BC closing in on new football coach
Boston College athletic director Gene DeFilippo should be finished with the interview process,with an announcement of a new football coach for BC early this week, perhaps as soon as Monday, barring any unforseen developments.
DeFilippo has focused on a core group of BC insiders currently involved with the program. He took care of those interviews on Thursday and Friday when he talked to offensive coordinator Steve Logan, defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani, assistant head coach Jack Bicknell Jr., and assistant athletic director of football operations Barry Gallup, all of whom had expressed an interest in the job after DeFilippo fired Jeff Jagodzinski on Wednesday.
Of that group, Spaziani is the clear leader and Bicknell is second.
With the internal interviews completed, DeFilippo then focused on a core group of outside candidates, making calls and setting up interviews. According to sources familiar with the process, DeFilippo talked to Richmond coach Mike London and was considering a few others, but was leaning toward making an internal hire, which would seem to favor Spaziani.
Although Florida offensive coordinator Steve Addazio was on the list, the timing may be difficult since Addazio has been in the hospital for the past few days, dealing with an an infection on his surgically replaced knee.
During festivities Sunday celebrating Florida's national championship, Gator coach Urban Meyer encouraged BC to ask for permission to talk to Addazio, whom he labeld a "great coach."
And while Skip Holtz's name also was thought to be on BC's list of potential candidates, East Carolina athletic director Terry Holland said Sunday night that no one had asked permission to talk to any of his head coaches, which would seem to knock Holtz from consideration.
London has impressive credentials, including a BC connection from his stint on Tom O'Brien's staff 10 years ago. Addazio is known as a great recruiter, with an aggressive style and New England connections, coming off a team that just won the national championship.
Addazio also has a connection with DeFilippo through his son John, who worked on Tyrone Willingham's staff at Notre Dame with Addazio.
Whether DeFilippo slows down the hiring process waiting for Addazio to recover remains to be seen. With the sense of urgency that BC has expressed, however, it seems unlikely they will go in that direction.
The decision DeFilippo must now make is whether to stick with a solid BC connection, which Spaziani and Bicknell would provide, or move outside the program, which would probably also create even more shuffling of the staff.
It is unlikely that Spaziani will stay on staff if he is passed over for the head job for a second time.
The other question is a matter of money. If Holtz is hired, BC most likely would have to pay a buyout as part of the deal. In addition, the new coach would receive a minimum five-year contract, with a total compensation package of $1 million per year the most likely starting point.
No matter what DeFilippo does, the process should be over in the next 48 hours.
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Shame on BC if they do not interview a minority candidate...
What would have happened if the East Carolina AD told Skip Holtz he would fire him if he interviewed for the BC job. Would DeFillipo have conducted the interview?
I think our best choice is Skip Holtz, His dad was one of the greatest to coach college football and with that knowledge on his shoulders we could an excellent squad. That guy turned East Carolina into a program not a team, A PROGRAM. WHen he started nobody knew them, but you take a look at him now and they have been in the top 25 for two years straight, and this year they were as low as 9! Lets go after him.
Holtz was looking for a new job less than 90 days after receiving a new $9.5 million contract(9-25-08) with ECU. He says his dream is to coach at ND. If you want a short timer, hire Holtz.
Pirate Fan
Turner Gill anyone? Hello???
Why would BC "most likely have to pay a buyout" if Holtz is hired? I could not image that BC would interview someone who is still under contract as a head coach. What kind of person/school would breach the sanctity of a contract? ROFLMAO!!!
The defillippo hypocracy has no limit. He will encourage other guys with jobs to interview and urinate on the shoes of a guy with the loyalty he professes to want. Oh by the way, let's not forget that he did a Jags to Villanova and actually left that school. The man is a disgrace to a school of the quality and integrity of BC. Get rid of him!!
First of all interview a minority candidate so they cansay they did..how absurd and whats wrong with this country and its affirmative action new. President.
Secondly London is Black you douchebag
Turner Gill not contacted??? Hmmmm why would he not be contacted?? Hmmm I can't think of any reason.
Barry Gallup is the Associate Athletic Director of Football Operations, not the Assistant Athletic Director of Football Operations as reported in your communication. Barry was promoted on May 6, 2008 by Gene DeFillipo
Ship Holtz did it right. He requested and was granted permission, without LYING to his program. It is called common courtesy. This type of action is professional, and does not alienate anyone. This is a quality guy.
"Shame on BC if they do not interview a minority candidate..."
Enough of that already. Shame on them if they don't hire the BEST candidate for position they are trying to fill at BC. Like Keith I would like them to interview Turner Gill too. Not because he is a minority... because he is a good coach. I think it is more insulting to interview a minoritry candidate that you have no intention of hiring just to say that you did.
I don't care who they hire.Anyone is beter than Jags.He was living off O'brien's recruits anyway and his lack of recruiting would have caught up with him sooner than later.He knew this and was probably relieved he was let go!!
Frank Spaziani will be an excellent head coach. He deserves the job. Let's move on with some serious recruiting.
do the right thing. Hire the spaz.
all the others are pretending to want the bc job, but want to go "big time" somewhere else.
What is this minority candidate crap? Get the best coach. If he is black, hispanic,Chinese,Irish,Italian..get the best guy. I think it will be Spaziani myself.
Jags hated recruiting and it was going to cost B.C.
It's not the fact that they are "breaching the sanctity of a contract", the issue is weather they sough permission from the coaches' employer. That was the crux of the Jags issue...
What the negative anti-BC posters on here dont get is that Gene D. would insist on two things before he went after another school's coach: 1) Gene would notify the school's AD first and 2) The coach would get permission to have the discussion. Neither of those things happened with Jags according to reports; the Jets never asked for permission and neither did Jags. So Gene believed Jags was going behind his back while he was under contract. That was the issue. If Jags had asked first, it all would have been worked out.
joe021--I don't understand your comment. Mike London, who was an assistant football coach at BC, is Black.
Turner Gill
I hate BC....... what a bunch of pompous maroon stained underwear sniffing self important bags of crap .. Gene DeFilippo you get what you sow
How dare you questions the Eagles (and their Jesuit tradition!!)
They can break their word and contract with the Big East if it is in "their best interest", but Jags was out of line and obviously of questionable ethics...
Now they are interviewing the ECU and Richmond coaches???...BOTH UNDER CONTRACT!! If these men would INTERVIEW for another job, they must be of questionable ethics as well..and not up to the vaulted BC standards.
Joe you are a typical Mass fruitcake. Affirmative action ,please. Who cares you interview the best candidates. And BTW, London is Black so there goes your rridiculous point!
Turner Gill just took a contract extension. Spaz is the right & logical choice.!
Holtz would be a big mistake. No way he stays long-term. And as much as his Dad cannot hide his disdain for BC, I am sure Skip would be just as bad. Plus, wasn't he at UConn? Are there two schools that hate BC more than ND and UConn?
And Joe021 (Post 1) - if BC were to interview a minority candidate with no intention of hiring him, that would be the real shame. They should interview coaches in whom they are interested, regardless of race. I am not saying they are not, or should not be, interested in a minority candidate, but don't do an interview to put on a show.
Spaz deserves the job and should be given a chance.
Why would you hire the current ECU coach, when you have the most successful ECU coach on your staff and he is responsible for your high powered offense? Pirate Fan has it right. Skip Holtz has his eye on ND. BC would be a stop along the way for him. Logan stayed ten years at ECU, and to Josh who claims no one had ever heard of ECU before Holtz got there (I had to laugh at that one), Logan was beating teams like Miami and Va Tech and winning bowl games. It is undeniable that Holtz has done an outstanding job at ECU, but it is also undeniable that some of the talent he is bringing in is due to connections his dad has. Logan had a long tenure at ECU and would no doubt that he would do the same at BC. Unfortunately, I think he may not be getting the proper attention because some of the other coaches there who are less accomplished, have better connections in the booster club. Logan's connection with Jags is probably a negative as well. However, what is a positive about Logan is that he is the most able to keep the program progressing on its current course.
If BC asks permission from the employer and the employer says yes, that is a big difference than a coach setting something up and then lying about it. The employer has every right to say "No" and if they do and BC still conducts an interview, then that is a major breach of ethics. If you read the article, Urban Meyer is encouraging BC to talk with his employee.
Bottom line is that if they hire anyone besides Spaz or Bicknell, there is no guarantee they will get the longevity they want.
Lets see... BC fires their coach for interviewing while under contract. (i.e., they don't want to retain a coach that is always looking for that "better deal"). Yet, they interiview with individuals that are under contract that are essentually looking for that better deal. Go figure.
I second the Turner Gill suggestion. He's a winner. The only problem is that I think he just signed an extension.
Holtz is a year away from taking the ND job when cheeseburger collapses on the sideline with a heart attack after the next toilet bowl is over and all of his juniors and seniors commit to the draft.
So it is ok to hire someone else under contract but when one of your own looks outside, you fire him???? Shame on you Deflippio.
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