Whipple Boner

Looks like the Globe is reporting the football post is Whipple's job to lose. He won't. As I suspected (and predicted) even before TOB was constructively discharged last week (love NC State's AD's comment to the Globe about what GDF said when he asked for permission to interview TOB: "That's fine"), Whipple has been in GDF's crosshairs for a while. In fact, I'll bet he has been on GDF's very very short list since TOB initially started whining about his salary and looking around for a job two years ago with U-Dub. I was curious as to whether GDF hired TOB. I checked it out and learned that he didn't - Chet Gladchuk hired him a month or so before GDF took the reigns at BC. So TOB was never GDF's guy. I'm sure GDF thinks TOB did a good job over 10 years, was a good steward of the program, navigated BC out of the Dan Henning mess, etc., but every AD wants to make the calls with the high profile revenue sports eventually. And the time was right. Things had gotten stale for BC, TOB, GDF, the fans and the players. This is a great time for a fresh start, with a loaded returning BC team and an exciting coach like Whipple coming in. As you all know, I have been following Whipple for a long time, back to when he was at Brown (I am an Ivy League graduate as well and follow the Ivies pretty closely in addition to BC). Whipple did amazing things at Brown, and even more amazing things at UMass (inheriting a 2-9 team and taking them to the national championship the next year). This guy will come in and the offense will be explosive. No doubt. The key is whether he can get a good Defensive Coordinator to be his No. 2 guy. When UMass won the national championship in 1998, that guy was Don Brown, who took over for Whipple at UMass after a HC stint at Northeastern. I will be watching the Div. 1-AA game (UMass-Appalatian State) Friday night with keen interest. I think if UMass wins, it would be logical step for Don Brown to rejoin Whipple at BC as Def. Coordinator to burnish his credentials for his own D-1 HC job, and if that comes together, BC will have a great, great coaching tandem to start kicking ass in the ACC.