What Should Boston College Be Looking For In Next Head Coach?
As Boston College continues its search for a new head coach, many names have popped up for the open position from former players with sparse head coaching experience like Al Washington to seasoned veterans like Butch Jones. Martin Jarmond talked a lot about the characteristics of what the administration is looking for in a head coach, such as being a teacher, having integrity, but what about on the recruiting trail, practice and game day field? Let's look at some of the non-negotiables for Boston College's next head coach
*Dynamic Recruiter: Obviously we would love to see Boston College rise in the recruiting rankings as they have finished near the bottom of the ACC/Power 5 every year under Steve Addazio. This next head coach needs to not only be able to recruit at a higher level, but he must also understand the unique challenges and opportunities that lie ahead at Boston College. They need to be able to identify players who will get through admissions, fight for those who struggle to get in, and get students to understand that Boston College can return to a Top 25 team, that they can get to the NFL while getting an elite education
*Keep Pipelines Running, And Revisit Some Old Ones: Boston College continued to hit home runs in New Jersey, and as much as Addazio wanted to build a fence he had mixed results in the Bay State, constantly getting beat out by former defensive coordinator Don Brown and Michigan. The next head coach is going to need to continue to build on these states, along with Pennsylvania, Florida and New York, but they need to really re-energize their efforts in Georgia and Ohio which haven't been a point of emphasis the past few years.
* Be Able To Adapt And Adjust: Steve Addazio had an atrocious record when trailing at halftime, mainly this was due to his inability to make adjustments or change his gameplan when it wasn't working. The next head coach needs to be able to look at a situation and say "this isn't working" and make a change in game. This would also include clock management.
* Fix The Kicking Game: It was kind of ironic that Steve Addazio won his final game as head coach at Boston College on the leg of a kicker. Throughout his tenure BC has been poor in place kicking, even the Pitt game Danny Longman kicked three kickoffs out of bounds. BC is probably never going to be a team that blows away their competition. The next head coach needs to figure out what happened to the BC kicking game and fix it. It may be the difference between wins and losses moving forward.
* Bring The Offense Into The 21st Century: Boston College's offense was dynamic and fun when it was working, but the moment they fell behind it could unravel in an instant. BC's inability to move the ball through the air consistently over the years must have made recruiting QB's with strong arms, and wide receivers who knew they would block on 65% of the downs difficult. BC needs to adjust. They can't just run the ball a majority of downs. They need to figure out something, whether it's a pro style or spread, and start to recruit weapons. On the flip side, no air raid offense please, BC will never recruit the speed needed to run it.
*Continue To Bring Character To Boston College: There has been plenty of players, including Andre Williams and Josh Keyes who have come out bashing Steve Addazio as a man after his dismissal. But whatever they say, it's hard to argue that he set a culture at Boston College, and I believe truly understood what the school was about. Player issues and dismissals were hardly ever heard of, they attracted players who fit the school mode, and acted the way that fit the school motto. The next head coach should look to continue this model.
*Most Importantly of all, win. Al Davis said it best "Just win baby". Addazio brought BC to bowls six of his seven years, but had one marquee win his seven years at BC. If BC wants the fans to return they need a head coach that brings confidence to the team, one that says "We can beat anyone", and most importantly he does.