FanPost

What does Jim Christian have to do to keep his job next year?

Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Spoiler alert: Jim Christian's job is not in jeopardy despite our 0-16 ACC record. It's his second year and he needs time to rebuild from the scrap heap that Donahue left.

The question is, how much improvement does he need to show? I know we are all hoping (other than those who have given up hope already) that he turns into the net Coach K. But most of us would probably be reasonably happy if he is the next Al Skinner or even Jim O'Brien. Seems like a good time to remind everyone that Skinner and O'Brien had identical conference records in their third year. The bad news? They were both 3-13.

I'm of the opinion that Christian's team would have to implode next year in order for him to be fired. 4 wins or less in conference and his job might be in jeopardy, but it will have alot more to do with how much progress appears to being made. Have the current players gotten better, how do the new recruits look, and does our offense have a better flow will be the key questions. If the answer to these three questions are negative, then Christian could be in trouble, but I'm optimistic.

I don't think we'll be great next year, but I do expect progress. By my count, Christian has had one an a half recruiting classes play at BC and here's the potential:

1 player who can be a top 3 player on a top ACC team - Jerome Robinson

3 players who can be legitimate starters in the ACC - Turner, Diallo, and Reyes

These guys aren't there yet, but they can get there with hard work and good coaching. This is not the start of a team that's going to make a final four run in 3 years, but it seems like a reasonable start to rebuilding the program.

Skinner came into a similar rebuild (though Skinner had the benefit of BC having been good before O'Brien took off and decimated the team - not that I blame him), and his 2nd year team looked like this...

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/boston-college/1999.html

Not exactly an impressive roster. But we won the Big East two years later.