Headlines: The Crazy Offseason of 2009 Has Come Full Circle

Brian: We have certainly come full circle, that's for sure. Two days before the Eagles kick off the 2009 season, Jeff Jagodzinski is again looking for work:

The Buccaneers announced today that they have dismissed Offensive Coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski.

Quarterbacks Coach Greg Olson has been promoted to offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach.

Jagodzinski was named the Buccaneers offensive coordinator on January 29, 2009. He came to Tampa Bay after two years (2007-2008) as the head coach at Boston College. Prior to his stint at Boston College, Jagodzinski served as the offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers in 2006 and spent the two seasons (2004-2005) prior to that on the staff of the Atlanta Falcons.

Olson joined the Buccaneers as quarterbacks coach in 2008 and was retained when the team promoted Raheem Morris to head coach. Olson previously served as the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions in 2005 and the St. Louis Rams from 2006-07. He has also previously served as the quarterbacks coach for the Lions, Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers.

Head Coach Raheem Morris was set to address these moves at a press conference at One Buccaneer Place at 12:00 p.m. ET. That press conference will be carried live on Buccaneers.com.

Jagodzinski released the following statement:

“I am certainly disappointed but I wish nothing but the best for Raheem Morris and the entire Buccaneer organization. I was given the chance to remain on staff as the quarterbacks coach, but felt that the timing for such a move was not in the best interest for either side. I appreciate the opportunity that was given to me. Again, I wish nothing but the best for this organization."

Apparently, Jags and quarterback coach Greg Olson disagreed with who the starting Buccanneers QB should be. Instead of making an Olson-for-Jagodzinski-switcharoo for the Bucs offensive coordinator and quarterback coach positions, Jags preferred to bow out. Now Olson has Jags' job and Jags is out of work.

While I won't be dancing on the flaming wreckage that is Jags' football coaching career and wish him nothing but the best, I do find this a tad bit ... ironic?

Round and Round Goes the Coaching Carousel and the Big Finish

Brian:  Two BC coaches landed in new positions on Thursday.  Bill McGovern has been named the new defensive coordinator of the Eagles, promoted by HC Frank Spaziani after 9 seasons as linebacker coach.  Jeff Jagodzinski lands with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their new offensive coordinator.  Spaziani still has his work cut out for him though.  He still has to hire a linebackers coach, a tight end/special teams coach and an offensive line coach.  Your thoughts on the latest go-round on the coaching carousel?

Jeff: Eh. Whatever.  I am happy for McGovern. As I'm sure you remember we randomly had a lengthy conversation with his wife during the 2007 season so I feel more of a connection with him than other BC coaches. Is it what is best for the program? I honestly don't know.  I have no objections to this particular hire but I am still not thrilled with the coaching changes as a whole this off-season.

Brian: McGovern does come from my mom's hometown - Oradell, NJ - and should continue to help the Eagles recruiting efforts in northern New Jersey.  Linebackers DiSanzo and Toal were recruited out of Don Bosco Prep.

Turning to the offensive side of the ball, with the hire of Gary Tranquill as offensive coordinator, does Ryan Day stay with the Eagles?

Jeff: I would think he'll stay. Tranquill can't be around too long.  And when did every BC assistant coach become such a hot commodity that they can just pick up and leave without a job waiting for them?

Brian:  Way too early, but make a prediction.  Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons will play Coach Jagodzinski and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers two times next year.  How does the season series go down?

Jeff: Falcons win both, 2-0.


Big Finish

Jeff:  The baseball team was picked to finish 5th of 6th in the Atlantic Division this season in the ACC Baseball Coaches poll, ahead of only Maryland.  Progress?

Brian:  Woooo!  Well, not really.  Last season we finished DFL with Maryland in the Atlantic Division standings (9-21-0), so winning 1 more game than Maryland this season doesn't sound like much progress to me.


Brian:  The Brighton task force charged with reviewing B.C.'s expansion plan has done an about-face and approved the part of the proposal that allows the school to build an 150-student dorm on the Archdiocese property.  However, the advisory group deep sixed plans to build an additional 350-student dorm on the Brighton Campus and told them to house those students on Main Campus.  You surprised?

Jeff: I've never understood Brighton being anti-BC so nothing they do will surprise me.


Jeff:  Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin skated with Jerry York and the Eagles on Monday.  Will Ovechkin rub off on the Eagles enough to get them past Northeastern in the first round of the Beanpot?

Brian: I hope the Eagles can knock off Northeastern, but it is going to be tough this year. This isn't your older brother's Northeastern hockey squad.


Brian:  BC goes for their fourth straight ACC hoops win tomorrow night as they host the Virginia Tech Hokies.  The Hokies knocked off the Eagles 79-71 in Blacksburg less than 2 weeks ago.  Make a prediction for the game. 

Jeff: I really want to see a BC win but losing to Virginia Tech is a very real possibility.  VT has a strong team.  I'll preface my prediction with an assumption that there is a large student student tomorrow night.  If the crowd is energized, I predict an Eagles victory.


Jeff:  Ex-Eagle netminder Scott Clemmensen is getting plenty of pub these days.  First he was named Hockey East's All-Time Unsung Hero, then he got the same treatment in USA Today for his homecoming as the Devils traveled to Boston last night and knocked off the Bruins in OT 4-3.  But what will become of Clem when Brodeur comes back for the Devils in a few weeks?  

Brian:  I'm not really sure. Brodeur is already 36 years old and will be 37 before the 2009-2010 season. Clemmensen could stay on with the Devils as a "goalie-in-waiting" (a la Matt Cassell and the Patriots), but just like Brodeur he is getting up there in age and could easily parlay his Devils hot streak to a starting job somewhere else. Clemmensen is 15-7, with a 2.21 goals against average, and a .924 save percentage since replacing Brodeur and backup Kevin Weekes!


Brian:  Boston College nominated UFood Grill as the "Best Healthy Lunch" in this year's Top of the Heights contest.  You ever eaten at a UFood Grill, Jeff?  (Seriously ... it's quite delicious!)

Jeff: No. You know as well as anyone that I don't eat anywhere that claims to have healthy entrees.


Jeff: Last one, Super Bowl this weekend. Who you rooting for and who wins?

Brian: Since I don't particularly follow either team, I'll cheer for the Arizona Cardinals and BC alum Brian St. Pierre and Patrick Ross. And if there is one thing I have learned over the years, it is to never count out Kurt Warner. Arizona 28, Pittsburgh 22.

Leave your Super Bowl predictions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the big game and good luck to all the Eagles teams in action this weekend.

Brian's Somewhat Delayed Reaction to Spaziani Hire

At first, like Jeff, I was really disappointed. I felt that Spaziani was the wrong choice to lead this program to the next level: winning an ACC Championship. Now that I've had time to think about it, I'm still disappointed. I'm just not sure who I should be disappointed with.

A couple of highly erratic, not-very-organized thoughts on the matter ...

The Herald article: "DeFilippo’s need to make a quick hire was obvious. With BC in the midst of its recruiting period, any confusion over the school’s direction was going to hurt."

Really?? Gene's need to make a quick hire was obvious. OK. Then why did it take him 6 days to promote a guy he was ready to slap the interim label on the day he fired Jagodzinski? Gene could have given Jags the ultimate F off by promoting Spaziani on the spot if he felt he was ready to take on the position. I feel DeFilippo miscalculated multiple steps along the way in handling both the Jags firing, this 6 day coaching search and a delayed promotion of Spaziani.


Age. Rob Daniels of the ACC Sports Journal takes a look at the age at which ACC head football coaches were hired over the years. At age 61, Spaziani is the oldest head coaching hire in the ACC ever. Like Jeff, this doesn't bother me all that much. What does bother me was all this talk of "Boston College isn't a college football head coaching final destination." As I've stated before on the blog, this statement is extremely relative. Was Oklahoma a final destination job between Stoops and Switzer? No. How about Virginia Tech pre Beamer? The head boss at Southern Cal before Carroll only lasted three seasons after posting a 19-18 record. He was bought out for $800,000.

My point is that if Gene wanted coaches to stay at Boston College until the end of time, he needed to hire a head coach that would make Chestnut Hill a destination-type position. At age 61, Spaziani simply cannot become that type of coach. Yes, he played for Joe Paterno at Penn State and JoePa set him up with his first coaching positions. And yes, he stated today that he wants to be at Boston College for the next 12 years. But the days of the Joe Paternos and Bobby Bowdens of the college football world are numbered. Do I expect Spaziani to be coaching at the Heights at age 73? Highly unlikely.

That being said, maybe this hire will work out for everyone as Spaziani serves as a steward of the program for the next 5-7 years, serving as a bridge coach until some former Eagles retire from the NFL and come back to B.C. to coach. Hey, if Bill Romanowski can develop a multi-slide PowerPoint presentation about how he wants to coach the Denver Broncos, can you imagine what he could whip up for the BC head coaching position?

Can you imagine the future BJ Rajis and Ron Braces downing protein shakes at halftime? BEAST MODE!


Leverage. Spaziani isn't going anywhere in the next five years. Even if the anti-Spaz camp is right and this program takes a Syracuse-sized downturn, Spaziani will serve out his 5 years and go quietly. Gene now has no leverage to fire Spaz after this whole Jags ordeal. I'll give you that this would have been a characteristic of any new deal given to a coach, but I think Spaziani's age compounds the issue. Can we say age-discrimination lawsuit, anyone?

Another misstep from Gene.


Track record. Yes, defense wins championships. The flipside? Defense can lose games. I have to look no further to last year's Maryland game as exhibit 1A that sometimes Spaz's defenses simply didn't come to play. Also, with our brief stint in the ACC, it seems like offensive guru Ralph Friedgen and Wake Forest's head coach Jim Grobe (going even further back to when we played Wake out of conference) has somewhat exposed Spaz-led defenses over the years. While we have never lost to both Wake and Maryland in the same year while in the ACC, if we struggle against both those teams and lose, it will be a huge stretch to win the Division.


Recruiting. Boston College has developed a great deal of talent on the defensive side of the ball since Spaziani took the helm. Silva, Raji, Brace, Dunbar, Tribble, Herzlich, Toal ... and yes, Spaziani was able to successfully coach them up to their potential (and sometimes above and beyond their potential). But how many of those guys to Spaz actively recruit? Any of them? Maybe Jags did suck at recruiting, or didn't like it, or whatever. We'll certainly find out over the next few years. But will Spaz be any better at recruiting?


Offense and Special Teams. Two years ago I applauded the Jagodzinski hire because I thought it was clear we needed a change of direction on offense. We had a rising senior quarterback (Ryan) and two more than capable senior backs (Callendar and Whitworth) and the TOB/Dana Bible master plan wasn't working. Enter Jags/Logan and while the offensive line struggled, we rode Matt Ryan's arm to an 11-3 record. Spaz stayed on and provided two seasons of great defenses.

Fast forward two years later, we have an upcoming quarterback competition between redshirt sophomore Dominique Davis and redshirt freshman Justin Tuggle, two capable underclassmen in the backfield, and a young receiving corps. Some of these guys were recruited to play in a Jagodzinski/Logan offense. If Logan bolts (I'm not so sure its a given as other people are suggesting), what type of offense will we run? Will the two years of Jags recruits fit the system? Will our offense be ANY good?

All fair questions for 2009 and beyond.

Counter-argument: Virginia Tech was able to win the ACC two years in a row with an offense ranked >100+ nationally.

Also, I think its funny that guys like Herzlich and McLaughlin have been so vocal about the Spaz hire, yet we haven't heard many - if any - sound bytes from any of the players on offense. This one from Rich Gunnell is the first reaction of any kind I've heard from an offensive player.


In summary,

Am I disappointed in the hire? A little.
Do I think the sky is falling? No.
Will I rally around our new head coach and give him the benefit of the doubt? Certainly.
Should we institute the Superfan terrible towel in the stands of Alumni with a big caricature of the 'Stache man? Sure, why not.

AM I SEVERELY DISAPPOINTED WITH THE WAY GENE HALF-ASSED THIS WHOLE COACHING SEARCH? Absolutely!

While I would have preferred to hire an external candidate, to take this program to the next level, I welcome our new corporate overlords head coach. Best of luck Spaziani.

Go Eagles! Brian out.

Jeff's Initial Reaction to Spaziani Hire

Jeff: I am very disappointed in Gene, the athletic department, and Boston College today. If Frank Spaziani is the best choice for the job now, why was he not the best choice for the job a week ago, or two years ago? Spaz is starting to get up there in age which doesn't bother me too much ...

But what does bother me is that BC just paid Jeff Jagodzinski approximately $2 million to walk out the door and go find another job in the NFL or wherever he chooses. They did this seemingly because it is best for the program. If getting rid of Jags and promoting Spaz is best for BC, why did we bring Jagodzinski in in the first place? Why pay him to walk away? Why should I continue to support the program financially if money is going to be thrown around so carelessly in this tough economic time.

In the last two years, I have gone to both ACC Championship Games and sat in the most expensive seats that BC was selling to the game. Why? Why not just get extremely cheap scalper tickets? Because I wanted to support the program financially as well as emotionally. Well, I will continue to support the program in any way I can, but it will not be financially because clearly the football program does not need help in that way. I have been living in South Carolina for four years and have continued to purchase 3 season tickets in my name, but I will not do that anymore. When I go to games I will get extra tickets from friends, or buy tickets on eBay or stubhub for typically cheaper than face value. Gene has sent some messages in the past week and the one that I am getting loudest and clearest is that the football program does not need my couple hundred dollars for season ticket sales and an additional couple hundred for ACCCGs and bowl game tickets which they are required to purchase anyway. While I will continue to attend just as many games, I will go about purchasing tickets by whatever method is best and cheapest for me, without worrying about purchasing through the BC ticket office in 2009.

I hope Spaziani enjoys more success than Jags. I will certainly support him and the program, but as a fan, an alum, a Flynn Fund donor, and a season ticket holder, I will show my frustration with the program in my own way which will not be to not come out and support the players on Saturdays whenever I can.

Lessons Learned

Jeff: Alright Brian, now that the Gene-Jags coaching standoff has come to a close, what have we learned in these last three days?


1) Gene DeFilippo thought he had his man and feels betrayed

Brian: Makes sense. This was Gene's first head football coaching hire and he wanted it to last. Wanted to find that BC guy. As soon as he caught wind of Jags having cold feet at the altar, GDF went all vindictive, crazy bride on Jags' ass. I can't say I blame him, but the ultimatum that was leaked to the press was certainly unnecessary and handled poorly.


2) We might have the 109th ranked recruiting class this year

Brian: I'm going to come straight out and say I don't give a rats ass about saving this year's recruiting class if we can hire a guy like Charlie Strong to lead this team (100% agree with Brian Cook of mgoblog fame ... do it, Gene! Do it!).

Hiring Frank Spaziani would be short-term fix to save this season's recruiting class. The school would be much better off taking the hit this year (which odds are they are going to anyway) and hiring the right guy Gene is looking for. A guy that will turn this program into a college football destination school. And a guy that recruits better than any of the in-house candidates. Also, there must have been a reason Spaziani was passed over for the head job two years ago.


3) Gene made the correct decision to have a full coaching search; and will make the wrong decision if he decides to go internal

Brian: If Gene truly wants to find his man, he needs to look outside the program. Spaziani has been always a bridesmaid, never a bride. Plus he's 63 years old, not that this blog condones age discrimination or anything.

Advice for DeFilippo: hire young, hire enthusiastic, hire a college guy (and not a guy who has an NFL itch to scratch). The media not very close to the program (cough: Heather Dinich) think Spaziani is the right choice. I definitely don't agree with that.

Jeff: Spaz is not the guy long term. IF for some reason we cannot find a guy we want I have no problem hiring Spaziani and giving him a 2-3 year contract, but that's a big IF.


4) Recent football success at BC has clearly been profitable for the school

Jeff: Probably similar to the Flutie effect except we were already on a higher rung of the ladder. NO WAY BC fires a guy and pays him that kinda money if donations and such were not going well.

Brian: In other words, the decision to fire Jagodzinski appears to be recession proof OR several prominent boosters actually didn't mind if Jags was let go, and were willing to foot some of the bill for that. I actually don't think, after the ultimatum was leaked, that Gene had a choice but to pay up. Even if we don't have the money, he'll find a way to raise it.


5) (Verdict is still out on this, but) Gene DeFilippo is a hard person to work for

Brian: First we had Tom O'Brien, then Cathy Inglese, and now Jeff Jagodzinski. Is something in the water in Chestnut Hill? Does GDF really wield all the power on the Heights? Is he in general just an a-hole to work for? Who knows. I think the only reason we haven't had a run-in with either Al Skinner or Jerry York is that Gene loves those guys and generally they have free reign to do whatever they want with their programs?

Jeff: Like you said, the verdict is still out. TOB said as much after he left, but Jags hasn't said so yet and supposedly everything will be OK between the two of them.


6) Unless Herzlich pulls a Jags (what, too soon?), he will be back next season

Brian: As reported in the latest AP article on the situation.

But his [Jags] departure "really doesn't affect my decision" about whether to return for his senior season and play for his third coach in four years. [Herzlich] said he expects to announce this week that he will be back, cooling speculation he might enter the NFL draft.

Jagodzinski Out, Search On

Gene made it official in his 3 p.m. press conference. A sad day for the university and the Boston College football program.

Although I fear we may never figure out the whole story, I wish we could get to the root of the issue as to why Jagodzinski wanted out. As a fan and a season ticket holder, it would be nice to understand the motivation on both sides. Is there something more deeply flawed in Chestnut Hill? Or did Coach Jags simply wake up one morning and decide college coaching wasn't for him?

I refuse to take sides on this issue. I'm merely hurt by the end result.

So thanks Coach Jags for two great seasons of Boston College football. Regardless of this misstep and how he handled the situation, it would be unfair in my opinion to throw him under the bus.

Jags provided a jolt of excitement into the program, and our accomplishments over the past two seasons speak for themselves. A 20-8 record (11-3 in 2006, 9-5 in 2007), back-to-back ACC Atlantic Division crowns, a No. 3 NFL draft pick, a Top 10 final ranking last season (and as high as No. 2 during the season), and some nifty dance moves - all while the program continued to graduate players at a high rate.

This program will move forward.

Let the coaching search begin ...

Hark, An Announcement!

A Boston College press conference will be held at 3 p.m. today, according to ESPN.com's Heather Dinich. Gene will be the only person at the press conference.

Stay tuned.

Why Sign a Contract?... JAG-UD-ZIN-SKE?

Jeff: Dan Shaughnessy writes this article in the Globe taking Gene's side and pointing to the fact that players and coaches in sports all too often get away with not fulfilling contract obligations.

He makes some good points as have a lot of people in the sports world over the last 60 hours, but he is clearly in the Athletic Director's corner which is extreme. Given the little bit of factual information we have up until this point there is no way to stand solely by the Boston College Coach or the Athletic Director. Both clearly made mistakes somewhere along the way.

The biggest suprise in all of this might be TV and radio sports commentators difficulty pronouncing Jagodzinski.

The biggest loser in all of this I believe may turn out to be the BC basketball team which pulled off one of its greatest victories of ALL TIME on Sunday night and was all but forgotten about within an hour of the game ending because of this mess. Al Skinner and his team will never get that time for local and national media recognition back while the football program, strange as it sounds, still has a chance to be better off when all is said and done.

Brian: This whole situation is crazy, yet it reminds me of a scene from Jurassic Park (a much better book than a movie, by the way). In this scene, the eccentric mathematician Ian Malcolm - played by Jeff Goldbloom - tries to rationally explain how the characters have gotten to the point where dinosaurs are freely running around the island:

Ian Malcolm: God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs.

Ellie Sattler: Dinosaurs eat man... woman inherits the earth.

Seems fitting for this situation ...

Ian Malcolm: Gene creates TOB. Gene destroys TOB. Gene creates Jags. Jags destroys Gene. Jags flirts with Jets.

Ellie Sattler: Jets make Jags commit football coaching career suicide ... Spaz inherits the program.

Sources: BC To Fire Jagodzinski

Steve Conroy of the Herald reports that sources confirm that Jagodzinski did interview with the Jets today. The New York Times also reports that Jags interviewed for the head coaching vacancy, citing an anonymous team official.

And now, we wait ... What is needed here is a good ol' fashioned sit down. DeFilippo would like to have a face-to-face meeting with Jagodzinski to discuss the situation, a meeting that could take place as early as Wednesday.

ESPN's Joe Schad was told by two sources that Jagodzinski would not be retained by the school.

Also in that article is this interesting tidbit:

Sources told the Globe that Jagodzinski has made multiple inquiries into returning to the NFL, where he was a coach for the eight seasons before taking over the head coaching job at BC. The newspaper reported that Jagodzinski has put out feelers for offensive coordinator positions as well as head coaching spots.

Possible landing spots include the New York Jets head coaching position - where Jags appears to be a long shot - and the open Offensive Coordinator position with the Seattle Seahawks. Jags has ties to both Seattle's starting quarterback and BC Guy Matt Hasselbeck and has worked as an assistant under coach Jim Mora.

Heather Dinich writes that regardless of how this situation plays out, Boston College again needs a change of direction.

Day Three: BC AD Coach Standoff

Brian: No news. Certainly no news is NOT good news, as the longer this situation drags out, the messier it becomes. And sports writers and pundits are coming out of the woodwork with opinions on the matter. The Globe's Bob Ryan is one of those sports writers, understanding Gene's position ...

"A school like BC, which does not have the kind of ancient football tradition or residual fan base to open its doors and assume that great football players will pour through them just because, needs continuity to have a successful program. DeFilippo doesn't think that allowing a coach to go interviewing two years into a five-year contract is good for recruiting."

but openly questioning whether "Gene DeFilippo really thought Coach Jags had gotten the NFL out of his system?"

Michael Wilbon on PTI yesterday questioned when "Boston College fell asleep and woke up thinking they are Southern Cal." I get the point, but am I then to assume Southern Cal can get away with some baseless AD ultimatum of Pete Carroll? I don't think so ...

Another thing that bothers me. Yes, Boston College football is not a final destination job. But what college coaching job IS a final destination job these days? The days of Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden are over. The revolving door of college football coaches is beginning to compare to that of the NHL, where NHL coaches on first place teams are fired midseason just for the hell of it. It's insane.

Gerry Callahan of the Herald opines about Jags motivation in all this: "Maybe it was the recruiting process or maybe it was the admissions standards. Maybe it was the athletic director or maybe it was a combination of all of the above. Maybe he feels he doesn’t have a quarterback at BC, which begs the question: Do you see one on the Jets?"

OK. Now you can certainly question Jags motivation but if fans and alumni start connecting the dots to paint the Jags era of BC football unsuccessful based on poor recruiting or whatever, that's crazy. I like Jags. No one expected us to do anything in the ACC this year and we (yet again) won the Atlantic Division. Yes, we won with some of Tom O'Brien's players, but we also won with guys Jagodzinski recruited (Haden and Harris starting in the backfield, a retooled secondary, etc.). He has done a good job at this school and if this is the end, then I'll get in line to thank him for two great years of BC football.

And here's what the two Boston newspaper reporters had to say:

Steve Conroy of the Herald says Boston College officials are still in a holding pattern ...

Mark Blaudschun of the Globe says the Eagles feathers have been ruffled ...

Jeff, what do you make of all this?

Jeff: I don't honestly think Gene thought Jags would never go to the NFL if he had the opportunity. He just didn't expect it to be this soon. Also, the coaches typically approached by the NFL are those who won BCS bowl games, not those who went 1-1 in third tier bowls. Had we won the Orange Bowl maybe Gene would've been more understanding.

Also, in this case I think no news is good news. Hopefully Jags will be back. Finally, any publicity is good publicity.

A Mildly Informative Update from ESPN

Brian: A mildly informative update on the coaching situation from ESPN.com. Lots of past tense verbs sprinkled in there. Not good, but then again, we knew this wasn't going to end well.

"Jeff is a very good man and an excellent football coach," DeFilippo said. "He did a wonderful job for us while he was here at BC. I wish Jeff would not take this interview and would remain as head coach at BC."


DeFilippo would not discuss the specifics of Jagodzinski's contract but did say the two had a mutual understanding when Jagodzinski took the BC job just a little more than two years ago that he would be Eagles coach beyond the 2008 season.

"We certainly expected it would be more than two years before he would look or accept an interview [with another team]," DeFilippo said. "All contracts are different, as well as the spirit and intent of the contract."


If Jagodzinski is fired, a source told ESPN.com's Pat Forde that Boston College will consider three in-house candidates to replace him as head coach -- offensive coordinator Steve Logan, defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani and offensive line/assistant head coach Jack Bicknell.

Choosing Sides

Brian: I'm depressed. I feel like I'm caught in the middle of deciding which parent to side with in a divorce.* Eagle in Atlanta is firmly in the Jags camp (correction) ATL is on Team BC, but remains critical of Gene's involvement in this issue.

Jeff, what side of the fence do you come down on in this J-A-G-S Jags Jags Jags debacle?

Jeff: I wish one of the parents would hold a press conference so I could more easily decide. Right now though I am on GDFs side. I know it sounds like he might have overreacted and cost us a coach, but Jags has only been around for 2 years and is thinking about bigger and better things. GDF has been doing great things for BC athletics for a lot longer than that so I am giving him the benefit of the doubt until anything more info surfaces.

Brian: Yes, communication is key here. Sounds like GDF was caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, if Jags interviews for the Jets, I see the Athletic Program's fear of losing out on recruits in what appears to be a lackluster recruiting season. How could the program keep kids when the perception is that Jags is just looking for the next head coaching job in the pros? Now while great college coaches like Pete Carroll and Bob Stoops get annual ego strokes when their names come up for NFL head coaching vacancies, there is a difference between listening/thinking about the offers and interviewing. Stoops usually listens, hears the opportunity, politely declines to interview and walks away with an even more inflated ego.

On the other hand, I do not blame Jags for testing the waters of the NFL job market. He is an NFL guy and no one could honestly look me in the face and say Boston College is a final destination job.

Regardless of the outcome, this is going to end badly and not be good for the program in the short term.

Jeff: Head coach of the Jets is certainly a move up compared to the lateral move of say head coach at NC State. However, some reports are that there was a 3 year guarantee in his contract before he could go looking. If that is true, I stand by GDF. Also, this is ugly now but if Jags is fired and Logan is promoted all before the end of the day I think everything will work out.


* Team GDF and Team Jags shirts sold separately

Headlines: Jagodzinski Out? Rollercoaster Sunday

Jeff: Brian, we only know what everyone is reading on the ESPN bottom line. Gene told Jags that he is fired if he interviews with the Jets and will be replaced by Steve Logan. Jags is planning on interviewing today. You said it best to me last night, couldn't we celebrate the BC basketball victory for like 5 minutes? What do you expect to go down today? How do you feel about it?

Brian: The short answer is we really don't know how this is going to down, but my guess is that it is going to end with Jags out and Logan as the new head coach. It's unfortunate and it is certainly not the press we need at this point in the program, but I just don't see how the two sides can reconcile at this point.

Jeff: It's ugly and perhaps it is more GDFs fault than Jags because you can't really blame Jags for interviewing for an NFL head coaching job, but I am very glad that Gene is quickly stopping the bleeding from his own stab wound by naming Logan as his successor. Logan has head coaching experience and he would be likely to leave if a new HC were brought in while Spaz is likely to continue on as DC just as he stayed when TOB left. This is probably the best move to keep this year's recruits and for the future of Boston College given the circumstances.

Brian: We'll use this post to add updates as we learn more about the situation.


UPDATES
Because of the ill will generated from these events, Jags is likely out. (Boston Herald)

Have you ever heard of a college athletic department making such a threat to a coach? (New York Times)

Spaziani, not Logan, deserves a shot. (ESPN.com's Heather Dinich)

How did this happen? and Coaching candidates (Eagle in Atlanta)

There is a clause in his contract that stipulates he would not leave the school for an NFL job until completing at least three seasons with the Eagles. (NECN)

Eagle football program in turmoil. (Boston Globe's Mark Blaudschun)