Surprise teams and other links

The Big Lead named BC one of its surprise teams of the 2013.

BC head of HR, Leo Sullivan, announced his plan to step down from his position this spring. Sullivan will continue to advise Father Leahy. While Sullivan's influence reached well beyond sports, he was still a critical part of most of our recent searches I hope his replacement understands the importance of sports to the school's image.

Matt Hinton speaks the truth: "If you watched Boston College-New Mexico State over the Internet you deserve a Heisman vote because that is some fucking passion for the game."

AD search nearing an end

Everyone is sort of throwing darts about BC's AD search (myself included), because the only people that truly know anything are Leo Sullivan and Father Leahy. Neither are talking to media about the process. That leaves us to piece things together by who they are talking to: the candidates themselves, select faculty and Athletic Department staff and BOT and Advisory Board members.

Sean Frazier publicly withdrawing his name was the first tell that things are getting close. At that point BC had narrowed its list and Frazier wasn't on it. I think his tweet was a way to save face publicly. I was told that BC had a list of three and felt fine telling the other candidates they were no longer in the running. But who were the remaining three? The names that kept popping up were Boo Corrigan, Mike Bobinski, and Brad Bates. BC felt confident (and so do most outside observers) that all three would accept the offer and there was no risk in letting other candidates know the process was over.

As for all the talk of weeks or advisers getting to meet the finalists, I think some of that has happened. And I also think BC does want to give the new AD time to evaluate football. But if it happens early next week or takes longer, BC doesn't feel like they have to meet anyone's timetable but our own.

As for the rumored finalists...I think Corrigan and Bobinski would be fine. Not thrilled with the idea of Bates. But I will explain when the smoke finally clears.

What the "Athletic Department background" aspect of the search tells us

We don't know who the new AD will be, but as I wrote yesterday, Leahy and Sullivan have made it pretty clear that it will be someone with experience in a college Athletic Department. Initially I hoped that BC would be more adventurous in their thinking, but understand why their path is taking them in this direction.

With Notre Dame coming into the ACC, the conference situation is secure. Notre Dame will also open up the media contract, but the ACC doesn't need a BC AD to negotiate or lead those deals. What we need now is a very good leader who can fix many of the problems facing BC athletics.

Many sports need new facilities, more attention from their high ranking AD officials and financial support. Leahy and Sullivan recognize this. By focusing on someone who has direct experience in a Athletic Department, they are shortening the adjustment period and learning curve. The new leader will still have to learn about BC, but not about how to run an Athletic Department nor navigate the NCAA's minefields. The new AD will be expected to make immediate impact, first in football and then throughout the department.

BC will also need a major athletic capital campaign, but that won't be approached in the first phase of the new AD's tenure. Leahy and Sullivan have made it clear there is immediate more work to be done repairing BC athletics.

Filling in the gaps around Blauds post on Sean Frazier

Early Wednesday Blauds posted an update predicting Sean Frazier would be BC's new Athletic Director. Of course he hedged his post with this quote at the end:

Which means that while I fully expect Sean Frazier to be the next BC AD, I will not be stunned if it is someone else.

I don't think Blauds knows for sure. From what I gather, the only people that truly know where BC is in the process are Father Leahy and Leo Sullivan. This is what I do know that Blauds either doesn't know or left out:

• BC has a Board of Trustees meeting on September 28
• Representatives of the Flynn Fund met with Sullivan and Leahy and both explained that they want a new AD in place soon, so that he or she can make a full evaluation of the football program. Even if someone is not named October 1, the process will not drag on much longer.
• Leahy and Sullivan also told the Flynn Fund that the new AD will be from the Athletic Department world and have football experience. We won't be following the recent steps of Michigan, Notre Dame and USC by hiring a high-profile alum that doesn't have hands on Athletic Department experience. 

I don't know if it will be Frazier. He seems like a fine candidate and I will write more on him if and when he gets the job. But I do agree with Blauds that this process will be over soon.

One more thing...this is Sean Frazier's profile picture on Twitter:

Addressing the Corrigan rumors

Sunday night Steve Lively sent out an email to the BC Football Alumni profiling Army AD Boo Corrigan and reporting a rumor he heard regarding Corrigan as a candidate for the BC job. I was copied, as was Brian. In the past few days that email has transferred to message boards saying Corrigan is our next AD. I think this is all premature. Corrigan may end up as the hire, but I don't believe BC has made a decision yet.

Leo Sullivan is still traveling and still seeking input and feedback from friends of the program and university. At this point I don't believe we have a set group of finalists. Father Leahy has also been very busy with the start of school. I don't believe he and Sullivan have gone from still screening candidates less than a week ago to making a final decision.

Lively was a vocal critic of Gene and is likely hearing a lot of gossip (just like many of us). I do think Gene's treatment of him and some of the football alumni did impact the forced resignation. However, I don't think Father Leahy nor Sullivan are going to tip their hand to him in return during this process.

Corrigan would be a solid, conservative replacement. If his candidacy does progress, I will dig deeper into his Pros and Cons. Until then, I think we just have to be patient.

Floated names

Because I've hinted at names, people have asked (offline) who are the candidates. At this point I don't know. I truly believe that BC is talking to all sorts of different people and have not narrowed the focus on anyone. And as you'll see from the list below, there isn't an overriding theme or obvious profile.

People Blauds has mentioned. 
I don't think much of Blauds but I can't fault him on his AD search work. He was the first to leak Tim Pernetti, who is interested but has to keep up appearances with Rutgers in case BC doesn't work out. Blauds also mentioned Duke's Mike Cragg. Cragg fits the mold I've heard mentioned of ACC school, worked at a private school, understands BC's student athletes and donors.

Eagle Outsider's board suggested John Currie from Kansas State and Woodie Dixon from the Pac 12. I think both would be great, but I don't think either are serious candidates.

Names I haven't seen online yet, but have been dropped by a few different people...

• M. Quentin Williams. BC grad, former NFL and NBA executive. Lawyer in private practice in New York. I've heard he's on the A list and other people told me he hasn't been called. No idea, but he's at the center of a lot of speculation. I think he'd be popular with the Football Alumni (since he's one of them) and he has Tom Coughlin in his corner.
• Chris Plonsky. She's Director of Women's Athletics at Texas and a former Big East official. 
• Jon Oliver. He's a high-ranking Associate AD at Virginia. I think an endorsement from Virginia's AD Craig Littlepage would go a long way with BC leadership.
• Sean Frazier. He's been mentioned on BC message boards in the past. People like his hockey background. I have heard his candidacy is real. 

Getting people to share names is harder than in past coaching searches because no one seems to know much and because BC is looking beyond the usual circles. I've been told Jim Paquette may get an interview but he is not getting the job because of the perception -- fair or not --  that he was Gene's right-hand man for so long. 

The latest information on the AD search

This is all second-hand information so take it for what it is worth...

• Leo Sullivan is running the search. BC is not using an outside search firm.
• Unlike some of our past searches, we will be reaching out to certain candidates and not just waiting for people to call us.
• Once Sullivan has culled the list, he will present packets on finalists to Father Leahy and perhaps a few select faculty and Board members. 
• BC is highly unlikely to promote internal candidates.
• BC is not restricting the search to just people of the Athletic Department world.
• There wasn't one incident that forced BC to take action on Gene. It was a series of events and feedback.
• BC made the move now so that a new AD could be in place before the football season ends. 
• There won't be a mandate for the new AD to fire Spaz. It will be his or her decision.

The above is what I've heard from multiple sources. The following is purely what I think...

If BC ends up hiring an AD from a smaller Catholic school, this process will have been a failure. This is a big time job and there is plenty of legitimate interest in the position. Despite the Rutgers bloggers' disbelief, Tim Pernetti is interested in the job as are many other ADs and high-level associate ADs at BCS programs. I would prefer a true outsider, sports executive to take over, but I will support whomever they hire. If I had to guess, I think we will end up hiring an Associate AD from a fellow ACC school.