Gene, Gene The Firing Machine

EL HOMBRE KNOWS SPORTS

When Gene DeFilippo was athletic director at Villanova, he decided the school’s sporting image needed some updating. Granted, ‘Nova’s staid blue-and-white color scheme had been pretty bland, and its wildcat mascot was of the ratty, grade-school-prop-room variety. Within a year, red and “copper” had been added to the team’s uniforms, and the cat looked as if it had been shopping for some J.C. Romero’s special vitamins at GNC.

DeFilippo was well pleased. Standing on the Palestra floor a few minutes before one basketball game, he said, “I love our new mascot.” The consensus opinion of those around him did not echo that sentiment. DeFilippo was undaunted. He had taken a few first steps toward making Villanova athletics more marketable, even if that Barry Bonds-headed mascot did look ridiculous, and the school’s hoops uniforms looked like a Jackson Pollock painting.

Wednesday afternoon, DeFilippo took a big step toward burnishing Boston College’s reputation, or at least that’s how he looked at it. By firing head football coach Jeff Jagodzinski for the sin of interviewing with the New York Jets to replace deposed boss Eric Mangini, DeFilippo was trying to establish BC as a long-term destination, as opposed to a way station en route to Bigger Things. It is an admirable pursuit, no matter how counter it runs to the reality of the school’s athletic history or how much it stands out in today’s climate of broken contracts – on both sides of the ledger.

DeFilippo’s anger was born out of plain deception and the desire for continuity in a program that has been one of the most successful in the nation over the past decade. When he asked Jagodzinski if the coach was entertaining the idea of moving on, Jagodzinski assured DeFilippo that was not the case. Not long after, DeFilippo was floored when a reporter asked for his reaction to news that the coach would be interviewing with the Jets and perhaps watching Cowboy Quarterback toss another series of spirit-breaking interceptions next season.

At first, there were reports Jagodzinski was in violation of his contract, which supposedly included a clause preventing him from looking elsewhere, presumably for the first three years of his five-season term. It soon became clear DeFilippo’s ire was not due to a legal violation but rather a more nebulous spurning of the deal’s spirit and the relationship between coach, AD and school. DeFilippo said Jagodzinski had promised not to attempt a career upgrade until after the ’09 campaign, if at all. He was also fuming over Jagodzinski’s alleged lie about contact with the Jets. Finally, after working so hard to re-cast BC’s image by bringing it into the ACC and establishing it as top shelf across the board – or so he thought – DeFilippo couldn’t stomach a two-year coach using his program as a launching pad. Forget that football coaches (Frank Leahy, Tom Coughlin, Tom O’Brien) have done that for decades in Chestnut Hill; DeFilippo didn’t want it on his watch, especially after O’Brien’s exit to ACC rival NC State after the ’06 campaign.

So, DeFilippo issued the ultimatum: Interview with the Jets and lose your job. Jagodzinski interviewed and lost his job.

As it should be.

While DeFilippo’s view of BC may be a bit grandiose, given the school’s facilities deficit within the ACC and the nation, he is well within his rights as an employer to demand honesty and commitment from the person he hired. Jagodzinski might have received the same take-it-or-leave-it answer from DeFilippo had he been forthright from the start, or he could have been given permission to try for the Jets’ top job, clearly a step forward from his current position. And even though there is no clause in the contract prohibiting Jagodzinski from interviewing, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if he and DeFilippo had spoken of a three-year commitment, with an eye on a much longer relationship. For those two reasons, DeFilippo is completely justified in firing Jagodzinski, who doesn’t seem like he is too unhappy to be leaving Boston College, especially since he’s being rumored for other jobs so quickly after his dismissal. Could he have been speaking to others all along? That seems pretty likely.

As DeFilippo trolls for a replacement (outstanding defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani is the interim boss), he would be wise to remember the value of finding someone who fits the position. Jagodzinski was primarily a pro coach who probably would be looking to get back to the NFL at some point. Reports are also that he wasn’t the best recruiter around, no surprise since pro coaches don’t have to engage in that part of the football business. DeFilippo might not be able to get a big name, but he should be able to find a capable man interested in staying at Boston College for an extended period. That way, he can help the AD establish the school as a destination and perhaps live to see a couple more uniform changes and mascot updates.

While DeFilippo worries about his next football boss, Bob Stoops and Urban Meyer have a game to coach. Each may well be moving on down the road – Stoops to the Broncos, although he denies interest, and Meyer to Notre Dame, whenever Heavy C is deposed – but tonight, each will try to collect his second “national title.” Stoops is at the helm of the most fearsome offense in college football history, even if its recent victims put up less resistance than Germany faced in the Sudetenland. Meyer directs a glorified sprint relay team masquerading as a football outfit and an offense that harkens back to the days of wishbone football and tear-away jerseys. Thanks to their appeal to computer models and clueless voters (see Poll, Harris), they have ascended to the top of the asinine BCS hierarchy and get to take the field in between commercials tonight. While propagandists and Fox hypesters try to convince us of the game’s mammoth importance, even if both schools could well be worse than USC, Texas (which beat Oklahoma) and even Utah, here are some clues to the game’s winner.

* Florida QB Tim Tebow received the most first-place Heisman votes, but because a group of astrophysicists in the southwest chose to leave him off their ballots completely, he lost his bid for a second Mr. Stiff-Arm to OU’s Sam Bradford and his exponential statistics. Forget about that as motivation for Tebow, although he may well be worked into a greater froth than usual. He’s the nation’s best football player and has the capacity to make huge plays that win games.

* The Gators’ special teams are superior to OU’s, a big deal in a game that could be decided by less than a touchdown. Expect to see Florida unearth some of that “hidden yardage” (the latest overused buzzword) with its exceptional coverage and return units.

* The loss of running back DeMarco Murray will hurt the Sooners. Chris Brown can gain a lot of yards, but he lacks Murray’s giddy-up and big-play ability. Bradford passed for nine million yards this year, but it was Oklahoma’s balance that keyed the late-season scoring orgy. Without Murray, the Sooners won’t be able to run the ball as well and should be less eruptive.

* The Oklahoma defense has been used to playing second halves of games in basic schemes, the better to keep things under control as the Sooner offense crackled. Faced with an opponent that likely won’t be down by 40 at halftime, it will be interesting to see if that outfit is capable of hunkering down in a key situation or if it will crumble, as it did late in the loss to Texas.

The Verdict: If you don’t know which way El Hombre is leaning, don’t take the SAT, because you’ll get killed on the reading comprehension section. Florida 30, Oklahoma 24.

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EL HOMBRE SEZ: After all the self-congratulating and chest-thumping was over, espn was left with an interesting story about former Cowboys corner Space Invader Jones. If he indeed ordered an accused murderer to fire at someone with whom he had been in a dispute, he needs to be banned for life from the NFL. That’s life, as in no parole, no second (or 12th) chance, no nothing. He’s a huge distraction that hurts the league’s credibility. Good riddance…The Celtics have lost six of eight and appear old and mortal. What a shame. The good news is that they’re discussing the perfect tonic for their problems: Adding Stephon Me-bury. Let’s get this straight: the Celtics could be losing and fighting among each other at the same time? Sign him now!…It seems Brett Favre is upset some of his Jets teammates felt he was aloof and weren’t too thrilled with his propensity for stinking at key times of games, especially down the stretch of the season. Get used to it, Brett. Few other than fawning media sycophants have the stomach for your will-I/won’t-I retirement act and your save-the-day persona – especially when you don’t deliver. Here’s some advice: Hang ‘em up. And do so with a one-line press release that reads, “I’m done.”…The NHL is considering playing some games on Christmas Day, the better to capitalize on the success of its “Winter Classic” outdoor games. Classic move by commissioner Gary Bettman, who thought it a great idea to expand into hockey hotbeds Nashville, Atlanta and Miami, instead of focusing on core league cities. The New Year’s thing works because it’s unique. No one is going to put down the wassail to catch a Blackhawks-Bruins game, unless Bobby Hull and Bobby Orr are playing.

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YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT? On the one hand, you have to love J.C. Romero’s unwillingness to accept a plea bargain in his banned-substance imbroglio, because it would have prohibited him from playing in last fall’s World Series. Way to take one for the team, J.C. But his decision to use the stuff in the first place was silly, because it had already been red-flagged, and several players who had taken the time to call the Players Association hotline had learned that 6-OXO Extreme contained androstenedione, one of Mark McGwire’s favorites. It’s tough to tell what’s right and wrong in the world of supplements, since not all ingredients are listed on the container, but Romero could have been sure in this case. Instead, he chose to forge ahead blindly and will pay a 50-game (and $1.25 million) price. Let’s hope he’s a cautionary tale for others and that new addition Chan Ho Park doesn’t mind a couple months in the bullpen.

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AND ANOTHER THING: Since El Hombre was off for a couple weeks celebrating the holidays in the Maldives, he wasn’t able to give you the gift of his wild-card NFL picks. Had he done it, you would have been thrilled, since EH was 3-1 (who knew the Cardinals could play well?). Well, get your pencils sharpened, because this week’s choices should be equally successful. Take Baltimore and the points against Tennessee, and don’t be surprised if the Ravens win outright. Pittsburgh is more than a touchdown better than the Chargers, who might get tiny Darren Sproles killed if they use him too much against the avaricious Steeler defense. Look for ‘Zona to fold up nicely in Carolina, where the Panthers roll to a comfortable double-digit win. And give the points up in Hoffaland, where the Giants’ pass rush and ground game stops the Philadelphia party and sends Andy Reid (mercifully) in search of a razor.

-EH-