On the Debacle Firing of Boston College Football Headcoach

You can’t make this stuff up.

Boston College football’s head coach Jeff Jagodzinski, affectionately known as Jags, will be fired by Boston College after proceeding to interview for the New York Jets’ vacant head coach position even after Athletic Director Gene DeFelippo warned him doing so would lead to his termination.

This bizarre turn of events came out of nowhere but the consequences were immediate and obvious.  Regardless of whether Jags interviewed for the job or not, he was out because the relationship between the AD and the coach was irreparably broken.

I think  it’s important to summarize what appears to be the facts of the case.  The rumor that there is a provision in Jags’ contract that precluded him from interviewing for a head coaching position for three years is apparently incorrect.  There was only a mutual understanding, according to DeFilippo, that the coach would stick around for the long haul.  So, the public relations nightmare can’t easily be settled with “Jags was fired because he breached his contract.”  If only it were that simple.

It also appears, from the same Boston Globe source, that problems began to develop when DeFelippo first heard of Jags’ interview with the Jets from a reporter who called him for comments.  If the report is to be believed, Jags lied to DeFelippo, who was previously told by the coach he was not contacted by the Jets, only to discover an interview was scheduled when he called Jags to confirm what the reporter had told him.  At that point, DeFelippo issued his ultimatum.

What a mess.  This is not going to end well regardless of what happens.  The fact is that these are dark times for Boston College football.  During Jagodzinski’s two year tenure, the Eagles reached #2 in the national rankings, went to two straight Atlantic Coast Conference championship game by winning the Atlantic Division, won a school record 11 games, and produced the third pick in the NFL draft who is likely to be the Rookie of the year.  The program did everything short of going and winning a BCS bowl game, but by all accounts recruitment is still abysmal.  If these two years didn’t set the foundations for a future in the national limelight, nothing will.  Instead, BC is in the national headlines for all the wrong reasons instigated by Jags’ apparent desire to jump ship.

I want to be clear, though, that I’m not faulting Jags for wanting and pursuing an NFL job.  On ESPN, it was suggested that it’s petty for BC and DeFelippo to not permit Jags to seek other jobs.  I agree and in retrospect, Jags’ desire to return to the NFL was to be expected.  Jags came from the pros.  Despite spending a couple years being a BC assistant, he built up his resume in the professional league and BC should have been aware of the risk he’d be lured back to his roots.  Quite frankly, I never thought any NFL team would show interest in BC’s head coach, but then, I never thought Coach Jags would be this successful.

As I understand the situation, though–and a lot of facts are still yet to be revealed–it wasn’t Jags’ pursuit of the NFL job that caused the problem as much as how he went about pursuing it.  In that sense, I find most of the opinions accusing DeFelippo of being naive, such as this or this, to be off base.  Presumably had Jags gone through the proper channels, that is, have the Jets contact the athletic department to seek permission, receive it, and schedule an interview, DeFelippo’s issues with Jags’ pursuit would have been far more limited.  Granted DeFelippo probably would have been displeased–it appears he understandably wants a constant and stable presence as head coach–but it’s hard to imagine him issuing an ultimatum if the overture was properly pursued and he was fully informed of the situation.

Instead, Jags apparently lied to DeFelippo about being contacted by the Jets.  Even if not, it’s clear he outright lied to to the Globe.  We’ve seen this kind of conduct before, most memorably from Nick Saban when he abandoned the Miami Dolphins to become head coach at Alabama.  And this is where I have problems with what Jags did.  It may be a commonly expected, even if not accepted, practice to lie about overtures from other employers.  But Boston College is not Alabama, Auburn, or Arkansas.  The school and its athletic program present themselves with dignity and principles when they approach and hire a coach and they demand the same in return from the coach.  The program takes seriously the “student” of student-athlete.  It believes in education and graduation rates.  It believes in producing young men with character and honor who will be able to meaningfully contribute to society after football.  This is not a hollow rhetoric.  BC football has lived it as evidenced by its consistently high graduation rates, high ratio of fifth year seniors, and absence from the headlines of legal troubles of the program’s players and coaches.

Listening to Coach Jags over the past two years, I thought he was sold on the message.  He talked about recruiting men of character and the importance of educating his players.  Perhaps he does get it, but didn’t realize the same high standards were expected of the coaches. The reason why I ultimately side with DeFelippo in this mess is because he has been the athletic director of Boston College for over a decade and Jags has been around for only two years.  DeFelippo fully understands the standards and commitment expected of the Boston College Eagles even as he pursues the highest of athletic achievements.  I trust his judgment over Jags’.

There is no happy ending to this story.  It, in fact, borders on the tragic when BC football appeared to be on the cusp of greatness.  Whatever recruitment there was will never recover and the name of the school will long be stained for future recruits.  The program, I am now convinced, will never be able to achieve national prominence in football prowess.  But what DeFelippo can do–in fact, must do–is to clearly set forth the factual circumstances that led to Coach Jags’ firing and the reasons and principles underlying his dismissal.  He must show that this highly unusual turn of events unfoleded precisely because Boston College is unique among its peers.  It is not just a sports program.  It is a collegiate sports program that values the education it instills on its participants.