Coaching Philosophies

Wow. Good win this afternoon by the Eagles against the Midshipmen of Navy. BC played no where near its potential, and Navy had them on the ropes until a last minute fumble and Jolonn Dunbar recovery. On the winning drive, Matt Ryan tossed a few quick hitters and they brought it down to the Navy 20 with just over a minute left and one timeout. Instead of trying for the endzone, the coaching staff decided to play it safe at ran two dives up the gut. Steve Aponavicious then nailed the 37-yarder with 0:03 left in the game for the 25-24 win. I was ecstatic. But I was also puzzled. With a time out and over a minute left in the ball game, why didn’t BC take a shot at the endzone or a first down and goal? They were putting the entire game on the shoulders of a kid (Steve A) who was only playing in the 8th football game of his life, and had never made a kick of 37 yards. Don’t you think the guy calling the plays would have taken a shot downfield, maybe a screen, just done anything to try to get them closer? That’s because the guy calling the plays didn’t want them to get closer, he didn’t really want them to win. It was a conflict of interests. Dana Bible, the offensive coordinator, has made it clear that he will follow Tom O’Brien to NC State, but TOB insisted that he stay for the bowl game. So he did, and BC almost lost because of the shaky play calling at the end of the game. With recruiting battles between conference rivals, would Bible want BC to have a 10-win season and a bowl victory to show recruits? Those recruits, who are no longer bound to BC, could easily follow TOB to NC State, and would be less enamored to stick to BC if they lost. Just a theory.
The other thing that upset me was Frank Spaziani, the interim head coach and defensive coordinator, who after the game said that BC’s victory today was for Tom O’Brien. Wrong. TOB left, he wasn’t forced out, he wasn’t sitting in his North Carolina home because he was physically unable to be at the game, he jumped ship for a different job. That’s fine, I respect his decision, but the BC victory was not for him, it was for the players on the team, those like Alex Albright and Mark Herzlich, freshmen who came in thanks to O’Brien and now have to deal with the change. Also to guys like Matt Ryan and Jolonn Dunbar, proven juniors who now have to get to know a new coach and a new system for their senior year. The win wasn’t for the old coach, or for the new one, it was for the players on the team, and I am happy for all of them (especially Steve A).

The other game of the last 24 hours that I had the pleasure of watching was the Greenfield/Turners boys basketball game. Reports were true, Scotty Thayer, the coach of Greenfield who was my coach for 4 years, has calmed down on the yelling, and has also rolled out a new relaxed wardrobe. There used to be a a right of passage as a Greenfield High School basketball player that you could count on. That Monday after Thanksgiving, when you laced them up for the first official practice, that you could count on a Scotty that was full of emotion at practice in his Nike Shox. During the games you knew he would be just as loud, but would be wearing an Armani suit. Friday was different. It was weird seeing him absent of both of the GQ look and the piercing yell. He is a young coach, and is still revising his philosophy to get the most out of the team. I think he is doing a good job, and I wish him and the team the best for the rest of the season.

Dave