Frank Spaziani Won’t Be Back at Boston College

Opinion

Boston College announced on Sunday that Frank Spaziani would not return as Eagles head coach for the 2013 season.

Spaziani, who spent thirteen seasons as a Boston College assistant under two different head coaches before landing the head coaching gig in 2009, finished his run as Eagles head coach with a 22-29 record, including a disappointing 2-10 mark this season.Spaziani was on one of the hottest seats in all of the country coming into the season, and it became fairly clear early on that BC’s struggles would ultimately cost him his job.

While Spaziani was respected by many in the Boston College community due to his commitment to the team over the years, its undeniable that his stint as head coach was a dud, as the team saw its win decrease every season he was on the job. The Eagles also only made two bowl games in his four years as head coach, losing both of them.

Now that the Spaziani era is finally over, who will be the next Boston College head coach? Here are five candidates that I believe BC should pursue:

Tom O’Brien, former NC State HC – I’m not exactly sure if Boston College fans are bitter about O’Brien bolting from BC for the NC State job after the 2006 season, but someone would have to give me a fantastic explanation in regards to why the Eagles should avoid bringing him back. After all, O’Brien went 75-45 in his ten seasons with the team and held an impressive 6-1 record in bowl games (my guess is the team would be satisfied with just going to bowl game at this point). NC State did just give Coach O’Brien 1.3 million reasons to just stay home and relax for a year or two, but Boston College would really be hard pressed to find another quality coach to fill their job.

Bobby Wilder, Old Dominion HC – Wilder, who started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Boston College from 1988 to 1989, has done an excellent job as Monarchs head coach, currently holding a 37-9 record in his four seasons on the job. While the school’s decision to move to C-USA in 2013 may make Wilder ponder sticking around a bit longer, it’s clear that his success has made him a viable candidate for this job.

Mario Cristobal, Florida International HC – The Panthers may have had a very disappointing 2012 season (finished 3-9), but that doesn’t take away from the job that Cristobal, a former tight end at Miami, had done, taking over a team that was one of the worst teams in all of FBS and taking them to two bowl games in his fourth and fifth season as head coach. Boston College fans may snicker at hiring a coach that is fresh off a three-win season, but Cristobal has already rebuilt one program, so why couldn’t he do the same for the Eagles?

Tim Murphy, Harvard HC – Murphy has done a great job as Crimson head coach, posting a 128-61 record in his seventeen seasons at Harvard. His longevity as Crimson head coach may make prying him away a bit difficult, but it’s never a bad idea to pursue a head coach that hasn’t had a losing season since 1998.

Chuck Martin, Notre Dame OC – The success of the Fighting Irish this season has all but assured that Martin will have a head coaching job in 2013 if he wants it. A former head coach at Grand Valley State, Martin has been on the Notre Dame coaching staff since 2009 and is in his first season as offensive coordinator. A longtime assistant of Brian Kelly, it would probably take a job in a BCS AQ conference like Boston College to pull Martin out of South Bend.

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