7-5 Boston College Football Seasons Are Fine, For Now

While Boston College football awaits its bowl invitation, and as the school is about to mark two full years since the start of the Steve Addazio era, it is perfectly acceptable to commend the Eagles for restoring order to their program.

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The previous four seasons, to which we here have referred as the Dark Period™, were a troubling time for Boston College football. Losses piled up and the program got further and further away from competitiveness with each passing game. Not for many years had Eagles fans been resigned to such levels of gridiron futility.

When Addazio was hired in December 2012, he made it his mission to change the culture of the Boston College football program. He has done it by attentiveness to recruiting and getting the team back to putting forth credible efforts. The team is admittedly a work in progress, but they have achieved consecutive 7-5 regular seasons when the “experts” had low expectations.

This is acceptable for now. In 2012, Boston College football had its worst season in almost 35 years when they went 2-10. A few marginal winning seasons coming off of that helped get the program’s self-respect back. When Tom O’Brien inherited the Eagles in 1997, coming off of the gambling scandal and 4-8 (1995) and 5-7 (1996) seasons, he went 4-7 in each of his first two years. Comparatively, there is no question that Boston College is much better than it was before Addazio’s first two seasons.

Yet, just because 7-5 is alright now does not mean that seven or even eight wins is an aspirational goal for every Eagles team. It should be the minimum level of success Boston College football achieves. With any luck, the Eagles are building a foundation for future success.

Next year may be another transition year with a new offensive line and quarterback. 7-5 could again be the sort of season we celebrate, but in the long-term interests of the program, this cannot go on.

If you are trying to pinpoint about when the Eagles will need to start showing up, look to the 2016 season. Our stable of running backs will be upperclassmen and that new offensive line won’t be so new anymore. Further, by then, this team will be all Addazio players.

Consider that the first Addazio season at 7-6 was a big improvement. Consider also that the second Addazio season at 7-5, pending one game, is better than widely expected. Finally, consider that turnover in 2015 could put the Eagles again into a range where six or seven wins would look good. That might seem great coming from 2012, but if this is about where the Eagles fall every year, there will be a point where that record does not look good anymore.

Some might see this as an ungrateful position, but Addazio’s own stated goal is to contend for championships. This team is not there yet, and who knows if that will happen in reality, but the coach himself probably would not be satisfied with squeaking out bowl eligibility every year. We all want more for the program.

Short of a big setback next season in year three, the fans will probably still be in Addazio’s corner. However, in year four, put up or shut up time will be quickly on its way. Boston College football fans should be pleased with what the coach has done for the program so far; the team has restored its pride and is back to some semblance of competitiveness. The Eagles are back on the map. Through almost two full seasons, though, it is time to start thinking about trajectory.

It can start trending up with a bowl win this month.

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