Addazio needs to learn to say nothing

Each week Addazio has media responsibilities. The format is pretty predictable. At some point he will get a general question about his upcoming opponent that allows him to riff on that school in pretty much any direction he wants to go. For Virginia Tech, there is clearly something on Addazio's mind. In both his press conference Monday and his radio show, he referenced Virginia Tech's patience with Frank Beamer as the reason for their success today. To the highly cynical it seems like Addazio is shaping the narrative that he needs to return to BC for a 6th year. I am also predicting that as he speaks with the ESPN crew covering the game, he will emphasize the injuries. ESPN will be sure to mention it during the game and probably flash up a helpful graphic. I understand why Addazio is doing this, but he needs to stop. It is only going to make things worse at BC.

I am not telling the coach to stop talking to the media. That is an essential part of the job. Instead, when he does talk to them, whether it is about Virginia Tech or another opponent or Alabama or whatever, just answer in the most banal, empty way. "They've got a great team...", "We've got our hands full...", "We can do it...", "It has been a great week of practice..." , etc. Don't give VT any bulletin board material but also don't do anything to anger your own fans. 

When Addazio talks about Virginia Tech's patience or tells an ESPN crew, who is presumably less familiar with BC, about our injuries, it comes off as self-serving. Down the road, we can talk about whether or not Virginia Tech in the early '90s is a good comparison to current BC (it's not), but Addazio bringing it up has nothing to do with this game or winning this game! He needs to focus on how he is going to beat the Hokies this week. If he is trying to use the media to get a message to fans and recruits, he needs to take a different tone. If you are trying to shape a narrative, have it be that the players are getting better and we can win every game left on the schedule. Don't have it be about patience or struggling in Year 5! 

The injury talk has the same effect. I know he's frustrated with all the injuries. You know who is also frustrated? Every team in the country! Injuries happen everywhere. It is up to the coach to work through them or recruit at such a level that it does not hold the team back. The only loss that you might successfully argue was due to injury was Wake Forest. Since then the Offensive Line backups have played well and the Linebacker backups have been better. Getting blown out by Notre Dame and Clemson can not be explained away by the injury bug. 

Addazio has a new boss and relatively new Sports Information Director. Neither were around for his Year 3 disaster. They might not be aware on how heavily he leaned on injuries as a media narrative then. If you keep using the same excuses, the people paying attention -- the diehard fans -- are going to see through it. And with hindsight, you can start to see that 2015's struggles were not really based on injuries. Addazio had the best D in the country and clearly didn't have the offense ready. He's churned through coordinators and QBs since and still doesn't have the answers. 

Jarmond will have to make a decision on Addazio as the season progresses. I hope he realizes that media narrative does not matter. Winning games does. Addazio needs to stop using the press to preserve his job and instead use all of his energy on turning things around. 

Havoline Football Saturdays like Addazio

Raycom puts together a series of summer preview shows that you might catch on your local stations. BC is rarely featured, but the producers clearly like Addazio. They already released this clip of him firing up the team last year. 

If BC just won a little more, Addazio would be a star. TV eats this fired up, run through a wall type locker-room stuff up. But you need to back it up with wins.

Addazio will unveil the "narrative" at the ACC Media Days

The ACC Media Days start Thursday. BC won't be the focus, but Addazio will run through the conference's media gauntlet. Based on what he says, we will know how confident he is in the team's chances for this year.

Early on in his tenure, Addazio said this was a five year rebuild. Now here we are in Year 5. In theory this should be when everything comes together. Yet at times last fall and even in the spring, Addazio hedged a bit with his expectations. If he is hedging this week, I am taking it as a sign that things are bad. This guy has been pointing to this season since he started. If he doesn't think he can deliver, then this will be a lame duck, lost year.

I understand that there is very little real content at these sorts of events. Coaches and players answer with standard rehearsed, empty quotes. But we will still be able to read into Addazio's key points. I want to see and read that he believes we can compete with anyone on our schedule. If he keeps talking about youth and building the program down the road, it is going to be a frustrating season.

Steve Addazio is focusing on the wrong things

Since he's arrived at BC, Steve Addazio has always been overly sensitive to criticism. Now, as the ACC losing streak continues, he's really losing sight of the big picture. During his radio show this week, Addazio took "social media" and "twitter" to task for the negativity. Much has already been written about this, but I want to hammer any last point home so that the next time Addazio starts ranting to Meter or Cronin or any other BC staffer, they can respond, "let it go, Coach."

A tweet has never made a tackle...

Regardless of what is written or said by me, or any other BC blogger, fan, talking head, whoever, none of it impacts what happens on the field. We don't tackle. We don't call plays. We certainly don't call timeouts. Our impact is nothing. Addazio just needs to focus on football and ignore the chatter. He can't blame us for the negativity. It is purely a response to what is happening on the field, not the other way around. 

Addazio can't have it both ways...

Remember the glory days of #beadude? Or how about when Addazio went viral on Vine? That was all social media. So in those cases is social media okay? You can't delve into that world for your program's benefit and then criticize it with such broad strokes when the tide turns on you. Either Addazio is a hypocrite or he fails to realize that "social media" is just a forum. It can be used for good or bad.

Who are we to criticize, we've never been on the field...

Addazio hasn't said this exactly, but it is often trotted out in the coaching profession. While I do think perspective and experience does validate some criticism, you cannot dismiss all criticism simply because the critic can't or hasn't performed the task being criticized. Addazio criticized plays on national television for ESPN during the Auburn-Florida State National Championship Game a few years ago. He's never been the head coach in a National Championship Game, but that didn't make his comments less insightful. Sometimes that outside perspective is even more valuable. We've all been deep in the weeds with our own problems in life with work or relationships or whatever, and someone will come along and capture the issue so simply and succinctly. Meanwhile you've been pounding your head against the wall trying to fix whatever is wrong. It is hard to admit that the outsider is right, but it happens. 

Opinion and criticism is not unique to sports...

Any business, any school, any work of art, any person (really), is always open to criticism. That is human nature and technology has only made it easier. Does he realize that every professor at BC is exposed to online criticism? Or that the restaurant in which he was whining about social media deals with it every day too? Or that one of BC Football's biggest sponsors deals with it too? Get over yourself, Coach.

Recruits read this stuff...

Like my first argument, the kids you are recruiting will respond to wins, losses and the relationship they build with their recruiters before the pay attention to random social media. If recruiting is suffering, it is not because of negative tweets. It is because our team is losing and looks lost and unprepared. Nothing that is said or written online even compares to what rival coaches are saying to our recruits right now. They are saying "Addazio is done," "he can't win" and "why would you want to play there?" Addazio can pretend to take the high road, but our staff uses negative recruiting too. Everyone does.

Coaching has changed, fans have changed, blah blah blah...

You know what's changed in coaching between now and when Addazio started back at Chesire High? His paycheck. I don't know Addazio's exact experience coaching high school thirty years ago, but I know enough about youth sports to know that he faced criticism then. "Johnny should be starting" or "why can't you beat _____" or "your behavior on the sidelines is a bit much." He didn't have twitter then, but there are always armchair quarterbacks and parents and fans who think they know better. Always. At every stop. At every level. 

Pressuring the critics won't stop them...

Addazio has indirectly sent messages to media outlets who call him out. It is a waste of his time and BC's time. Even if you silence one, it doesn't take much for someone else to fill the void. The only way Addazio can silence anyone is with better play. That should be his focus. He needs to stop wasting his own time and those around him.

Who benefits from the short week?

Addazio held his usual press conference Monday and was asked about the short week. His response:

"I think being home helps you, yeah. But, no, I mean, it's hard. We practice in the mornings. So it's compounded. We couldn't come in today and use the bulk of the day today continue game planning. We had to get it all done yesterday and last night. At least all done relative to having a good day today, which we did have a good day today. I thought the coaches did a great job. I thought we had a great practice and got some real great things accomplished. In fact, I'm looking forward to going back and watching the practice tape with the coaches and going through it right now. I felt a lot of good stuff happened. We had a hell of a day, but it was a grind. It was absolutely a flat grind. And it's different for the players. Traditionally this is the player's day off for us in our program. So we come in, we watch tape on Sunday. We go on the field. We work on fundamentals. Monday is the day off. And then Tuesday is the day we have -- this all got bounced up. But, I mean, it's the same thing for Clemson. It's no different, they've got the same issues. They played late at night."

Ultimately, I think Clemson is the better team, but I feel we still have the advantage on a couple of fronts. The short week favors us. We played a day game Saturday and do not travel. Their game didn't end until midnight and they have to travel. Even with the disruption, we had more preparation time than the Tigers.

I think facing them coming off of a huge Louisville game is also an advantage. These are still young emotional players. It will be natural for Clemson to overlook us. Conversely, BC hasn't played real competition in three weeks. I think our players should be pumped up and have something to prove.

I also think we have a home field advantage. Don't get me wrong, there will be plenty of Clemson fans there. And Alumni was a morgue last week. But BC fans will show up this week. And if BC shows any sign of life, the crowd will be into it.

I hate how our schedule plays out, but this Friday night will work for BC.

Addazio sounds like Jimbo Fisher

"I'm mad. I'm pissed off at myself. I'm pissed off at my coaches. But ranting and raving won't do anything."

-- Jimbo Fisher

With a day of reflection after his team got thrashed, Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher pointed most of the blame back at himself and his staff. Steve Addazio did the same thing. Even if neither believes it, taking the blame is the smart decision.

When a guy misses a kick or the D allows a key conversion in a close game, you can point to that one moment. When you lose by 49, there are no such moments. Losing like that speaks to huge issues. And since there are so many issues, the Head Coach has to take the blame. He approved the gameplan. He picked and empowered the staff and he recruited most of the players.

Addazio also spoke to the failure of the scheme. He thinks they made things too complex and slowed the players down. They weren't reacting. They were overthinking. I don't know if this was the main issue, but it is consistent with the formations on Offense. On D, we were less aggressive.

We won't know much about Addazio's fixes until after Wagner and Buffalo. Hopefully he won't have to explain away another disaster.

Addazio is raising expectations

Addazio, Myles Willis and Matt Milano ran the gauntlet of the ACC Media Days Friday. While the answers and topics from most of the one-on-one interviews will sprinkle out in the following days, Addazio's press conference and ESPN interviews are out. In these interviews he's expressing a lot of optimism.

Addazio owes us optimism after he screwed up last season. While he still references not having recruited the whole roster -- and even points to Willis and Milano as examples -- this is his team. He has his coaching staff in place. He has depth at critical positions and has an OC he trusts. During the interviews he still falls back to things not being exactly how he wants, but there are not valid excuses this year.

I don't think Addazio is blowing smoke either. I think he believes what he is saying. I think the players do too. Now it is just about translating it to the field.

Another candid Addazio press conference

People have been really critical of the QB situation. Just look at some of these quotes:

"...quarterback play has to get better and there are varying different reasons for those things. Some is age, some is not, but that is what we have to get better."

"I'm not sure at this point that either one can handle the whole game."

"Troy - on that last play - he just ran himself to a problem. It was a tremendous pocket. Stand there and deliver the ball! If you don't like it, shiver up and run vertically because all we were trying to do was to get seven more yards to get a field goal, or at least an attempt..."

Those quotes aren't from a message board. They're from Steve Addazio. As much as I question what Addazio is doing, I am always thankful for his candor in these weekly press conferences. Maybe because he's not getting grilled by a horde of SEC local media types. It is probably just Vega, Thompson, and a few student reporters. Maybe he has his guard down. But he admits that he's hoping one of the guys steps up and takes the decision away from him. He shares a story about going to his own defensive staff and getting their opinion. Clearly the staff is struggling with each guy's limitation and as Addazio said the expectations to win now vs developing a player.

Addazio is also candid about his criticism of Special Teams, Hilliman, the OLine and Alston. And I think he does it without really blaming any of the guys or throwing them under the bus. There's nothing here that crosses a line, but it is more than most coaches would say. Or at least more than past BC coaches ever said.

Speaking your mind or playing it close to the vest doesn't matter if we don't win. And we need to win this weekend. If not I think Addazio's press conferences will take a very different tone.

Do we have enough explosive players?

One of the things I appreciate about Addazio is how candid he is in interviews. He seems to have confidence when discussing the team's challenges. Take his discussion on Monday of big plays, playmakers and our current roster.

"Two years ago, here was our identity. We had a tailback that was a big-play hitter. We had a receiver that was a big-play, play-action hitter. Last year, we had big plays out of our tailbacks collectively - not one big hitter. We had a quarterback that was electric with his feet. So he became a big play hitter. So we might have lost the (Alex) Amidon last year but we supplanted it with the (Tyler) Murphy. And this year, what we’ve got to get to is, obviously we expect big plays out of our running backs. And I don’t think we got enough of them. But then, on the flipside of that, while Darius (Wade) is very capable runner, is he a house-call runner like (Tyler) Murph? I don’t know. He is more of that 10, 15, 20-yard guy. We have to go find those hits. We have enough receivers. We have speed. We beat others over the top. Anybody over the top. We need to go find those big-hit plays in play action right now. We didn’t get any of those Saturday."

In his first two years teams crowded the box to challenge our run game. This opened up big plays for Amidon, Williams and in Year 2 for Murphy. Now if our opponents put eight guys in the box, do we have anyone to punish them? Is there anyone who once he gets past the line can run away from the other team? Sherman Alston comes to mind first. Even Addazio admitted he pressed a bit in the opener. Let's hope he gets over that quickly and fixes the drops. Like Alston, Thadd Smith has speed. But can he get enough touches? Robinson sounds interesting, but he's only been playing the position two weeks.

The RBs are all relatively productive, but do any of them have the ability to break off an 80-yard run like Williams? Willis can break away but doesn't get a ton of touches. Outlow is an exciting runner, but has yet to show (or been given enough carries) to be considered explosive.

Maybe there isn't anyone who can breakaway. It that is an issue, then Addazio and Fitch need to make sure the offense becomes more consistent and not always looking for the big break.

Addazio talks to the media and and other links

Addazio held his normal Monday press conference. He seemed a little defensive about the criticism of the offensive line. I agree with Daz that there was some good line play. It just wasn't as consistent as we need. He also thinks that Thadd Smith has real upside.

BC alums Matt Ryan and Luke Kuechly sell a lot of NFL jerseys.

Women's Soccer lost to St. John's.

NFL rosters are still being tweaked, but there is still good news for former Eagles. Tyler Murphy is on the Steelers' roster Brian Mihalik and Chris Pantale made the Eagles practice squad.

Both Men's and Women's Golf had decent starts to their seasons. The men finished 5th at Turning Stone. The women were fourth at the Red Bird Invitational.

Get ready for lots of Louie Addazio stories

One of the good articles that followed the ACC Media events was a feature on Louie Addazio. Given our lack of known stars entering the season, I think the media will revisit Louie's story throughout the year. And it is probably going to be just the right amount of attention for everyone. Louie is not a star and not in a focal point position. He'll contribute and may start. But most of his time will be spent blocking.

Nepotism can be ugly in college sports. Whether the coach's son is a player or an assistant. Spaz's son is a walk-on QB at UVA. Can you even imagine how that would have played out at BC? Louie seems like a good kid, with a good perspective and who is finally ready to play. I hope his playing career has a happy ending. It will make for a better BC season.

Addazio cleans up at ESPN's Carwash

In my opinion, this meeting below between Addazio and Norby Williamson was the most important moment of his ACC Carwash at ESPN. Williamson is in charge of all scheduling and development at the worldwide leader. He met with all the ACC coaches, but a face-to-face with Addazio is a little different. His energy is different. He's good on camera and can provide a good soundbite. In College Football, ESPN sells the coaches. If Addazio can keep BC winning, he and BC will be all over ESPN.

.@BCCoachAddazio chats with @ESPN Executive VP Norby Williamson at ACC Car Wash. #BCEagles #WeAreBC pic.twitter.com/CQuYXJKH1D

— BC Football News (@BCFootballNews) July 28, 2015

You probably saw or heard Addazio on air from Bristol. BC's Twitter account has a good recap of all the stops. Articles from the ESPN writers will probably trickle out in the next day or two.

These Carwashes are really just offseason filler for ESPN and now nearly all the major conferences hold them. I hope BC continues to leverage our proximity to get Addazio on the air more often. It remains one of our better selling points.

@bceaglesfootball head coach Steve Addazio is at @espn today for the #ACC's Carwash. He explains his favorite post-victory tradition. #WeAreBC #BCFootball #BCEagles #ForBoston

A video posted by Boston College Athletics (@bcathletics) on Jul 28, 2015 at 9:35am PDT

Addazio at the ACC Media Days

The coach hit on all his talking points in his ACC Media interviews. He mentioned 60 of the scholarship players being freshmen and sophomores. He talked about Wade. He mentioned Ireland and Fenway. He joked about the Offensive Line. But I am not concerned about the talk. We will hear all these stories for the next few months. My positive takeaway is Addazio's confidence.

Watch the video above. This is a guy who likes his team and thinks he can win. That sort of confidence will help the young team and help his staff come together.

I don't think confidence is the only key to winning. If it was Addazio's second season at Temple would have been better. But I do think that he's on the right path.

Addazio doesn't like 7 on 7s

As football becomes a year round sport, 7 on 7 camps and drills are the go to set up for many offseasons. One football guy close to our hearts doesn't think too much of the trend. Last week in an interview with a Tennessee radio station Addazio talked about a variety of BC-related issues and eventually gets to the 7 on 7s. This is what he said:

"You don’t know how people really perform until you put them in those pressure situations, so I equate it to 7 on 7. To me, the 7 on 7 drill in football is kind of a joke. The quarterbacks are throwing, there is no threat of being sacked, or being hit, and there’s really not a heavy contact threat in the back end.”

His argument makes sense. 7 on 7s improve timing or passing routes, but tell you little.

Is it any wonder that Addazio feels so much is missing from 7 on 7s? He's made his living with good line play and running the ball. Both aspects are neutered in passing drills.

Once again, Addazio is a good interview and I like his honesty on the hot topics in college football.

Grantland dives deep on OLine with Addazio

The Addazio offseason media tour continues as he is the main subject in this Grantland article on building an offensive line. There are plenty of good nuggets in there, but the most interesting to me was the drill he has the lineman run in the offseason conditioning:

At Boston College, winter conditioning includes a borderline-sadistic drill in which one player contorts himself into a chairlike position, back against a wall, and balances weights on his knees. At the same time, another player pushes a 45-pound plate around the room as fast as he can. The longer it takes the second player to finish the course, the longer his teammate has to support the weights on his knees; if the player against the wall drops the plates, his teammate has to go back to the starting line. Addazio’s description of this regimen alone will turn the listener’s thighs to jelly.

“We’re trying to create accountability with each other,” Addazio says. “Don’t let your partner down. Don’t let your teammate down. You work on these skill sets.”

While Addazio has a plan for building an Oline, I still think it can be as simple as coaching. As mush as we hated Tranquill or thought Spaz was inept, what really undermined his teams was the OLine coaching. Jags showed that a head coach who appreciates OL play combined with a very good position coach can come in and make an Oline thrive. Addazio did the same thing in his first two years. I don't love the turnover at the OLine this year, but I have full confidence in Addazio and Justin Frye to make these guys competent by our opener.

BC proudly calls itself OLine U and I hope we always do. We need that mentality to compete. It is an area where we've shown we can recruit and develop and it covers so many potential weaknesses.

I hope Addazio has a long and successful tenure and I also hope that whoever replaces him has an Oline background. That works for BC.

Get Addazio on TV more

Did anyone else see Jim Harbaugh on SportsCenter clips the past few days? He's been featured in ESPN's Draft Academy. It is great exposure for the coach as he returns back to college football. It is also a reminder that BC needs to get Addazio down to ESPN again this offseason. BC probably missed the window on Tebow talk, but there is always something that you could shoehorn him into. Addazio can talk Draft. He can go on about season two of the playoff and what teams have learned. I would even bet Addazio would handle himself well if ESPN needed an active coach to discuss the move to pay players.

Getting on TV is not really about Addazio improving on camera. It remains a good tool to sell the program to recruits and fans. I doubt that ESPN has anything as big as Draft Academy coming up, but Addazio doesn't need that. For this offseason it just about using ESPN to keep momentum going.

Addazio working the next generation of recruits and fans

A huge part of college football is sales. You have to be out selling your program to recruits, the media and fans. For many years, BC lacked a real face of the program, salesman. Our coaches either weren't good at it, weren't particularly comfortable doing it or just didn't deem it worthy of their time. Addazio is different. We know he'll gladly talk to a reporter or attend a Wall Street dinner. His passion for recruiting is well known. But what takes it all to another level is his willingness to go talk to suburban Catholic elementary schools.

I know it is only one appearance, but can you think of any other BC coach doing that? How many Boston sports figures of his prominence are doing small appearances like that? I am not aware of a specific connection to St. Joseph's. Maybe the invite from a Catholic school with a speaker's series was all it took. Regardless, I am glad he did it and represents BC well. A few of those kids will be BC students one day and hopefully all of them will be BC fans.

Addazio takes Indoor Practice Facility push to Media

The Globe and BC's own web site both had write ups on Saturday's scrimmage. Both had quotes from Addazio. BC's piece had more quotes from the coach, but left out an important one that the Globe included: "We need a permanent indoor facility." 

Addazio's push for an permanent indoor practice facility is not new to those who have heard him speak lately. He tends to work it into his speeches at booster and alumni functions. Taking it to the media though changes the objective. Now the pitch goes from receptive ears to a broader community who can interpret it a few different ways. In general, I think BC fans (the passionate and the casual) will support the facility. It is just part of the arms race of college football. And the facilities are no longer just at football factories. Private schools across the ACC have them or are building them. Good facilities can make a difference with quality recruits. But Addazio's quote will also be fuel for those who don't want it (locals who object to any BC construction) and those we recruit against.

I don't think Addazio talked about the facility to put pressure on Brad Bates or start building excuses for himself. It is still early in his tenure, but I don't think he is that manipulative. But taking the message to a wider audience is a power play. Addazio is very friendly with Vega. If he didn't want the quote out there, it would have been removed. Now, Addazio is letting the BC broader BC community know that if we want to compete we need to raise the money and build this facility.

Addazio at home at ESPN

Pick 1 coach: Saban or Meyer @BCCoachAddazio "Urban Meyer. We've been through so much together" #CFBLIVE pic.twitter.com/wtrwYtbLA1
— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) December 19, 2014

There are times when you do something so seemingly obvious that you're only left to ask yourself: "why did it take us so long to do this?" That is sort of how I feel about Steve Addazio's frequent stops at ESPN. The BC Coach is now a regular down in Bristol. He spent most of Friday on various ESPN outlets, including SportsCenter, College Football Live and ESPN Radio. This is after his preseason stops in 2013 and 2014, his day with Andre Williams last year and his participation in the BCS National Title Game "Film Room."

BC's proximity to Bristol was never really leveraged by any BC figure until Addazio came around. In part because our various other coaches have not been that media friendly. It is a shame. Getting down there is easy and ESPN is always looking for interesting guests. Addazio is a natural, so I assume we will see more appearances like this is the future. It is very important for him to be there. While he is raising his own profile, he is also raising BC's. That helps in recruiting and it helps when the rest of college football thinks of BC. With the selection committee and scheduling obstacles, branding and remaining top of mind is more important than ever. Winning trumps everything, but Addazio spending half a day in Bristol every few months helps the effort.

ESPN hasn't posted any video clips from the visit yet, but they will eventually get out there. Next time he's back in town, just set your DVR. You'll be ready to run through a brick wall after watching him.

Addazio's message

I didn't comment when it debuted two weeks ago, but I wanted to revisit Addazio's Youtube clips. There a good underlying message in them, with this one focusing on accountability. Is it a little cliche? Sure, but the theme of the message is true and Addazio delivers it in a believable manner. It is refreshing to have a coach who can shape and deliver this sort of message.

My only concern about the whole things is the lack of views. BC's official Youtube page posted the clip two weeks ago. In that time only 1,100 have viewed the clip. This is the type of clip that should go to every BC fan and every recruit and be in the tens of thousands of views after two weeks. Addazio's willingness to be the face of the program is valuable. Let's not waste such a great asset.