A Brief Word on College Football “Dream Jobs”

Rob Christy-USA TODAY Sports

When Steve Addazio arrived at Boston College last month, he boldly proclaimed this school to be his “dream job.” Over the past few years, once it became clear that Frank Spaziani’s tenure would end badly, message board rumors had existed that Addazio wanted this job, but it wasn’t the only one. In 2012, “dream job” was a bit of an overused phrase with little meaning.

Now, why is that? It would imply that said job is the one that the coach wanted so badly for such a long time that he’d be in love with it for life if he got it. There aren’t many coaches who wouldn’t want to be at the head of an elite program, which is what one might have associated with the concept of a “dream job.” In the case of others, well, let’s just say the dream keeps evolving.

One need look no further than Arizona State’s Todd Graham, who dumped Pitt for the Sun Devils early in their relationship because he found his “dream job;” given his history of quickly leaving programs, Arizona State will be his dream until the next better opportunity comes along. Such is the nature of the coaching business sometimes.

When it comes to Steve Addazio, the new head coach of Boston College football, there is little doubt in my mind that he gave Brad Bates and the rest of the search committee an impassioned speech about BC being the most amazing place in the world and that there was nowhere else he’d rather be. If this has helped in later recruiting speeches then that’s great, but when you’re stuck at Temple, the grass is always greener on the other side and virtually anything is an upgrade. Had Syracuse’s job been open two months ago, with his son intending to stay there at the time, who knows what BC’s situation would be right now.

These days, a “dream” coaching job isn’t necessarily elite: it’s just one that’s better than the one you currently have.