What is Spaz leaving in the cupboard?

We won't know Spaz's fate until the new AD is in place, but I think most can agree Spaz will not be coaching BC five years from now. That prediction is not based on wins and losses. It is simply about age. Spaz must know this too. That's why I am glad he is still keeping some of our current true freshman on the sidelines, preserving their fifth year of eligibility. Obviously under pressure, Spaz could play everyone with the hope that one of the guys might make a difference. But he doesn't seem to be in a full "win now" mode yet.

Last year's recruiting class consisted of 17 players. Eight have yet to play and look like they are headed towards redshirts. Those eight are Jim Cashman,  George Craan, Win Homer, Malachi Moore, Mike Strizak, Frank Taylor, Nigel Matthews, and Joel Karim Zoungrana. Now preserving their eligibility is not Spaz simply looking out for their best interests or wanting to help his successor. Spaz may have good intentions, but most of the redshirts are lineman who are physically not developed enough to play the positions for which they were recruited. Others like Craan have been battling injury and some like Matthews and Strizak would break the depth chart at their positions.

Eight players might not mean much and it is unlikely that all will hang around for five years. But at least it is one less excuse for the 2015 and 2016 seasons (of course Spaz used the excuse for himself when talking to Avidon). The key for BC's future success is to get back to redshirting the majority of the class. I know that concept is becoming dated as players arrive on campus more mature and developed, but that added time can still be advantageous to a program like BC. A fifth year, 23-year-old marginal recruit is always going to be more valuable than he was as a true freshman. We just need a head coach who sees himself at BC long enough to invest in their and BC's future.

Questioning Win Homer's new star

I am suspicious of BC recruit Win Homer's bump from three star to four star on Rivals.com. Earlier this week, Rivals updated its Rivals 250 and the Virginia OL prospect debuted at 248. Previously Rivals gave Homer three stars, listed him as the 51st best tackle and the 12th best player out of Virginia. Even though he now has four stars plenty of players above him in his position ranking and in his state ranking still only carry three stars.

The three other major services, Scout, 247Sports and ESPN have not altered their rankings of Homer. Why was Homer bumped and why now? He hasn't played since the last ranking. He hasn't received any new offers that we know of. My suspicion is that a BC-friendly evaluator gave a BC-bound prospect a bump to help BC's overall ranking and offset some of the bad news on the recruiting front. In a potential quid pro quo, BC gets an artificial improvement to its class and the largest BC recruiting news site continues to keep a good relationship with Spaz and staff.

Let me state that I am not accusing all of Eagle Action (Rivals's BC site) of juicing the stats. In fact, I think Eric Hoffses is the best BC beat writer around. I also think Adam Rose is a rising star on the BC media scene. My long problem with Eagle Action has been with Mike Farrell and his willingness to color outside the lines when it comes to BC recruiting.

As I have always said, rankings really shouldn't matter. It is a subjective, man-made measurement. There may be a correlation with rankings and success, but I don't believe there is causation. BC's talent should be judged by how it does on the field. Who and how we bring in talent is important. What outsiders think of that talent is meaningless.

Homer may be the best member of this BC class. I hope Rivals collectively found something in his tapes or recruiting to make them think he will be a star. If they were throwing a bone to Spaz, then all they did was tease BC fans...again.