At the tail end of today's press conference announcing the firing of Boston College head football coach Jeff Jagodzinski, a visibly upset Gene DeFilippo was asked if this was his hardest day at Boston College. DeFilippo's answer, "Yeah, probably."
Watching Boston College athletic director Gene DeFilippo carefully choose his words throughout the televised press conference, there was the feeling that this was more of a good marriage gone wrong than the dismissal of a football coach. Perhaps DeFilippo was naive to believe Jags would be as committed to Boston College as DeFilippo is. A few years ago, DeFilippo was a front-runner for the athletic director position at Tennessee, but he chose to stay at The Heights. Right or wrong, DeFilippo bleeds maroon and gold and will go to great lengths to protect the Boston College brand.
For the last two years at Boston College, Jeff Jagodzinski has been playing with the house's money. The players that led Boston College to two ACC Atlantic Division titles were primarily brought into the program by former head coach Tom O'Brien. It was evident that Jags is a good coach, and probably a better game day coach than Tom O'Brien, but there is little evidence to suggest Jags could maintain a program through successful recruiting. If you don't want to recruit and deal with the academic side of college football, you belong in the NFL. There is nothing wrong with Jagodzinski's desire to return to the NFL, but it's clear DeFilippo believed he was hiring a coach who wanted to be at Boston College.
When Tom Coughlin coached at Boston College, he wished that his football players did not have to go to class. Coughlin wanted his players to be able to concentrate on football and not to be distracted by academic issues. In the NFL, all there is football and the occasional DUI or self-inflicted bullet wound in the leg.
Is Jags wrong for wanting to return to the NFL? No, he has to do what is best for him and his family. Some guys are meant for college football and some guys are meant for pro football. This is clearly not the end of Jagodzinski's coaching career and it's not the end of Boston College football's successful run.
DeFilippo started his remarks by characterizing his relationship with Jeff Jagodzinski:
"We are very good friends. Wonderful person and heck of a football coach."
DeFilippo stated early in the press conference that he, "would not talk about personnel issues or contracts." (Uh, Gene ... isn't this the nature of the press conference?)
A theme running through the press conference from DeFilippo was that he, "wants somebody who wants to be at Boston College for the length of his contract." Divided on the future of the program with Jagodzinski, DeFilippo received approval from the administration to fire Jeff Jagodzinski without cause. As DeFilippo stated, "It's not just about football."
To emphasize that it wasn't just about football, DeFilippo enumerated 5 Qualities That Boston College Seeks in its Next Football Coach:
1. A great communicator with the players
2. Cares about the players
3. Understands the academic mission of Boston College
4. A Teacher
5. Wants to be here (Boston College) for length of contract
Answering a question from Boston College hater/Boston University alum/Boston Herald columnist, Michael Felger, DeFilippo adamantly rejected the notion that a very good football coach would be scared off by the recent chain of events. DeFilippo described a "stack of interest" from successful head coaches at major colleges across the nation to fill the Boston College vacancy. DeFilippo buttressed his comments by stating that:
1. Boston College has been rated the 34th best school in the nation by a national publication
2. Boston College is either 5th or 6th in the nation in student-athlete graduation rate
3. Boston College has been to 10 consecutive bowl games
4. Boston College has won the ACC Atlantic Division title two years in a row
5. With the exception of Jeff Jagodzinski, coaches in all sports stay at The Heights for a very long time. Before Jags, Tom O'Brien ran the football program for 10 years.
DeFilippo is looking to reload, hire a coach that shares his vision and will stay at B.C. for the length of his contract. For the head coaching vacancy, B.C. will interview members from the current staff and at least two outside candidates. DeFillipo was asked if coaches with an NFL pedigree would be excluded from the process and he rejected that idea.
The players have not been addressed regarding the recent events, because they are not on campus at this time. When school resumes next week, DeFilippo said he would meet with the captains.
Near the end of the press conference, NESN's Jayme Parker asked if there was any regret at this time. "Sad it became so public between Jags and me," said DeFilippo.
Gene DeFilippo, on the right, will be contacting some heavyweights in heaven to make the right choice. Don't look for another Polish head coach to emerge from the College of Cardinals.
