BCI Debates: What athletics alumni would make good coaching staff additions?

Laura: With Chris Snee coming back to the Eagles staff in an off-field role, what other former players do you think would be cool additions to BC’s staff in an imaginary future?

Arthur: Let’s get Doug Flutie out of our system. Doug Flutie, doing things!

Laura: I think we would all agree that he isn’t interested, doesn’t need the money, and probably wouldn’t be a great coach, but he is certainly someone people like to mention!

Joe: Hockey has produced a ton of guys I always figured would make great coaches. Teddy Doherty is killing it as a high school coach and it would be great to see him back at the Heights one day. Ben Eaves is from a coaching family. Tommy Cross is the kind of player who gives off big future coach energy due to his leadership and how widely respected he’s been by his teammates during his career. Those are just a few - many good options.

Arthur: Oh I love the Teddy Doherty idea. You could tell he’s a great leader and I’m sure he’d be a great coach on campus.

Laura: I wanted Doherty to come back and be an assistant coach with Brown this year but alas. I do also think Mike Brennan was a fantastic hockey captain and would have made a great coach, but I think that ship has sailed.

Joe: In football, it would be amazing to get Luke Kuechly in as a coach but I feel like he’s got so many big things in store in his life beyond football honestly. But he’s such a legend and was a great leader on the field.

Arthur: I feel like we’re going to have some angry people if we don’t mention men’s hoops, particularly Jared Dudley. It’s an interesting proposition— the team has been floundering a whole bunch, and while Earl Grant appears to have the team on somewhat of a rebound, the program still has a huge rut to climb out of. It’s hard not to look at alumni as a way to bridge that. Dudley is an option, but there’s also a number of others that could be good, maybe not as the head coach right away, but somehow involved in the program.

Laura: Oh, true, I can’t believe we didn’t immediately mention Dudley, he’s constantly being mentioned and seems like he has some interest.

Arthur: It’s why y’all pay me the big bucks.

Curtis: The thing is that Dudley is already an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks. A spot with BC would likely be a downgrade for him unless he replaced Earl Grant as head coach. Though he is pretty much at the bottom of the food chain on Dallas’s staff, so maybe a senior assistant role at BC would be enticing? A long shot, I know.

Laura: Yea, that’s the big thing with a lot of the male alumni especially - they don’t necessarily need the jobs. I don’t really have enough of an idea about what other MBB alums are up to the way I do with men’s hockey or even football, so I can’t really speak on who else might be semi-realistic besides Dudley.

Arthur: Dudley is supposed to be more front of the bench in his role with the Mavs, so maybe he’s trying to get coached up to get ready for the head coaching job when it comes up again?

Curtis: That’s a pretty pessimistic view of Earl Grant! But not unfounded, given how the BCMBB program has been for the past decade.

Laura: Bailin covered MBB through the roughest years, I would be pessimistic too lol.

Arthur: Yeah, I think I’ve earned at least that. But, I mean, let’s not mince words here. Either the program doesn’t get better under Grant and he gets canned, or the program gets revitalized which means one of the higher up programs may snatch him up. Grant’s the type of hire that by his nature isn’t going to be around forever.

Curtis: Coaches like Al Skinner, who Grant is a disciple of, ended up staying at BC rather than pursue opportunities elsewhere. It’s not crazy to think that Earl Grant would stick around instead of going to a slightly better P6 program. The turnaround at BC would have to be truly massive for him to get offered at a blue blood, so moderate success could be a recipe for him to stay in Chestnut Hill instead of going for a slight upgrade at a place like Clemson for example. But now I’m off track.

Arthur: Fun fact about Al, apparently a trade between the Nets and 76ers led to Al being the only player in NBA history to record a DNP for both teams in a single game.

Laura: Hey, it’s not a BC MBB coaching discussion if we don’t end up on Al!
We’ve definitely seen players crossing over to staff more on the women’s side of things - women’s hockey, basketball, and lacrosse have all had success with alums coming back to staff, which is always nice to see! I’m very excited for Emma Guy to be back with WBB. It sure seems like something is going on with that program, and Guy always seemed to be someone who was well liked by her teammates and could bring some positivity in. Hopefully it works better than when they brought Andie Anastos on a grad player to try to fix the culture under Coach Johnson lol.

Arthur: Andie also only played for the women’s hoops program for a year, a lot different from one of the better players to come through the Heights in recent memory in Emma Guy.

Curtis: Emma Guy was my favorite WBB player while at BC (we’re the same graduating class) and I’m also very excited to see her in the mix.

Laura: On the women’s side we also have to mention Sam Apuzzo and lacrosse. She’s obviously been a great addition to that staff, and in a dream world where college sports still exist when Acacia Walker-Weinstein retires, I hope Sam would take over. But also truly like … nearly anyone who has played for WLax in the past 5 years would be a good addition to any coaching staff.

Curtis: I have no idea what the landscape is for professional women’s lacrosse. How likely is it that Charlotte North could return? I believe she’s playing on a national team right now, but it would be amazing to see her around several years in the future.

Laura: I would imagine her money will come from sponsorships, not player salary. I know she’s held camps for kids before, so it does seem like coaching may be something North is interested in!

Arthur: It’s also probably worth noting (and this is true about all of the sports, including all the men we’ve mentioned) that just because someone was a good athlete doesn’t necessarily make them a good coach. BC has had some alumni, like Apuzzo, come back to be great coaches. But it’s obviously not a 100% guarantee.

Laura: Oh for sure. I definitely lean towards captains with these types of things, because if you were a good captain, you at least have some leadership skills.

Joe: How about Jeremy Bracco for men’s hockey recruiting coordinator?

Arthur: How about Jeremy Bracco for assistant men’s hockey recruiting coordinator?

Curtis: Hey let’s really get into fantasy land. Matt Ryan should be retiring in a few years… what would it take to get him back here I wonder.

Laura: Matt Ryan for football head coach, Sarah Marshall Ryan for women’s basketball head coach, it’s perfect.

Arthur: Oooh I’ve got a good one. Justin Dunn for Birdball’s pitching coach when he retires.

Joe: Pivoting back to football… what’s Myles Willis up to? He was one of those guys who seemed like a team leader basically from when he was a sophomore.

Curtis: (I have no idea who that is.)

Laura: And on that note, I now feel ancient so it’s time to wrap this up.

Who would you like to see back on the Heights in a staff capacity? Sound off in the comments!