Department -- the reason he doesn't have detractors is not because of apathy, it's because he's a truly decent person. Addazio has detractors because he's a total jerk. Which he was at Temple, too -- great diligence folks!
Secondly, if you don't think that this team has shown improvement over last year and has the seeds to improve significantly over the coming years, I don't know what to say. We have some talent, finally. We have some ACC-ready players, finally. We need a front court. Sure, that's a big "but." Though as of last year, we needed everything.
I wonder which player has not developed as ATL would have liked. Which guy came into Jim Christian's program looking like he had talent to spare and failed to develop that talent? Maybe you can think of one; I can't.
He's turned Mo Jeffers into a serviceable major conference player. Conor Tava -- who would not see minutes from any other ACC team -- actually has been serviceable. Robinson improved; Bowman has improved by leaps and bounds. Turner is getting there. Once he's in the appropriate 7th-man role, Chatman will flourish.
Anyway, if you want to fault Christian for failing to recruit a front court. Fine. He hasn't. But no bargain basement coach at BC would have. The ACC is absolutely cutthroat this year. And BC looks worse than it is because of it.
So, all in all, the school shouldn't have hired Jim Christian because he was not a major conference hire. Was that Brad Bates's fault? I have my doubts, given the apparent budget he was allocated. Regardless, Christian's here. He's played a bad hand decently well and is trying to rebuild a program that was in worse shape than just about any other major conference program with very little (if any) institutional support. What, exactly, do you expect? And what, exactly, will improve if Christian is fired without the school's willingness to pay multiple millions of dollars per year to a replacement (a willingness that it has never before shown in any context)?
Where is our Donald Trump to drain the swamp? The new Ad needs to hit the ground running and drain the swamp ASAP! As we used to say in the army, "kick ass and take names." In other words, fire people! Enough is enough.
Just heard among the rumbling of the group that came to honor dana and bags. There were a couple of agents amongst the group. It frankly makes sense. He was on the NBA watch list early in the season. He has dropped off. He has left a game or two practically in tears. Its not good fot anyone to take more of this. Not just the acc losses, Nichols State, Hartford Fairfield. This kid has talent he cant let it deteriorate here.
First of all I completely disagree, if AD is hired in May/June then bball coaches are fired/hired during this times. What if they hire McGlaughlin and he convinces Wade to come with him?
Secondly I love JRob but not on NBA radars yet. If you go to NBA mock draft.net he is not listed in top two rounds in next two years. Him sitting out and transferring to a SEC school does not help his draft status. You are either good enough or not. Look at McCullom in Portland. He was one of the best freshman in the country at Lehigh. He could have went anywhere, he stayed four years but up huge numbers and got picked in the 1st Rd.
NBA guys could care less where you play in college. Honestly think if he did that it would hurt him more then help him. If he can continue to put up numbers and turn BC around the next two years to a NCAA team scouts would value that more then going to Florida and coming off the bench for two years.
Where is Oliver Hanlan?
I would drop Bates now and bring someone in as soon as possible. I get the feeling that BC knows who the next AD is going to be and they are waiting for the son of a bitch to finish his contract just like we are waiting for Batesy-poo to finish his contract out. Point being, the new AD will know by August what they are going to do with Dazzler and Christian. I could see a scenario where Dazzler BS's his way into a new three year deal from the new AD but Christian is gone after next season. I like Spinelli but he is not a coach. He is a lead recruiter - so he is gone(if we hire Stan Heath off the bench then I will never think about BC basketball again let alone attend another game).
On a separate post please stop with the Spinelli talk. He was pushed out at Maryland and clearly self promotes himself to take credit for some recruits. If he is gonna take credit for the good kids them he must get the blame for the bad players and right now BC has way more bad players then good ones. He has no business being an interim coach in D1.
I am with BC/Leahy on this, fire the coach in the offseason or that's it. Mid season firings in college make no sense, season too short. What would firing Christian mid year and putting interim tag on Heath (a accomplished failed coach) or someone else
Good points, Shabby. I don't know much about Spinelli and should have kept my thoughts to myself.
The mid-year firing was simply thinking about yet another 0'fer or 2 win ACC season.
Great points guys. The only thing that was different between Donohue and Christian is that the ACC changed dramatically over the last couple of years. Donahue didn't have to play ND, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Syracuse. Donohue coached in a 12 team league and Christian is trying to build a program in a 16 team league that's murders row. The only silver lining is that Robinson and Ky Bowman are legit. My hope is that Bowman can convince some good players to come play with him at BC. He played in the John wall AAU and there is a lot of talent there. I'll still go year in and year out, but my hope is that with the scholarships Christian has he can get legit ACC talent to the heights. I think he gets one more year, but if things don't change, Howard Eisley would be my next choice to that the helm for the Eagles.
One more year? Why are you snowflakes content with rewarding failure? BC needs to start running the athletic department like a business. If you don't produce a profit in a reasonable time, you're gone! It's as simple as that.
How bad dies JC have to be.
Compared to peer ACC programs he is far far behind. Far worse than Daz actually.
Guy just blows
Here are ACC Sagarin ranks. Notice how BC is so far from the ACC teams.
JC cannot compete in ACC
1. UNC 3
2. Lville 6
3. UVA 9
4. Duke 10
5. FSU 17
6. ND 25
7. Miami 29
8. Wake 39
9. Syra 40
10. Clem 41
11. VTech 45
12. Pitt 69
13. GT 75
14. NCSU 87
15. BC 149
Mod, you see it. I see it. So why do the snowflakes want to keep giving these losers extra chances? It's insane.
Agree. Insane.
ATL. Thinks he is safe for another year? He must be getting that buzz from losers inside the BC sports world.
Who the hell thinks like this? JC is ultra safe for another season even though he is incompetent for his BC job???
And JC is not competent based solely on the only metric that matters: results. Nice guy but is a plus that does not matter
But honestly. It's the BC syndrome: So close to elite status yet so afraid to charge over that line from very good to great. That applies especially to the academics and student body. How long will BC be 30/31 in USNWR???
6-47 in ACC regular season play over the last 3 years.
Mod and Georgia you guys are complete imbeciles. NO ONE is saying JC should get another year. The issue is the fact that he IS going to be here another year. Should he be done after this year? ABSOLUTELY, but it is BC and it won't happen. I wish it would. So I guess most of the people here are, as you say, "snowflakes" because we acknowledge the truth whether we like it or not.
Jeremy, good you acknowledge you are a snowflake. That is a big start. As i think you can figure out, BC appears to be actually choosing to retain JC. JC's next year at BC is not some mystical accident, snowflake. It is a choice by BC. So, yes, snowflake, BC IS SAYING JC get another year. A very bad choice. BC can and should choose to fire JC.
And meekly accept it without a hint of protest or indignation. Do you think winning programs like Duke or ND BB have alumni that roll over and play dead?
The Jeremy Brooks. Speaking for the silent majority.
Imbecile is the correct word. Only an imbecile would go through the process of firing two coaches 6 months before hiring their new boss. That would only add to the dysfunction.
The process is hire the new AD, new AD does evaluation and new AD decides to extend contracts or fire the coaches.
Fucking simple.
Again. Imbecile sums it up accurately.
To bitch and moan for the sake of it or because you think people at Duke do it is are pathetic reasons to bitch and moan.
They are firing the AD, which you have been grousing about for 24 months+, and you are still sniveling.
Shut up with the Fox News vocabulary. Snowflake? You never heard of a snowflake until you heard it on Sean Hannity.
Thanks Bitch.
If the shoes fit, Knucklehead, wear it. Just another snowflake Democrat offended by Trump's success. Check the stock market lately? Trump is draining the swamp in Washington, and is doing it NOW!!! Why can't the BC administration have the same sense of urgency with its sports department? We are the laughing stock of the country. Clean house NOW! Our teams are going nowhere fast.
Mod,
Only you would say "thanks" sarcasm or otherwise. Tool.
Georgia,
I have a clear mind that doesn't get warped by what politicians of any persuasion say. I am certainly not a democrat but also not a lap dog for the republicans. If something is stupid I say it stupid. You are obviously a mimic.
Where am I wrong on this issue? Trump was a successful businessman by making bold, decisive decisions. He didn't wait years to make changes when changes were needed. He is bringing the same philosophy to break the gridlock in D.C.
Why can't BC bring that same sense of urgency to its sports program? Fire JC NOW (and Daz NLT Nov.) And let the assistant coaches run the teams until elite replacements are found. Let's do this.
We are all on the same page, BC needs to clean house. However we need first step to happen which is hire a new AD with nuts.
Word is Parker has been hired as search firm, they have certainly had their misses but are highly regarded in this space so a good first step. If true the timing seems to point to a late May/early June hire if not sooner.
If that is the case then new AD would certainly have time to fire any coach he/she wants except for Football. Daz has another full year. Seems like the lack of QB and tough schedule are against him but he will get a 5th year to show where program is at.
Everyone else at BC (except for Coach York) is/should be on notice. The janitor, equipment guy, scorekeeper at Conte, every coach, Flynn Fund flunkies, longtime administrators etc. etc. should have a box in their closest just in case. New AD needs to be tough, bold and have a clear vision from Day 1.
If that happens then everything will happen that needs to happen. If we get a retread hire from a lower level school then we as fans should pick another ACC school to route for because the fat lady has sung and it is over!
My biggest fear with this search is lack of transparency from BC. All of sudden BC announces some stiff like Sean Frazier as new AD and we all collectively lose our minds.
knuck, once your friend Tony and that other troll showed up, you reverted to being a complete dick. revert back please. stick to sports not commenters.
Shush.
Post a Comment