Fixing Boston College Football
by Brian Favat on Oct 2, 2011 9:31 AM EDT
in Boston College Football
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PrintI've seen written a few times: "This is just Boston College football bedding back down to the level of competition seen at other academically elite Division I-A schools." So let me get this out of the way early ...
That is nonsense.
Boston College football is not some shell of a Division I-A football program at one of the nation's elite academic institutions. There is no comparison to Boston College's program to that of Duke, Northwestern, Rice, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Tulane or SMU, at least historically. BC is a proud football school, one that has the 35th highest winning percentage all-time (.587), fourth among private schools behind only Notre Dame, USC and Miami.
To see this program at 1-4 (0-2 ACC) is simply inexcusable. Things have to change on the Heights. This is easily the worst football team I have seen play since hitting the Heights as a freshman over 10 years ago, and maybe even much longer than that.
That said, it's not too late to right the ship here and see a return to a proud, Division I-A football program. Here are five humble suggestions on how to fix Boston College football.
1. Clean house with the coaching staff. The entire coaching staff has to go. I'm sure Spaz is a nice enough guy, but when you start throwing players under the bus in postgame press conferences, you've officially lost the benefit of the doubt with the fan base and the team. When the one thing that you excel at -- defense -- is getting lit up week after week, it's time for a change. The school, this proud football program and the players simply deserve better. Bring in a youthful, energetic head coach that understands what Boston College football is all about -- bruising offensive lines, solid defense and recruiting guys that want to play big time college football at one of the better schools in the country.
For all his faults and bitterness towards the end of his tenure, Tom O'Brien understood what BC football was all about. This is why I think he was able to maintain a level of consistency never seen before at BC, and why he is seemingly struggling at N.C. State (given the difference in sales pitch down in Raleigh ... you can't teach an old dog new tricks?).
We need to inject some youth into this coaching staff and hire a head coach that understands what Boston College football is about. This coaching staff has lost its way a bit and no member of the current staff should be hired to fill the role left by Spaz. It's time to rip the band-aid off and start fresh.
2. Expand Alumni Stadium by (at least) 10,000 seats. To this, I say to hell with the neighbors. Alumni Stadium is simply showing its age and is now a sub-par facility for a program with as much history and tradition as Boston College. BC is a top tier college football program -- at least historically -- with bottom tier facilities. Alumni is currently the 10th largest stadium in the ACC and will become the 12th largest after Syracuse and Pittsburgh join the fold. The Yawkey Center is a start, but Alumni is in desperate need of a makeover.
Close in the end zones or expand the stadium vertically on the Shea Field side of the field as part of the school's Institutional Master Plan. Either way. Boston College's football facilities are standing still while everyone else in the ACC is either investing in their stadiums or planning to build on-campus football only practice facilities. If BC wants to continue to compete in the ACC, it cannot afford to stand still in the college football facilities arm race.
Along with this, I'd say improve the gameday experience, not the least of which includes relaxing tailgating restrictions, but I'm not sure that's even remotely possible.
3. Schedule smart. Why a program like this scheduled a home-and-home with Central Florida is simply beyond me (in a state where BC already plays nearly every season). An ACC program should be getting 2-for-1s against any program from a non AQ conference. Be selfish about scheduling. The Eagles need at least seven home games (at a minimum) a season to keep revenues up and keep people coming to campus on Saturdays. Balance the schedule with winnable games against AQ conferences (Northwestern, Stanford, etc.), traditional rivals (Army, Navy) and local I-AA schools.
Look at a school like Northwestern as a perfect blueprint for how BC should be scheduling smart. The Wildcats' AD has made it no secret that he's looking to schedule every program ranked in the Top 50 of USN&WR's latest Best Colleges rankings in an attempt to win the hearts and minds of recruits that are considering Northwestern and other similar schools. The theory is beat them on the field, and you make a high school kid's decision that much easier. This is a perfect philosophy for a school like BC and when combined with some traditional rivals like Army and Navy, strikes a good balance between the non-conference schedule and the ACC sched.
4. Embrace social media, create more media buzz and/or buy out Blauds. This program not only needs life injected into the coaching staff and the facilities, but also in its coverage of the media. Embrace blogs like this one, Twitter, Facebook and other new forms of media. Engage with the fan base. The newspaper and radio coverage of Boston College football is pathetic. Our Globe beat writer is more interested in attending the annual Big East meeting clam bake and stumping for Mark Whipple's triumphant return to New England than actually covering this team.
If you are going to build any excitement around this program and win over the sidewalk Alumni that have since turned their back on the program and the school, it has to start with improving the media coverage and buzz around this program. As much as we love to hate The Hartford Courant's UConn football beat writer and his BC rumor-mongoring, at least DC ...
1) knows how to write blog posts, including page breaks and proper formatting, and
2) is truly passionate about his beat.
DC has turned a fairly undesirable college football beat into a 24/7/365 one and for that, he has my respect. The Globe's Boston College football coverage is 8/5/210 ... in a good year. Our beat writer does the bare minimum and takes a six month vacation with only the Big East's annual meetings in Newport, Rhode Island disrupting his off-season slumber. How, exactly, is this program supposed to build any buzz locally when it is an afterthought in the Boston sports media?
5. Just win, baby! Like I said, this is not the Duke, Wake Forest or Northwestern football program (at least historically ... not taking away from your victories this season ... respek). This is a proud football program with loads of history, a Heisman Trophy winner, several undefeated seasons and most recently, at least a share of half of the ACC Atlantic Division titles contested since the divisional split in 2005.
No matter where you fall on the Team Jags or Team GDF fence, at least Jeff Jagodzinski injected a winning attitude into this program. There's none of this under Spaz, only lots of excuses. The "we're up, aren't we?" and "anemic" attitudes of TOB and Spaz permeate not only the team's mindset but also the fan base, the team and throughout Alumni Stadium on Saturdays. We simply need an attitude adjustment on the Heights. A shift in attitude and mentality at the top will trickle down to this team, giving them confidence week in and week out. Further, it will trickle down to the fan base, that may become more willing to open up their wallets and pay to go watch Boston College football.
These are just five humble suggestions from a writer who invests much more of his free time into this program and this school's athletics than any rational person would. Leave your thoughts on how to fix Boston College football in the comments section below.
Excel to Excel.
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Get this man a job!
Seriously, are there any wealthy donors who have pull in the athletic office who can get Brian on the inside?
Agree
I like all of it except stadium expansion. Considering the fact that I don’t think we’re going to crack 40,000 attendance this year, I don’t see why we’d expand. We need to fill up the current stadium before we add more seats.
Selling out Alumni
At present size, BC can’t sell out regularly. But if we create more demand, it would be cool to see BC limited number of seat become a hot commodity for a few years before any expansion is contemplated. Kinda like how Fenway is to Yankee stadium: small but in high demand.
by waterwater on Oct 2, 2011 11:04 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Agree to disagree
Think of stadium expansion less as a way of increasing attendance and more as a recruiting tool. Besides, if we waited to expand Alumni until we were regularly selling out the stadium, the stadium would still be at a max capacity of 33.8k as it was pre-1994.
The other strong reason why I believe stadium expansion is necessary is in the 2+ seasons after Alumni Stadium expanded, BC sold out every home game (every game in 1994, 1995 and all but the last one in 1996). This despite seasons of 7-4-1, 4-8 and 5-7, and a major gambling scandal.
Should be “build it and they will come,” not “if they come, I will build it.”
Editor, BC Interruption
On that note...
Put backs on every seat (or at least those around the 50 yard line) except those in the student section.
Improve the concourse around the stadium (or maybe start by actually having some sort of a concourse).
Increase the size of the video boards by a ton.
All great suggestions.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 2, 2011 3:54 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
So having even more empty seats at your games would be a recruiting tool?
I guess I don’t see how that works. I get how “new and shiny” things help recruiting, but bigger isn’t better when it’s empty (look at Miami). Is it not possible to give your stadium a facelift without expanding its capacity?
F the Deacs - Notre Dame, Rutgers and UConn to the ACC
---------------------------------------------------------
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed.
Correct, Sir Trick.
You truly are one of God's treasures, Trick
I saw you respond to a similar comment below, so nevermind.
F the Deacs - Notre Dame, Rutgers and UConn to the ACC
---------------------------------------------------------
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed.
Correct, Sir Trick.
You truly are one of God's treasures, Trick
Except nearly every program that expands / renovates its stadium seems a short-term boost to attendance, which is what BC is going to desperately need as they rebuild after this mess.
Even Minnesota is practically selling out its new stadium every game and that program is terrible. Someone else mentioned GT seeing a 8-9k boost in attendance.
Plus the knock-on effect of a fan or student attending a Notre Dame or Clemson game with 55k improves attendance for games against less desirable draws.
Editor, BC Interruption
So when?
When Do suggest firing Spaz? Now? December?
Good thoughts about why BC isn’t Duke. Or NW, but the real deal with 130 years of tradition. And that nation’s oldest school fight song.
As for stadium expansion, we need to build demand first.
by waterwater on Oct 2, 2011 10:59 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Fight Song
I still find it amazing it isn’t played up more that we have the oldest fight song, I didn’t find out until after I graduated and feel like the majority of students don’t know that factiod.
Again, disagree on the "build demand first" theme
We are still pulling in 80+ percent capacity every game, and that’s counted at the gate, not tickets sold.
There’s really only marginal value add to going from 38k to 44.5k every game, but imagine if we maintain a 38k average for crappy opponents but can bring in 55k when Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Florida State and Syracuse come to town. The revenue upside is far greater with expansion than it is with standing still, especially considering you can’t jack up prices too much for premium games like ND, FSU, etc., like they do in MLB, for example.
Editor, BC Interruption
Tech increased from ~42k to 55k in 2003
We don’t consistently sell out (minus Clemson and Georgie) but have netted around 8-9,000 more fans per game because we have the capacity. Just make sure the expansion is affordable. I think our expansion was poorly planned.
I write stuff From the Rumble Seat.
Expansion also makes tickets more affordable, which helps bring in the sidewalk Alumni and local fans.
Editor, BC Interruption
Good blog post
The common phrase uttered around Boston these last few days is: “The fish rots from the head down”.
It’s time to embarrass Gene. Brown paper bags. Coordinate chants. Editorials in the papers. Withhold contributions.
Coordinate chants
Sitting at Alumni yesterday I thought the same thing.
Writer at BC Interruption SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
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Agree
Its embarrassing when you have to explain to visiting fans that BC doesn’t put restrooms or real concessions in street side upper endzone. Its also embarrassing when the students section and alumni seats are only half to 2/3 full at kickoff, and half of them have left before the 4th quarter. GDF has lost the alumni and the students, along with the casual fans BC gained during the Matt Ryan era. I think both Spaz and GDF need to go.
Expansion
First and foremost, BC needs a permanent indoor facility. I would say build one where the beacon garage is now, running along side alumni. The people in the adages could easily be put in the com ave garage. The fact that Yukon has an indoor football facility and we don’t is an absolute joke.
I think the expansion idea makes sense, even if it is a pipe dream. First, I would say expand the two ends on the beacon side of alumni. Do the corner behind the students first. The student section runs into very prime real estate (up to 30 yd line). Move the block of students (section C ?) into the upper corner and open up that prime real estate to the alumni and public. I would then say do the corner behind the visitor section for aesthetic reasons. Th other end of the stadium could be done at a later time, and also leave the opportunity to expand yawkey if that was ever a possibility in the future.
I agree with the guy from tech. I had heard similar things about the tech expansion in regards to it not being done right. I think if planned properly, BC could feasibly get this done.
As part of the school’s Institutional Master Plan, they plan on putting buildings (dorms, I think) on Shea Field, as well as adding a second practice field. So that location is out. Maybe remove both practice fields from Shea Field and build a complex on Newton Campus instead?
But I agree building an indoor practice facility is as important as stadium expansion. The general theme is facilities upgrades to stimulate demand and better market the program.
Editor, BC Interruption
Wait,
you want to put the superfans in the second deck (upper corner)?
If I read that correctly, that would be a terrible idea. Any self-respecting college football program has their students somewhere along the field. But, maybe I read your comment incorrectly…
Go big or go home
Fill the reservoir and build a brand new stadium from scratch. Should be more than enough room to build the stadium either a pretty large parking lot or a grass field that the locals can use on non—game days.
Benefits:
1. Awesome new stadium for recruiting and building buzz.
2. Easier access via all three green line Ts
3. More parking space
4. Direct access to Cleveland Circle for pre and post game drinking
5. A giant patch of tailgating area over the Boston line from which we can crack cold ones all day and flip off Newtonites as they drive by.
Never gonna happen but I’d gladly pony up some big time donation bucks (relatively speaking!) for this vision.
Resevoir rights
Does BC have any rights to the reservoir? I assume not.
Is it remotely possible for BC to be able to buy rights to resevoir from water authority? I think I heard that the reservoir is not a part of the Boston water supply system any longer
If so, I am with you. A reservoir stadium sounds awesome, but not filed in. Instead a stadium In the middle surrounded by a moat!!!
The res is indeed no longer used by the city as a water source.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 2, 2011 5:18 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
It was during the most recent water line break.
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/23337764/detail.html
The MWRA activated its emergency water supplies at the Sudbury Aqueduct, Chestnut Hill Reservoir and Spot Pond Reservoir.
That’s right, Boston residents were drinking Res water last year.
Build a new stadium where Shea Field is right now. Leave the end zone next to the res open. Encourage recreational boating on the res during games a la Washington’s Husky Stadium.
Win.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 2, 2011 5:20 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Shea Field is already spoken for.
However, in looking at google maps (why I’m taking this so seriously I have no idea) there looks to be more than enough room so that if you filled only half of the reservoir you could build a stadium and some tailgating space. You could then have the endzone open to the remaining half of the reservoir which would still be water.
Basically, I think anything that could inject life into the gameday experience would pay huge dividends. Boston is such a huge sports town that if you made it easier to get to the game, easier to drink and maybe a cooler stadium, you could hook in all sorts of casual fans.
Agree that Alumni needs a facelift. Is it expansion? Maybe, but my bigger concern is how JV the whole stadium feels. You walk under the stands like at a high school football stadium. None of the seats have cup holders or backs (even the seat license seats). No bathrooms on the second level endzones. There are a lot of things that could be done to Alumni to make it feel professional or major league. The University really needs to take a look at their facilities plan, as Alumni ain’t going to get the job done as is.
Agreed
Doesn’t necessarily have to be expansion of seating capacity, but an upgraded Alumni Stadium is the only way to currently improve the BC gameday experience short of relaxing tailgating restrictions or building a floating parking garage on the Reservoir. Both those things aren’t happening.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 2, 2011 3:58 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I’d rather have TOB’s “We’re up, aren’t we?” than Spaz’s “It’s going to get a whole lot worse.” TOB at least had expectations for the team, if they were limited. All Spaz has had are excuses. This coming from a former Spaz apologists.
by polarbearbrother on Oct 2, 2011 2:52 PM EDT reply actions
This may be the most damning comment I’ve read all weekend.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 2, 2011 3:59 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
SMU?
I had to call you out on it, SMU? SMU has way more tradition and football history than BC. It’s just because of the death penalty that it is where it is. SMU used to be up there with Texas.
Otherwise, good article, and while I agree that expanding Alumni Stadium could lead to an attendance bump, I really don’t know if it would be significant enough to warrant a major expansion.
Sorry, but SMU has a sub .500 winning percentage all-time and hasn’t been relevant since the school received the death penalty.
Even if they hadn’t received the death penalty, the program would have fell off anyway after they got left behind when the SWC fell apart and they formed the Big 12.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 2, 2011 4:02 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
The SWC may not have fallen apart and SMU may not have been left behind if they never received the death penalty.
F the Deacs - Notre Dame, Rutgers and UConn to the ACC
---------------------------------------------------------
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed.
Correct, Sir Trick.
You truly are one of God's treasures, Trick
Disagree
If it wasn’t SMU, someone else gets the death penalty from the SWC. Everyone cheated back then. One of those programs would have been made an example.
Editor, BC Interruption
It was always going to be SMU that got it
The NCAA was never going to do it to a big state school (TAMU) that was cheating just as bad. Much easier to do it to a smaller, private school.
Rice and TCU were not cheating near as bad as SMU
Who had near historic levels of cheating. Plus, Ann Richards (and that other guy who’s name I can’t remember) made sure that Baylor, rather than TCU/SMU/Rice got the last invitation into the BXII
Gillette
I wish they could play there but UMASS is:( But I like the idea of expanding.
No
Gillette is a good NFL stadium, but it’s location in the middle of nowhere is not where this program needs to be. On an actual college campus is the place for college football.
by chicagofire1871 on Oct 2, 2011 10:46 PM EDT reply actions
Agree
Playing at a pro stadium is amateur hour. Big time college football needs to be on campus.
Editor, BC Interruption
Has BC considered letting students of Boston-area colleges have access to student rates on season tickets? How many Boston colleges don’t have football programs?
ACC has caused loss of identity
Moneymoneymoneymoney… Never should have joined the ACC.
Rather be in the ACC and losing than in the Big East and winning but with the real possibility of begging for a C-USA invite.
I’d just as soon watch the program fold than watch it play a football schedule of Louisville, UConn, Rutgers, Cincinnati, South Florida, Air Force, Temple, East Carolina and Central Florida in the BCS AQ version of Conference USA.
Editor, BC Interruption
Spaz has earned the right to go out on his own terms.
Not really, but during FSU’s Bowden-debacle I was continually amazed at the fans of other schools thinking their opinion should matter. As an FSU fan I really think BC should give Spaz a raise and a lifetime contract. But, if you want to turn things around, it probably isn’t a good idea to spend a lot of time listening to your rivals.
Do yall think
that BC would be well served by grabbing Mike Leach?
Assumption is the mother of all @#%-ups.
We need a coach that understands how to sell Boston College football. While Leach’s offenses were prolific, he never really worked at a school with the academic hurdles of a BC.
Our best bet imo is to find a talented, young coordinator at a school with solid academics. Maybe someone from Harbaugh’s old Stanford staff, etc.
The blueprint should be someone like Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald — an alum of the school, knows what N’western is all about and is a decent game manager / coach.
Editor, BC Interruption
Doubt It
With the controversy and ESPN lawsuit Leach is pretty untouchable right now. Would like to see BC go after Randy Shannon though. He knows the conference, teaches fundamental football and holds his players responsible.
As Long as People like this are neighbors, Expansion is unlikely.
MARION B.DREYER ALFORD
BOSTON GLOBE
Boston, Suffolk Co, MA—18 December 1996
MARION B. ALFORD, EX-CHORUS GIRL WAS FEISTY BRIGHTON ACTIVIST; AT 70
A funeral service will be held today for Marion B. (Dreyer) Alford of Brighton, a former chorus girl and feisty community activist who spearheaded the unsuccessful fight against the expansion of Boston College football stadium in 1993.
Mrs. Alford, the president of Brighton’s Lake Street Neighborhood Association from 1984 to 1994, died Monday in Deaconess Hospital in Boston. She was 70.
A longtime member of the Ward 22 Democratic Committee who worked on many Boston mayoral election campaigns, in 1985 she turned her attention to her immediate neighborhood by leading a campaign to institute a resident parking policy on Lake Street in the shadow of the Boston College football stadium.
Since then, with a combination of wit and tenacity, she "wrangled relentlessly with rivals as relatively obscure as local businesses and as daunting as City Hall and Boston College," according to a profile by staff reporter Bob Hohler published in the Globe on March 13, 1993.
Brian McLaughlin, a Boston city councilor at the time, called her "a cross between Joan of Arc and Paula Poundstone."
"Once Marion gets something in her blood and sets a goal, she commits all her time and effort to trying to achieve it," he said. "She has a way of being witty and heroic at the same time."
Mrs. Alford fought Boston College on issues ranging from student rowdyism, the school’s expansion into the neighborhoods and night football games, as well as the expansion of the football stadium.
"We’re sick and tired of Boston College walking over us like yesterday’s bubble gum," she once said with typical rhetorical flourish.
Mrs. Alford was born in Quincy. Her father, Boston Police Officer Franklin B. Dreyer, was shot to death during a robbery in a Dorchester drug store, when she was 4.
She sang and danced on Broadway in the musical "Hellzapoppin’ " and toured the South Pacific with the USO during World War II.
Though she was accused by some of relishing a good fight rather than a compromise, she said she was only trying to forestall the day when people said the area around Boston College was "a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there."
She leaves two sons, Mark W. and Lee, both of Boston; and two brothers, Franklin B. Dreyer of Quincy and Leo Supple of Westwood.
The funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. in the Dana Chapel at Adath Jeshurun Cemetery in West Roxbury.
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