Boston College Football: Top 10 candidates to replace Steve Addazio

Boston College football has moved on from Steve Addazio after seven seasons in Chestnut Hill. Who are his potential replacements?

Steve Addazio was an even 44-44 in seven seasons at Boston College. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what got him fired, but there are some factors to point to. He was 22-34 in the ACC in his seven seasons — that’s 3 wins a year — and never finished above .500 or higher than third in the ACC Atlantic. Addazio’s high water mark was seven wins — he won seven games five of his six full seasons at Chestnut Hill.

Addazio could very well be the victim of a new athletic director as well. He was hired by Brad Bates who stepped down in 2017 to take a job at a consulting firm. He was replaced by Martin Jarmond who simply might want to find “his” coach.

Like every other program that decides to part ways with their coach, two vital questions have to be answered. First, what’s the university’s plan to find a coach? Second, how does the athletic director view the program’s ceiling? The first question is vital; the goal is to find a coach that can elevate the program. If Boston College has another coach who can’t win more than seven games a season, there was no point in letting Addazio go. The second is important because an athletic director needs to be realistic about who they are and what they can be.

Boston College is a private Jesuit school in Massachusetts. Along with their academic standards, the Eagles have one of the worst recruiting footprints in the country. New England doesn’t produce big time Power Five-level football players, and when they do it’s no guarantee they go to Boston College.

Though they completed construction of the $53 million Fish Fieldhouse 2018, Boston College still lags behind most teams in the ACC in football specific facilities. Since 2000 the Eagles have won 10 games twice (2006-07). All time winningest coach Tom O’Brien won nine games 4-of-6 years from 2001-06, but most of those were in the Big East. In those years from 2000-2019 the Eagles have gone to 15 bowl games, but no major bowls.

Does Jarmond think the Eagles have a higher ceiling than the Pinstripe and Quick Lane bowls? If he thinks they can compete with Clemson and Florida State eventually, that will play largely into how this coaching search is conducted. If he thinks they should at least be able to cycle up and win more than seven games, that will influence the search.

Here are some potential candidates to be the next candidate for the Boston College coaching vacancy.