Fire Frank Spaziani Now And Give The Few Fans Left Something To Cheer About

I've been saying the same thing for a good month now: keeping Frank Spaziani on as Boston College football head coach for the remainder of the season serves no legitimate purpose. At this point, the only things keeping Spaz on achieves is further tarnishing what is left of Gene DeFilippo's legacy, embarrassing a Division I-A football coach who has been and remains overmatched and making the road back with respect to fan support for this program that much tougher.

It is because keeping Spaz on serves no purpose that new Athletic Director Brad Bates can ill-afford to wait three more Mondays to cut ties with the fourth year head coach and 16 year Boston College football coach.

Boston College faces a top-ranked and undefeated Notre Dame Irish football program on Saturday in what is typically the one game a year circled on every Superfan's calendar. That Notre Dame eked out a triple OT victory over Pittsburgh last night would typically only add to the excitement of the coming weekend. Sure, you'll see the 1993 Sports Illustrated cover bandied about on Twitter and you'll likely also hear plenty of references to the Eagles' victory in 2002. But make no mistake, the energy and enthusiasm surrounding the program and this weekend's game is at a new recent low.

So why wait until Monday, November 26? Bates has now had a few weeks to assess the situation and crunch the numbers. The football program has gotten so bad that every day this drags on, the more fans and long-time season ticket holders are going to turn their backs on this program. And for good. Don't take my word for it. Simply check out @BCBradBates mentions on Twitter to get a true sense of the levels of anger and frustration for the remaining diehards left on the bandwagon.

Long-time fans and supporters have patiently watched as this program has become non-competitive against both elite programs and historically awful ones, at home and on the road. Under Spaz, Boston College has lost consecutive games to Wake Forest for the first time as a member of the ACC. Lost to Duke for the first time in program history. Lost to a Conference USA team that finished the year 5-7. Lost to an Army program that is 5-16 over the last two seasons. Lost to teams ranked in the AP Top 25 every single time (0-8). A combined 0-6 on our way to 0-8 against Notre Dame and Virginia Tech, 0-2 in bowl games as a non-interim head coach and now 2-for-2 in consecutive losing seasons.

At what point does this record of performance justify a mid-season firing? The home-and-home football series with Ohio State was an early victory for Bates, but it will be extremely short-lived if Spaz remains as Boston College football head coach for three more Saturdays.

Do it for the players, recruiting, fans and supporters, to save face nationally or for Gene DeFilippo or Frank Spaziani. I don't care the reason. Just do it now. Give everyone something to cheer about this weekend and salvage the precious few games remaining on the Eagles schedule. Let the rebuilding process begin now, so that we can take some joy in watching our football program take it on the chin against the 9-0 Irish with the knowledge and hope that better days are ahead.

No combination of victories in Boston College's final three games can save Spaz from what will almost assuredly be the easiest decision Bates will have to make as the school's Athletic Director. So again I ask, why wait?

It is Bates alone that can make next weekend's game the sort of galvanizing event that the remaining fans left on the bandwagon can rally around. A game to usher in the next chapter of Boston College football. That would be something infinitely more interesting to watch than a four hour, nationally televised infomercial cautioning Athletic Directors everywhere of the pitfalls of hiring a career defensive coordinator as head coach.

Why not spin the narrative another way? The process to find a replacement for Frank Spaziani should begin now. Bates should send a message this week. This weekend's game against Notre Dame should be about how Bates and Boston College athletics refuses to accept mediocrity and strives to live up to the school's motto. Use this weekend's nationally televised game to make a definitive statement about the future of Boston College football by acting now. Don't delay. The sooner the better for all involved.

Instead, we'll likely be treated to more of the same under Spaziani -- TV announcers spouting a litany of excuses, a Sunday post-game presser talking about lack of execution and a close loss to Notre Dame spun as a moral victory. Ever to Mediocrity, Ever to Irrelevance.