Coach Tom O'Brien is determined to help N.C. State end its two-game losing streak today, even though it means taking down one of his best friends in the business.
Frank Spaziani is in his first season as Boston College's coach. O'Brien brought Spaziani to BC as an assistant in 1997, and their friendship goes back to 1975 when both were assistants at Navy under George Welsh.
"I just want to win the football game," O'Brien said. "I tell my players it's a business trip. I'm not going up there for a social."
Boston College (4-2, 2-2 ACC) has defeated N.C. State (3-3, 0-2) twice since O'Brien arrived in Raleigh. In both games, Spaziani was the defensive coordinator under Jeff Jagodzinski, O'Brien successor.
O'Brien took seven Boston College assistants with him to N.C. State and later added two others with BC ties, so he won't be the only familiar face for Spaziani.
"It'll be no different for me," Spaziani said, starting to laugh. "I hope I do a better job than I did the last two years....
"It's sort of removed now. Things are different. It's not like they were just here yesterday."
O'Brien called Spaziani after the 1996 season and made him the running-backs coach at Boston College. "I wanted him on my staff," O'Brien said. "I know he's a good coach. I know he's a great guy. He's somebody you can trust."
Spaziani was in his fifth season working in the Canadian Football League at the time, and he enjoyed living in Canada but was ready to return to the United States.
"I had a family up there," Spaziani said. "I had made a decision that I wanted to get back to the States for a number of reasons. I didn't want to get back to the States just anywhere.
"When Tom got the Boston College job, I knew a lot about Boston College, having recruited against them. Obviously I knew a lot about Tom. I felt that it was a good situation."
Spaziani was the interim coach after O'Brien left Boston College and led the team to a 25-24 win over Navy in the Meineke Car Care Bowl to cap a 10-3 season. The men and their wives have stayed close.
"Laura (Spaziani's wife) had twins when we first got there," O'Brien said. "Jenny (O'Brien's wife) certainly spent a lot of time with her and the kids, because our kids were grown. They talk probably more on the phone than Frank and I ever would."
The first game between the two will be the hardest. Spaziani isn't sure how O'Brien will get through the day, but he feels certain that he will experience at least some strain.
"As coaches you like to have blank faces across from you because it's so competitive," Spaziani said. "It's easier to compete against something you're not quite sure of who you know. When you start knowing somebody, it takes on a little more personal aspect to it.
"We all certainly know the pain and the joy of winning and losing. It takes on a little different meaning when it's your friends."
bcole@wsjournal.com.
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