The two biggest criticisms of Boston College Coach Frank Spaziani after the loss to Army on Saturday was that Spaziani didn’t work hard enough, didn’t know how to coach and should have been fired immediately after he got off the bus when the team arrived back at The Heights on Saturday night.
And that Spaziani should be ashamed of himself for “throwing his players under the bus” when he suggested that the breakdowns were because of lack of execution, rather than preparation.
Both criticisms are ridiculous. Here’s why.
Let’s start with the coaching aspect.
BC was beaten by Army team that ran all over the Eagles’ defense. The poop you heard was that since Army was a one-dimensional team, even the coach of a Pop Warner level team would be able to stack the defense against a team that didn’t pass.
Listen to the words of BC middle linebacker Nick Clancy after the game.
“We knew what our assignments were on defense, but we just didn’t execute them,” said Clancy. “We knew what we had to do and we didn’t do our job well.”
This was Spaziani’s “throwing his players under the bus” comment. “It’s not like they (Army) did anything we weren’t ready for,” said Spaziani. “We just didn’t execute on plays.”
Some critics have the perception that Spaziani strolls into his office around noon, leaves around four and plays video games while he is work.
Spaziani’s day begins at around 5:30 a.m. in the office and he doesn’t leave until after dark. The coaching staff worked on preparing for the Army offense. They ran option play after option play during practice.
The coaches, led by defensive coordinator Billy McGovern, explained what the options for the QB on the pitch were. They had the LBS’s and the DBs in position. They told the players what was coming before the plays were run. They studied tapes of all of Army’s previous games
Poor coaching?. Lack of preparation?
Bull.
Consider this example.
You move into a new home, which is a five-minute walk from work. You tell the real estate broker who sold you the house how convenient it will be for you to be able to walk to work each day.
He or she tells you that is great, but there is one quirk about the location. Every day at 8:30, it rains for about 10 minutes on the route the new buyer is going to walk to work. He shows you weather patterns from the past 4 months, where it has rained every day. He shows tapes of the past week with a time frame that show it raining at 8:30. You are told that you can either bring rain gear or leave 10 minutes earlier or later.
The next day, you leave your new house at 8:30 with no umbrella, no rain coat. You walk for about a minute and it starts to rain and you are soaked.
So do you call for the weatherman to be fired? Do you yell at the real estate broker for selling you a bad house.
Please.
BC was prepared for Army. They knew the plays before the plays were run.
Bad coaching?
And as for the charge of throwing players under the bus?
These are not kids in kindergarten. Many of them already have their degrees and are only months away from the real world where there will be far worse things tossed at them than a few words of criticism.
Now if you want to criticize the coaching staff for the conservative play calling (three straight runs by Andre Williams), if you want to yell at them for the breakdown which caused a delay of game call in that final series which forced punter Gerald Levano to take a few steps further back in his own end zone, fair enough. Those are valid.
But not working hard enough. Bad coaching preparation?
That’s pure BS.
The problem that BC has right now is not hard to fathom. It is not good enough to win while making mistakes. Not against Clemson. Not against Army.
You can argue about why BC is not getting better players and talk about the lack of recruiting skills by Spaziani. But it is not that simple. BC has quality players, recruited by Spaziani–anyone remember a linebacker named Luke Kuechly, who was recruited by Spaziani’s staff?
Chase Rettig? Alex Amidon? Those are ACC-BCS quality players. There is talent in the pipe line, on campus now. Maybe not enough.
BC faced Army without three starters, including two defensive linemen and a linebacker, which is the heart of the run-defense. The back-ups used were not experienced enough or good enough to stop plays they knew were coming.
The die has been cast about Spaziani’s future. It is a numbers game now. BC needs to win 7 or 8 games this season. The over under on the total number of wins this season is probably about 3.
So get a grip. Stop the yelling, stop foaming at the mouth and let the season play itself out with a new athletic director and probably a new football coach.
With the right people running the show, it will get fixed. And if BC does start to fashion a miracle by beating Florida State on Saturday and goes on a run which does produce 7 or 8 wins, Frank Spaziani will still be the same coach, doing the same things.
© Copyright 2012 Mark, All rights Reserved. Written For: A Jersey Guy
My biggest disappointment with the recruiting the past two years is that BC has not been able to land the 4 or 5 star Mass. kids…..have to keep these kids home.
valid criticism, although im not sure how many 4 or 5 star kids come out of mass and if they are that good, can they get into BC or would they want to come if michigan or alabama or usc is going after them.
This is where a coach can make a difference by explaining to these kids that they can be the foundation of building a strong, local college football team in front of their families and friends.
You make good points
I said it before but you didn’t approve my comment. the fact that Spaz has been working hard for 4 years to get to this point is even more damning to your “friend.”
We get it — you still want Spaz to talk to you when you stroll into the football offices. So yeah, he gets up early and he works hard, blah blah blah. Last I knew, he gets paid at least a million dollars per year. He should “work hard”. So what’s your point? That fans who pay money and want to see a program worthy of its BCS affiliation aren’t allowed to complain or vent? So what if their criticism is a bit misguided? Instead of throwing out slop like this article, why don’t you think about what has transpired with this program to put it in a position to lose to Army and become the laughingstock of the east coast?
At least these articles are no longer in The Boston Globe, where your illogical and juvenile ramblings were afforded a sense of legitimacy. Now, your “analysis” resides where it belongs – in a dark corner of the internet, where it’s really not wasting anyone’s time.
It is what it is, right?
Didn’t hear from you yesterday when i did point out the things that BC didn’t do right. Interesting.
lol you are pathetic.
If BC “was prepared” for Army then they “just weren’t good enough” to beat one of the worst teams in the nation.
Both “preparedness” and “talent level” are both Spaz fault.
Seriously, enough with this pathetic defense of the coach because he is your “friend.” I have plenty of friends who can tell them they are stupid if they do something stupid, or make critical remarks to them when they say something incorrect. They fact that you have to come to the defense of one of the worst head coaches in BC football history because he is your “friend” is pathetic. The fact that you think you have to call out people who want Spaz fired because of his terrible track record because he is your “friend” is embarrassing.
No wonder you no longer work for a legit paper.
Its interesting. I post a story that says spaz is going to get fired and list all the things that went wrong on saturday and not a word from you. I post something where I defend spaz on some of the criticism and you go wild. Is your nick name One way.
We’re not allowed to comment on articles if we disagree with one point of view if we don’t comment on articles that take the other point of view?
Put the comment approvals back on if you’re going to get thin-skinned about this.
You’re a joke. Do some fact checking – BC didn’t have a bye last week, sparky.
you are right. my bad. I screwed up. thanks for the tip.
I was disappointed when Spaz got the HC job but understood the logic. I was on the hope for the best side of it. Spaz was a solid DC and had done a good job recruiting defensive talent over the years.
But from the get go Spaz has seemed in over his head. His handling of the OC position was a disaster, he has struggled to communicate well and market the program and his inability to recruit has doomed his future as HC. I think he loves the school and really wanted the job but in the end he just didn’t get the job done and its time for everyone involved for him to move on.
I’m curious as someone who knows him and obviously likes him why do you think things went the way they did at BC?
Combination of things. Injuries, atttitudes, mistakes in staffing at the start. bad luck.
Mark – I do appreciate the fact that you dedicate this much of your site to BC athletics but your defending of Spaz is overboard. Look at this reply above for what has gone wrong: 3 out of 4 reasons are not attributable to Spaz. Come on now, it is his program and he has flopped, there are no two ways around it. Injuries? Attitudes? Spaz’ attitude or more player blame? Bad luck? Isn’t that part of injuries? I am honestly disappointed in your defense of this guy. He really does stink as a head coach and there is no denying that. Why did his first head coaching job come at age 62??????? He really does need to be sacked today and not let the season play out because you cannot seriously believe he can salvage this season. One last thing on the execution: one time I’d like to hear him say, “I need to put these players in a better position to win.” That is the classic Andy Reid response. Coach Reid takes full responsibilty for every loss even in yesterday’s game with Vick fumbling at the goal line. Spaz is always blaming someone else or something else. Enough already.
Injuries are why BC is terrible? Bad luck? Staffing?
How about an inability to recruit – which was the biggest and most obvious concern when he was hired? How about an inability to foster an environment that brings in, and maintains, good assistants?
But wait — Spaz brought in Luke Keuchly. CASE CLOSED!
This blog is comedy.
Mark: I admire your loyalty to coach Spaz…..I’d like to think that I have friends who would be as loyal to me when and if the circumstances arose. This being said, as a loyal follower of BC athletics for the past 50 yrs, I see no reason to keep coach Spaz on the job.
If he is spending 12-14 hours a day working the job, this time is not being spent wisely. As head coach, he is responsible for the product on the field. Over the past 4 years, it is obvious that the program is headed in the wrong direction. The talent level on the field is thin at best, unable to sustain key injuries. As stated in prior posts, BC is recruiting kids who by and large cannot compete on the BCS level. This all falls back on the head coach. Our game management is spotty at best (and I’m being kind on this one).
This is not obviously all Spaz’s fault. “Coach Flip” wanted to be hands on with the football program: he rewarded someone who would allow this to happen. GDF mismanaged the entire donor based seating program. The game day experience at BC is HORRIBLE. i gave up my season tickets 3 years ago. From the outside, the athletic department appears to be in shambles. The customer, usually alumni, parents, or friends of the college, have been disregarded and passed over for an easy dollar (donor based seating).
With a new AD about to be named, BC must act NOW to salavage what is left of the football program. Let Spaz retire now (another medical issue, similar to what befell some of our recent coaches). Name one the assistants as interim coach. We need to cleanse the air now, give the players a needed shot in the arm/rallying point for the remainder of the season, and hope that the new AD will choose our new coach wisely.
I feel that both the preparedness and the talent level are the head coach’s responsibility ultimately. Every kid that played for Army got into West Point and would have gotten into BC. Same with Northwestern. Same thing when BC lost to Vandy in Nashville. Same thing with Duke and probably Wake Forest. NU has beaten BC 2 years in a row, and last year with an inexperienced QB. On the other side of the line of scrimmage was Luke Kuechly. Just once, I’d like to hear Spaz SAY after the game that the players played hard and never quit and that he and the rest of the staff has to do a better job. Why is it acceptable for Sapz to say that the “players can have much success as they want to have,” but unreasonable to imply that the coaching staff can have as much success as they (the coaches) want to have? How is it that Randy Edsall is more able to successfully recruit his local talent, than Spaziani? There are some ACC quality players on the BC roster, and there have always been some. But not enough. Not by a long shot under head coach Spaziani. I believe he needs to man up and say, that the buck stops with him and he needs to do a better job. I’m not saying he doesn’t work enough hours. I’m saying that he needs to work better. For example, BC couldn’t stop Army all day, why run your offense to set up the punt at the end of the game. AND THEN, not be prepared to punt?!?!? Did Spaz say “the kids had us in position to win, but I called (or allowed to be called) 3 bonehead plays that didn’t work, was unprepared when they didn’t work and DIDN’T EXECUTE as a coach? I’m sorry but he is ready to point out the players failures, but doesn’t admit his own. At least nowhere that I’ve read. If he has admitted his shortcomings to you perhaps you should write that too. It won’t make him a better coach, but it may satiate the blood lust some of his critics have. as you say, he’ll be replaced at the end of the year anyhow.
You are such a clown and you filter the comments because you are so thin skinned. Sounds like you can dish it but can’t take it.
Players despise this coach. Absolutely despise him.
I don’t think comments are filtered. I’m just saying. And I agree with many of the points MB makes here, just not in this case. Are you too thin skinned when you level a criticism and Marks’ response is less than a bobbleheaded amen? I don’t agree with some of his points. i said my piece. He may rebut it, but that’s his perogative. Just as it is mine not to agree with all his points of view.
my mistake, they were yesterday guess he finally turned it off
Mark…not to change gears here, but what did you think of the decision to can Al Skinner? I’ve always failed to see the logic in removing Skinner but EXTENDING Coach Spaziani. It seemed extremely incongruous. Also, is Mark Whipple looking to throw his hat in the ring? Thanks.
1) Spaz recruited these players who you claim are not executing.
2) Is there less talent on BC’s defense than on Stony Brook’s, which held Army to 3 points? Perhaps Stony Brook was better prepared with their gap assignments and use of safeties (why have them 15 yards off the LOS?)
3) Some current players have been tweeting about the need for changes to be made. Not a good sign for Spaz. By firing him now, BC would get a chance to see if another coach (Doug Martin) could get more out of these guys.
I feel bad that Spaz couldn’t get it done because I always root for a long-time assistant when he gets his big chance. See Flood, Kyle @ Rutgers this year. But Spaz has really dropped the ball with recruiting in Mass., NJ and even Conn. BC used to clean up the parochial school kids who Notre Dame passed on. Now those kids (like the Catholic Memorial types) are going to Penn State and UMich. Is it the whole ACC thing? Spaz? Lack of a younger, wired recruiter like Hafley was at Pitt and then Rutgers? Don’t know but it’s a damn shame because it’s there for the taking for BC with the BIgEast doomed as Conf-USA, II, The Sequel.
Mark…whether it’s Quentin Williams (as you suggest) or Boo Corrigan (as others suggest) that will be announced tomorrow, Spaz needs to go next Sunday after they (presumably) get throttled in Tallahassee. That’s just my opinion because I think a message needs to be sent to the alumni, and that message is, “we won’t tolerate this ineptitude any longer and change starts immediately.” You should try to look into how much money has been diverted from the Flynn Fund or how much has been directed towards other sports (they’re called restricted donations in financial statements) as a way of shunning the football program. That would be interesting, I think (personal curiosity more than anything).
But I have one other comment for you re: Spaz…the man is one of the most lifeless college coach I have seen on the sidelines in recent memory. It is almost comical that we, as a school, had Al Skinner half asleep on the bench during hoops games and Spaziani pacing the sideline looking as if he was trying to remember where he parked his car in the Chestnut Hill mall parking lot. College football is something that more and more requires outward energy and a display of passion. He shows neither. He is more of a face of the university than Fr. Leahy and he comes across as apathetic on the sidelines and in press conferences. You can talk about how hard he works, but the old “duck on the pond” saying doesn’t really cut it anymore in college. I’m not looking for a Mike Gundy like performance at a presser (“I’m a man!! I’m 40!!) but a little life wouldn’t hurt, either. I’m convinced this affects his players and probably has an adverse affect on recruiting, too. Your opinion and or defense of Spaz, please? And I get it, he shows up at 5:30am. I start my day at 5:30am, too, but I make a wee bit less money than Spaz so please don’t go down that road.