Per Michael Sullivan: Multiple Sources Say Steve Addazio Will Return in 2017

Steve Addazio is safe, according to sources close to Heights/EA reporter Michael Sullivan:

Addazio who is in the fourth year at Boston College has gone 5-6 this season, with only one of those wins being against an ACC opponent. In the past two seasons, Addazio has gone 1-14 against the conference. His four other wins this year have come against UConn, UMass, Wagner and Buffalo.

There are two big factors that you have to imagine have to play in whether Addazio is returning or not. One is his contract. He still is owed four more years on his current deal which is set to expire in 2020. If BC is as stingy as some believe, that is a lot of money to eat if they cut him loose. Secondly, the fate of Brad Bates still remains a mystery. Bates has a contract that is allegedly set to expire at the end of this year. Boston College hasn’t said anything about what they plan to do with him, but if they go in a different direction, it would be unwise to cut Addazio, hire a new coach and then bring in a new AD that had nothing to do with the hire. This isn’t an excuse though, because if BC is really going to make moves, they could have a new AD hired quickly and then make the move for a coach. Again, this is all in the theoretical realm, as the school hasn’t made a statement on either man’s future with the program.

Sully’s report isn’t a huge surprise really, and I wouldn’t say that it’s definitely a foregone conclusion that Addazio is returning. Look at what happened with Steve Donahue, this almost exact report came out, people got really upset, and within a day he was gone. To me this strikes me as delaying the inevitable. What we saw against Clemson/FSU/Louisville/VT shows a program that is not anywhere near ready to compete in the ACC, and I can’t imagine that BC will improve enough to justify keeping Addazio, especially given their schedule.

Hopefully the people in charge are thinking long and hard at this decision, looking at factors that could help the program (this is a huge buyer’s market). If BC is starting to doubt that Addazio is the best fit for the future of the program, they could have the pick of the crop of some good coaches that will be available this year.