BOSTON COLLEGE FOOTBALL: STEVE ADDAZIO LEAVE PLEASE
Boston College head coach Steve Addazio marched his football team into Notre Dame Stadium this past Saturday and was absolutely annihilated 40-7 by #15 ranked Notre Dame. The lingering stench of embarrassment was so palpable in the aftermath of the loss, a worthwhile size of Boston College alum and supporters took notice.
One of the most memorable groups of men ever assembled in music “Boys to Men” crooned out conceivably one of the greatest songs ever “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye”. Well if you surveyed Boston College alumni regarding their current head football coach, their rebuttal to this tune would be..not really!
This past weekend former Boston College athletes, boosters, proud alumni, and even casual fans begin to voice publicly all of the chatter discussed privately at the forefront as to why such lackluster performance by their football team. Almost unanimous one name constantly surfaced…Steve Addazio!
Eerily in hindsight when coach Addazio was initially hired as the head coach at Boston College on December 4th, 2012 from Temple University, immediately at BC there were rumblings of how difficult Addazio was to work with, by a few administrative staffers whom I knew. However, I did not put much stock in it regarding that narrative strictly based on coach Addazio is there to win football games, not friends. Nonetheless, after a couple of run-of-the-mill seasons of 7-6 records on the gridiron, I started to hear players who were post-graduates speak very dismissively and unsatisfactory about coach Addazio’s inability to authentically motivate the group.
Again, I brushed that perspective off until a gaggle of long-time BC alumni sought me out at events and expressed their concerns about the trajectory of the football team. Additionally, they shared a mouthful of how they were hearing growing rumbles from their resources about how coach Addazio is not a “BC guy”. Even most recently I spoke to a plethora of current players who were scared to speak candidly about their coach and the more courageous ones did not have a lot of good things to say.
As a former wide receiver and punt returner at Boston College who caught 95 receptions for 1,454 yards (15.3 avg. yards per catch) scored 16 touchdowns, including 2 game-winning touchdowns against Notre Dame both at Alumni Stadium as well as Notre Dame Stadium. I enjoyed the good fortune along with my teammates from 1999-2003 to earn 4 consecutive bowl appearances under then head coach Tom O’Brien. So as a proud BC alum I elected to remain hopeful that things would get better.
I recall when high school Phenom quarterback Brian St. Pierre out of St. John’s Prep committed to Boston College when he and I visited Syracuse. He was a major reason why I committed when I asked him why BC? He said he wanted to restore Boston College’s name and get local kids excited about BC. I was sold and immediately wanted to join him in that mission as a kid from Roxbury, MA who played football at the football factory of Brockton High School aka “City of Champions”. Rest in Peace to the legend himself Head Coach Armond Columbo. Mr. Columbo is one of my football heroes along with New England Patriot’s Head Coach Bill Belichick.
However, I am saddened ultimately what the group of alumni was reporting at that moment served as a cautionary forecast of what lied ahead. One thing I know for sure about longtime proud BC alumni is they despise losing to Notre Dame!! As one told me back in 2001 on the Thursday leading up to the then-Saturday showdown was “I do not care if BC goes 1-11 for the season as long as we beat ND)! With that said I speak very comfortably when I declare what transpired this past weekend in Notre Dame is absolutely unacceptable and you can bet your bottom dollar an unspeakable amount of others share the same sentiment.
Tim Hasselbeck to Jamal Burke vs ND 1999
Since Steve Addazio entered the building he has amassed an unpleasant 43-44 overall record and a distasteful in conference 21-34 scorecard. Two worthwhile questions that have surfaced amongst the chitchat circulating are why did coach Addazio’s contract get extended? Who hired him from Temple University? Well, the first question in short just exclusively off of a football justification is running back A.J. Dillion’s performance. Dillion is one of the best running backs in the nation and has exceeded all expectations from his first carry, his rapid dominance was rumored to have saved coach Addazio’s job. He is a future 1st round NFL Draft selection when he decides his time at Boston College is up.
With respects to who hired coach Addazio from Temple, in short, I do not know. But what I do know is they need to come to the front of the congregation and explain their reasoning. Why hire a guy who was a mediocre 13-11 in two seasons at Temple University before arriving at BC? What was the attraction? What I do know for sure is coach Addazio benefitted off former Boston College linebacker coach and Temple University Head Coach Al Golden’s players he recruited at Temple before he left to be the Head Coach at the University of Miami Hurricanes. I know firsthand how exceptional of a job coach Golden is at recruiting players.
As arguably the greatest performer in music today Chris Brown, professed on his smash hit record “There Is Never a Right Time to Say Goodbye” from Brown’s self-entitled album “Chris Brown”. A legion of BC alumni, as well as myself, beg to differ. This offseason may not be a perfect time given the holiday season but it may be the right time. After 7 long seasons and 87 games in which you only won 43 games (.494) is NOT the BC standard. Even the addition of the ability for fans to purchase wine and beer in the stadium cannot alleviate the agony watching countless defeats in those cushy seats.
Winning 43 games is like a 40-degree day. Even Stringer Bell from “The Wire” said, “No one remembers a 40-degree day”. Coach Addazio unequivocally is a football guy and deserves to be a head coach at the collegiate level or a coach at the professional level, but at this time it just is not working out at Boston College.
How do you feel about Boston College HC, Steve Addazio? Leave a comment below.
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