Brian: We aren’t three full days past the end of the regular season in college football and the axe has already been dropped on three of Boston College’s 2010 opponents’ head coaches.
- Groh is out at Virginia
- Weis is gone at Notre Dame
- Bowden to retire today at Florida State
Meanwhile, down in College Park, Ralph Friedgen’s future remains uncertain. Looking at the 2010 schedule, here is the Eagles’ list of opponents, their head coaches, and their current tenure at their school:
| Opponent | Head Coach | Years | W | L | T | Pct. |
| Notre Dame | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| VIRGINIA | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| @ FLORIDA STATE | Jimbo Fisher | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| @ Syracuse | Doug Marrone | 1 | 4 | 7 | 0 | .364 |
| CLEMSON | Dabo Swinney | 2 | 12 | 7 | 0 | .632 |
| @ DUKE | David Cutcliffe | 2 | 9 | 15 | 0 | .375 |
| @ NC STATE | Tom O'Brien | 3 | 16 | 21 | 0 | .432 |
| Hofstra | Dave Cohen | 4 | 18 | 27 | 0 | .400 |
| Kent State | Doug Martin | 6 | 24 | 46 | 0 | .343 |
| MARYLAND | Ralph Friedgen | 9 | 66 | 46 | 0 | .589 |
| @ WAKE FOREST | Jim Grobe | 9 | 59 | 51 | 0 | .536 |
| VIRGINIA TECH | Frank Beamer | 23 | 185 | 92 | 2 | .663 |
With over half of BC’s opponents having coaching staffs with less than 3 years of experience at the program, this has to be a positive for the Eagles going into next season, no?
Jeff: I would have to agree with you that this is a positive for BC, at least as it pertains to our in conference games. Let's say Maryland decides to make a coaching change as well. Then the Eagles will play 3 conference games against new coaches plus Notre Dame. I will expect victories in all three of those games with the Virginia and Maryland home games certainly being the most winnable conference games of next season. The Notre Dame game I am a little less confident about though because won't their new coach come in and win 9 or 10 games and take them to a BCS game which will then get him a contract extension?
Brian: Perhaps. But Notre Dame likely will have to get to 9 or 10 wins without the services of Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate, who both might jump to the NFL draft. In addition, the Notre Dame defense has been terrible this year. I'm not sure how they turn around their defensive unit. Finally, the schedule is much less forgiving next year than it was this year.
Regardless, looking at these programs and the tenure of the head coaches at those schools, you have to be pleased with how the schedule is shaping up. Consider that the coaches at Hofstra and Kent State will be two of the more tenured coaching staffs on the Eagles 2010 schedule.
Jeff: This is the first time we've really talked about next year's schedule and the ACC slate looks awesome. Since we learned this year the importance of BC's home field advantage, having Clemson and Virginia Tech come to the Heights next year looks to be a huge advantage. In addition, Florida State is the only road game we'll have against a team that is bowl eligible this season. Despite Duke improving this year, they are still Duke and Thaddeus Lewis played his last game Saturday. Without Riley Skinner, traveling to Wake Forest does not appear to be a very high hurdle either.
Brian: The trip to Winston-Salem always seems to give the Eagles fits. Tom O'Brien should also have the Wolfpack improved from this year. And sleeping on Duke is a dangerous proposition (just ask Virginia, Maryland and NC State). That being said, three trips to the Research Triangle, a road trip down I-90 to play Syracuse and a trip to Tallahassee to play first year coach Jimbo Fisher seems like a much more manageable away schedule than this year's gauntlet that included trips to Death Valley, Lane Stadium and Notre Dame Stadium.
Unlike this year where the Eagles played nine bowl teams, BC will only face four bowl teams in 2010. Two (possible three?) of those teams will have new head coaches. Not exactly a murderer's row for next season. The turnover in the coaching staffs at Notre Dame, Virginia, Florida State and potentially Maryland all help make the schedule that much more manageable in 2010.