News
Email
Print
Expectations: BC's Spaziani says there's no such thing as an Eagles honeymoon
AP File Photo
Coach Frank Spaziani talks to BC quarterback Justin Tuggle.
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: September 25, 2009
Updated: 09/25/2009 09:38 am
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Frank Spaziani spent 39 years climbing one of the tallest career ladders in football history, finally arriving at the top of the Boston College pile last January.
Coach Spaz's smile raised his perpetual mustache to new heights, and the promotion from defensive coordinator puffed up his paycheck.
Even while staying in the same place, he realized that the work had changed. "It didn't take very long," Spaziani said. "It took about a day."
It didn't take very long to reach a competitive milestone, either. Three games into his first season, Spaziani and the Eagles have reached a crossroads, with Wake Forest arriving for a 2 p.m. kickoff Saturday.
BC whisked past Northeastern and Kent State by a combined score of 88-7, then flew straight into a Clemson thunderstorm. Lightning delays extended the game to nearly five hours, but lightning never struck the Eagles' offense. They gained just 54 yards during a 25-7 defeat that raised concerns about ACC readiness and prospects for an 11th straight bowl.
Bumpy ride
Alumni fret like that during transitions. Spaziani tells folks that he's the third head coach in four seasons and doesn't expect a smooth ride.
The churn began when the Tom O'Brien-BC marriage grew somewhat stale despite 45 victories in O'Brien's final five seasons. Athletics Director Gene DeFilippo, a former football assistant who engineered BC's move from the Big East, endorsed the O'Brien transfer to N.C. State.
Spaziani, a staff member since 1997, lobbied for the BC promotion, but DeFilippo chose Jeff Jagodzinski. Coach Jags -- no full names need apply here -- jazzed up the offense, with notable help from assistant Steve Logan and quarterback Matt Ryan. The Eagles soared to No. 2 in the AP poll, stumbled twice and won their division. With Ryan gone last season, BC returned to the title game, again falling to Virginia Tech.
Against DeFilippo's wishes, Coach Jags interviewed with the New York Jets. The next day, BC cut him loose. (Jagodzinski joined Tampa Bay as offensive coordinator but was fired after three exhibitions.)
Familiar ground
DeFilippo wanted a loyalist who understood BC's recruiting and academic goals. In the past seven classes, the graduation rate has ranged from 89 to 100 percent. Spaziani, energetic at 62, checked all the boxes.
"There's a certain area we recruit," Spaziani said. "We all have our circles. It's just that we've got the Atlantic Ocean on one side of our circle…. We're not a lot of other colleges. What they do is good. We are what we are, and we love it that way."
The low number of high-profile New England recruits encourages BC to seek prospects from the fertile grounds of Pennsylvania, Texas and Florida, with sweeps through New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois and even the Southeast.
Spaziani has worked most of those fields. He grew up in New Jersey, the son of Italian immigrants, and was the last Penn State player Joe Paterno recruited as an assistant coach. Spaziani became a branch on the George Welsh coaching tree, with stops at Penn State, Navy, Virginia and in the Canadian Football League.
Now, he's the boss. He's the administrator, the delegator and the lightning rod -- and you can forget quaint notions of a honeymoon.
"I've never felt that way," he said. "I'm not sure what a honeymoon is. It seems like a mixed message. Do you tell guys that we don't have to work as hard right now? I don't think so. We just go to work."
The work never ends, especially when the hard work begins. That would be Saturday.
Email
Print
