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Wed Jan 07, 2009 11:59 am EST

The other shoe falls: Jagodzinski out at Boston College

By Matt Hinton

Off his fateful interview with the Jets, Jeff Jagodzinski met with Boston College athletic director Gene DeFilippo this morning, and the AD's tough talk must become reality: Jags is officially out as head coach, according to the Boston Globe, backed up in more cautious terms by the Boston Herald. A press conference is expected later today. Top BC blog Eagle in Atlanta is feeling nostalgic (though he doesn't mention Jags' joyous "Matt Ryan Just Won the Game" dance, for some reason).

Jagodzinski is going to land on his feet in the pros, probably not as a head coach (no one seems to consider him a likely candidate for the Jets, despite the hoopla surrounding his interview), but possibly as the Seahawks' offensive coordinator. As for BC, all signs point to longtime defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani or another member of the current staff succeeding Jags, though the Herald also expects an outside search, which means the new hire probably won't be announced at the same press conference at which his old boss is canned.

This may seem like a rash move by DeFilippo, out of some misguided pride that no coach of his should want to even consider leaving a plum spot at Boston College, but he has to go through with the thing after the staring match of the last four days. Jagodzinski hasn't been above-board, either: DeFilippo apparently learned about Jags' dalliance with the Jets from the media just hours after he'd been told face-to-face by his coach that he wasn't interested in the pros, and says he hasn't been able get in touch with Jagodzinski throughout the process. I'm not taking sides. But as with so many relationships, this one seems to have been done in first and foremost by communication.


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UPDATE, 3:57 p.m ET: The press conference makes it official. DeFilippo called Jagodzinski "a wonderful person," but the next coach will be "somebody who really wants to be at Boston College, and who is going to be here for the length of their contract." He could come from within, as expected, or from an external search of "at least two or more" candidates not scared away from this little episode.

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13 Comments

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  1. D. Witt
    1. Posted by D. Witt Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:38 pm EDT

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    I'm gonna be the first to say Turner Gil.
    But yeah this is stupid.
  2. Mark H
    2. Posted by Mark H Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:33 pm EDT

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    I guess Boston College meant Business. If he knows anything about Defense, Alabama has an Opening.
  3. Hitman
    3. Posted by Hitman Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:48 pm EDT

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    Gut less, no class DeFilippo. I wonder how attractive the B.C. head coaching position is now perceived? Also, I am sure that when DeFilippo interviewed for the B.C. job his previous employer fired him. De Filippo you are a worm.
  4. Brian
    4. Posted by Brian Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:14 pm EDT

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    Kudos to the AD and president of BC for expecting their head coach to both be honest with them and live up to the contract he signed.
  5. ss89
    5. Posted by ss89 Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:43 pm EDT

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    The fascist tactics of Boston College will probably cost them.
  6. IDGAD
    6. Posted by IDGAD Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:27 pm EDT

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    Just points out the fragility of performance 'contracts' in sports. Confidence and motivation have very heavy weighting in expectations. If your guy doesn't want to be there and you're looking to him for production, not good. If your guy has lost your confidence or your favor due to lack of production or for other professional or personal reasons, again not good. Either way the business relationship is damaged and motivation and confidence are gone. Little point in maintaining the relationship; the school, the players, the coach all lose. That's why coaching contracts are worth so little when push comes to shove. Chances are better than even that BC would dump the coach if losing became an issue; or even so petty a thing as telling the wrong joke to the wrong party.
  7. Shadow
    7. Posted by Shadow Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:57 pm EDT

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    This is complete garbage. All this guy wanted to do is try to reach the next level. What happens if he does not get the job with the Jets? Did his contract say that he could not interview with anyone until his cotract was up. Sue the bastards!
  8. James S
    8. Posted by James S Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:33 pm EDT

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    Coach Jag, please call Syracuse. The Big East needs you.
    BC's AD and Pres. must be Notre Dame grads trying to stop the madness.
    This is not playground stuff, it is business. Football pays a lot of University bills.
  9. john y
    9. Posted by john y Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:51 pm EDT

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    So by DeFilippo's logic, NO ONE who is currently a coach with a job at ANY SCHOOL should interview for the BC head coaching job. By interviewing with BC, the candidate would be showing disloyalty to their current employer and would be immediately fired just for interviewing. So if DeFilippo doesn't hire them they are out of luck. Also, why would DeFilippo hire any current coach who has a track record of disloyality as proven by consenting to interview with BC while holding another coaching job. So either DeFilippo will be a hypocrite for stealing another school's coach, or an idiot by hiring someone who is currently out of work or has no college coaching experience.
  10. Lee S
    10. Posted by Lee S Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:48 pm EDT

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    Finally a school and it's AD are enforcing contracts! Congrats Boston College, you did great!!!
  11. Aaron
    11. Posted by Aaron Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:47 pm EDT

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    So schools can fire you for any reason but if you look to improve your situation they fire you? What a hypocritical Christian school.
  12. Johnny Appleseed
    12. Posted by Johnny Appleseed Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:39 pm EDT

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    Wow. A school actually punishing an employee for NOT abiding to a contract.
    Let me put it this way: If Jagodzinski sues for the salary left on his contract, claiming that he was unrightfully fired, he would not get anything. Why? Because he breached the terms of the contract, and therefore Boston College has every right to fire him. They could have chosen not to fire him, and let him take the interview unharmed, but they decided to assert their authority.
  13. THOR
    13. Posted by THOR Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:13 pm EDT

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    In real life, the employer (BC) would never know the employee (coach) was interviewing with someone else. Be honest, if you were looking to move up to a better opportunity, would you tell your current boss? If you were smart, no one would know. If you got the better job, you move on, if not, no harm-no foul. Unfortunately, this is not real life, it's College Sports, and it's all in the public eye.

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