End of the Week rant: Where is the renaissance of New England youth football?

I was at BC when Bill Parcells sparked the turnaround in Patriot Football. His success, combined with the Krafts and obviously the Brady/Belichick combo turned the region into a Football mad hotbed. At the time and periodically since, I have read about how this passion trickled down to the youth levels and more kids than ever are playing youth football in New England. I also read that the quality of youth and high school coaching in the region improved dramatically. Then you throw in UMass and UConn jumping to FBS in the past two decades. This should be the best time ever to recruit out of New England! We've had 20 years of football passion and growth. The kids who were born during that era should be on BC's roster now or on our development radar! Yet, it is the same old same old. Where is the talent? When does the bumper crop mature?

On Saturday both UMass and BC will call on plenty of talented players who came up in the state. But given the population, there should be more. I know the usual excuses are still in place (the demographics of the region, the popularity and diversity of youth sport options, the weather, etc.) but there is still something missing.

Even if UMass grows their program and BC becomes a perennial contender, I don't think Massachusetts is ever going to become like Ohio or Texas (on a relative basis). If the Patriots hugely popular run couldn't deliver on new talent, college success isn't. Plus the new fears about head injuries are also going to scare off parents.

This will leave BC to continue going outside the region to fill out the roster. But I hope that soon BC coaches start looking at local basketball, lacrosse, and hockey talent and find a few more athletes who slipped through the cracks or who should really be playing football. There's got to be some out there.

UMass still interested in Brown for something and other links

According to Blauds Don Brown remains a candidate at UMass for both the Head job and as a DC if Whipple gets the job. I am suspicious of all the speculation. Why would he leave BC (and presumably take a paycut) to go back to UMass as a coordinator? He was already head coach there. Would he want to work with Whipple that much? I am also doubtful that UMass would hire Brown for their head job. As much as our defense struggled this year, I don't want to scrap Brown's system after just one season. As we saw under Spaz, revolving coordinators doesn't lead to on the field success.

Under Armour signed Notre Dame to an apparel deal. It will be interesting to see how welcoming the Irish are to Under Armour's unique designs. I know the players don't care for the shoes, but as a fan I've been generally happy with the Under Armour BC uniforms. The only thing I hated was the white stripe helmet and that seems to be going away.

Charlie Davies signed with the Revolution.

This article doesn't mention BC, but it does deal with the growing issue of college basketball transfers. This new trend could help our next coach balance his roster fairly quickly. If anything having one mega class that didn't have much attrition hurt Donahue's ability to backfill with transfers.

My thoughts on all the BC names floated for the UMass job

No one is asking me, but since the media is leaking a whole bunch of guys with BC-ties to the UMass job, I thought I would weigh in on the opening. The most surprising to me is Blauds promoting Spaz for the job. He mentioned "sources" saying Spaz is interested. My guess on his source is Spaz himself. Spaz even thinking about the UMass job was shocking. Retirement must be miserable if he wants to get back into the coaching game in Amherst. But that doesn't really matter. UMass is not hiring him for a variety of reasons. His age and his record at BC are the biggest factors. But with Spaz a non-factor, who should UMass hire?

A competitive UMass team is good for BC. Added interest in college football in the region is a good thing. Better high school development is a good thing. And a respectable, yet consistently beatable opponent on BC's schedule is always a good thing. I want them to make a good hire. If only so we don't have to keep reading why college football cannot work in Massachusetts.

Mark Whipple and Don Brown are both being mentioned too. I don't know enough about the UMass politics and history to know if they would rehire one of their old coaches. Both seem relatively safe hires and have proven themselves away from UMass. Despite the stats, I would hate to lose Brown now as we would probably have to scrap his system and rebuild one side of the ball again. I don't know where Brown stands, but if he wanted to be the head coach at UMass, would he have ever left years ago?

I have yet to read Jags' name for the job. Once again, I don't know the politics, but doubt UMass would want someone BC fired. I think Jags could do well there. He's never led a true rebuilding project, but I think he could get enough talent out of the northeast and midwest to win in the MAC. I also think he'd build a decent staff (just like he did at BC).

Of all the names, Jack Bicknell Jr. makes the most sense. He had college head coaching experience. He has multiple ties to the region. He now has solid NFL experience to sell to recruits. I know he interviewed there years ago and didn't get the job. They probably should have hired him then and should hire him now. He's a safe hire, can handle the job and doesn't come with any of the baggage that some of the other candidates have.

Bill McGovern interviewed with UMass in the past. He lacks the head coaching experience, but is probably the best recruiter of this bunch. Because of his success as a recruiter, he would probably leave UMass in a better place. However, I doubt he'll get serious interest this time around.

The most intriguing name associated with the search so far is John DeFilippo. To UMass fans he's just a young up and coming coach. To BC fans he'll always be the son of Coach Flip. I've heard that John is a good coach. But I will also never get past all the stuff I also heard about the two Flips assessing and gossiping about the different coaches and position coaches that BC interviewed over the years. It's all second hand information (and probably unfair of me) but I would never want him anywhere near the BC job. UMass can have him.

UMass looking for true home games and other links

UMass hopes to play more games on campus in the near future. What a shock that playing 90 miles away at Gillette wasn't an immediate success. Our games against the Minutemen would not be impacted. As much as I mock what they are doing, I am all for establishing a long-term series that goes Alumni-Gillette, Alumni-Gillette. That is a huge advantage for us.

Nick Clancy is solidly on the Falcons depth chart. Let's hope he gets plenty of playing time in the preseason games. 

SI predicts five wins this fall. 

Being surrounded by BC guys is making Matt Hasselbeck's transition to the Colts that much easier. 

ESPNBoston broke down things to watch as practice begins. 

Here is a round up of anonymous comments on BC from other ACC coaches. I am amazed by how shallow their knowledge of BC is. It shows we are a real afterthought. That will change soon. 

Let's play a "road" game against UMass in 2013

BC needs a 12th game for next season. At this point it looks like we are going to "buy" a game with a low level FBS or even FCS team. While this would likely pad our 2013 win total, it won't do much for the bottom line nor give fan interest a boost. BCI has often suggested moving up the UMass series to fill the void. Given UMass's huge attendance issues at Gillette, I have a new suggestion: we should play the Minutemen in Foxborough!

BC benefits from a game in Foxborough on a few different fronts. The biggest reason to play the game is that it allows BC to test the off-campus game without much risk. We don't sacrifice one of our true home games yet all of our fans could attend the game. We could finally see how much demand there is for a true tailgating experience. BC would also pad our win total without having to pay for the cupcake to come to Alumni. Even with the low travel cost, a game against UMass in Foxoborough wouldn't be as profitable as a home game, but depending on who we pay to play, it could be fairly close. Although I doubt we will be a factor in the BCS rankings, playing a game on the road gives a better strength of schedule rating than playing a cupcake at home.

I don't know where Bates and Addazio are with regards to our open slot. I don't expect anything risky. The nice thing about a potential UMass road game is that it is a financial and marketing risk, not a football one.

Everett star to Notre Dame, UMass schedule and other links

BC target John Montelus won't be joining his fellow Everett teammates at the Heights. The OL prospect committed to Notre Dame over the weekend. Remember when people justified keeping Spaz for recruiting reasons...

UMass released their future football schedules. BC will play the Minutemen in 2014, 2016 and 2018. For those who have longed for a BC game day filled with uninterrupted spacious tailgating, we will finally play a game at Gillette Stadium in UMass's 2014 opener.

How are people still saying Kuechly is too slow after the Combine?

BC baseball commit Chris Shaw is generating Major League interest.