Can Donahue make a successful transition to the Eagles and the ACC?
Can he recruit ACC-caliber players? Most importantly, can Donahue make Boston College relevant in a city that is not known for supporting college sports?
While most Boston College alums are questioning this hire, there is one thing they all agree on: Al Skinner had to go.
On the positive side, Skinner leaves with the most wins in Boston College history. In 13 seasons at Chestnut Hill, Skinner led the Eagles to the NCAA tournament seven times. However, BC has struggled of late and Skinner’s flex offense has bored fans to death. It was definitely time for a change.
Now comes the Donahue era. Donahue has 10 years of head coaching experience, all with Cornell. He has led the Big Red to three consecutive NCAA appearances, including a run to the Sweet 16 this year.
This is exactly what coaches from mid-major conferences do. They have one or two good years and then parlay that into a better opportunity — which coaches have every right to do. It is great to see a coach like Brad Stevens sign a long-term deal at Butler, but you cannot fault someone like Donahue for wanting to take advantage of this opportunity.
Yet in accepting the BC job, Donahue is accepting the major challenge of trying to gain relevancy in a city that does not care about college sports nearly as much as it cares about professional sports.
To make the Eagles newsworthy, Donahue will have to do two things. First, he will need to make BC a winner with no drop-off from the Skinner tenure. Secondly, he must make the Eagles fun to watch. Skinner had seasons where the Eagles were winners, but they were never a must-see.
Ask fans of Boston College what they think of Skinner and one response will be by far the most prevalent. It will be something to the effect of “the flex offense is boring.” More strongly worded variations of that statement can be heard at college bars at Chestnut Hill.
The fact is, in Boston, pro sports trump all. In order for a college team to make a real dent in the sports scene — beyond the alumni of that school — the team must be fun to watch. Back when Matt Ryan quarterbacked the Eagles' football team, people paid
attention. Basketball was never exciting under Skinner, even when they were winning. Because of this, attendance at Conte Forum has dropped in each of the past four seasons.
Can Steve Donahue bring passion to BC basketball?
Yes, he can.
For starters, Boston College had only one senior this past season and he was its fifth leading scorer — Tyler Roche. BC should field a quality team next year, which is usually not the case for a first-year coach. A new coach often inherits a team with little talent.
Donahue can absolutely make BC a team more people want to watch. They will probably never compete with the Celtics, but BC can be a viable second option. If Donahue can bring a more exciting brand of basketball, plus win a good number of games his first season (a March Madness appearance would be nice), then you could quickly see a change in the way people view BC basketball.
Plus, having a good season in year one is a great way to convince high school recruits to play for you.
Here’s the good news for current BC fans: Even if Donahue fails miserably, at least you won’t have to watch the flex offense anymore.
