Boston College Football: Top 10 candidates to replace Steve Addazio

Al Washington makes this list simply because he played and coached at Boston College. He probably doesn’t have the skins on the wall to run a program yet, but they said the same thing about Dabo Swinney when he took over at Clemson as well. Washington is a riser in coaching circles who has proven himself to be a good developer of talent, and he can recruit — two things you need to have a modicum of success at a place like Boston College.

Jeff Hafley is a rising star in the coaching ranks that might not have enough experience either, but there’s nothing wrong with picking fruit from one of the elite programs in college football and see what happens. He makes the list because he’s from New Jersey and understands the Eastern Seaboard. He can recruit, and we’ve seen the turnaround the Buckeyes have had in his first year as defensive coordinator. He might need a few more years before he’s a serious candidate for a head coaching job, but if some of their top choices say no, Hafley might get a call.

Rich Rodriguez makes sense because you have a dual-threat quarterback and two stud running backs both of which are perfect for what he likes to do offensively. Like Jason Candle, Rodriguez isn’t much on coaching defense, but once he get’s the personnel he wants his offenses can light up a scoreboard. He’s done a great job rebuilding the offense at Ole Miss and made quarterbacks like Pat White, Denard Robinson and Khalil Tate Heisman candidates.

His experience at places like Tulane and West Virginia would help him recruit to Boston College. He’s done well as a head coach in places that are a bit out of the way like Arizona and West Virginia — that would also serve him well at Boston College.