It looks like Gene DeFilippo isn’t happy with just ostracizing football coaches. The following comes from the “Daily Thoughts” portion of the Barstoolsports.com webpage:
According to Barstool Sports’ global network of moles and spies, Boston College athletic director Gene DeFilippo made the decision to dismiss Sean Williams and Akida McLain from the team without notifying head coach Al Skinner. And Skinner is pissed.
The story we’re hearing goes something like this:
Williams and McLain are busted for smoking pot several weeks ago. BC’s head honcho, Fr. William Leahy, feels that the two players have had more than enough chances at The Heights and is strongly leaning in favor of expulsion. Skinner intervenes, convinces Leahy that Williams and McLain deserve to stay.
Then last week after BC smoked Miami by 20 and moved to 5-0 in ACC play, Williams and McLain decided to celebrate with the marijuana and were busted. Again. However, this time, without conferring with Skinner or his staff, DeFilippo contacted both players and informed them that they were gonzo. Skinner was (and apparently is still) extremely upset that DeFilippo made such a major decision about the team he coaches without keeping him in the loop. And some moles are reporting to us that Skinner is so pissed that he has vowed to leave BC after this season and take next season’s highly regarded recruiting class with him.
Skinner leaving BC would be a major, major blow to the basketball program. I’ll admit I questioned whether Skinner was the right guy to lead BC to consistent national championship contention but there’s no doubt that he has found a formula that works at an institution with such a love-hate relationship for big-time DI athletics. Winning at BC, with its rigorous admission standards, is not easy and it’s not a problem many high profile DI head coaching prospects want to deal with. Skinner leaving under such bad circumstances could set back the BC basketball program for years.
January 24th, 2007
If what Barstool Sports wrote is accurate, then it seems that DeFilippo feels that he, not the team’s coach, has the final say on who’s on the men’s basketball team. And while that may be accurate in practice, it sure seems damned short-sighted for DeFilippo to not at least alert Skinner prior to dismissing the players so that the head coach didn’t feel like he had the rug pulled out from underneath him.
Have there been previous instances of Skinner and DeFilippo not getting along? This looks like a power play from the outside – perhaps DeFilippo wants a new head coach to run the basketball team as well? Bob, your take?
January 24th, 2007
I’d never heard of any friction between GDF and Skinner, only the highly publicised feud with O’Brien.