Dear Fellow Eagles,
As a highly valued and loyal supporter, we write to provide you with an update on the state of Boston College Athletics.
I understand and certainly share your disappointment in the record of our football and men’s basketball teams this past season. Ultimately, our University mission is “Ever to Excel” and winning is a significant measure of excellence. I believe winning is important because it is developmentally meaningful, and nobody is more disappointed in the record of these two highly visible sports than our coaches and administration. We feel most for the student-athletes on these teams whose tireless efforts and dedication were not rewarded in the win-loss column.
Even the most successful intercollegiate football and basketball programs have suffered through losing seasons. Ours have understandably received more attention due to our failure to win an ACC game in these two sports this year. This has been well documented in the news media recently and will continue to be in the coming days. We offer no excuses for these unsuccessful seasons.
When times get tough, people want to know two things – how it happened and what will be done about it. How did we arrive at this point? It’s easy to cast blame, but the harder, more productive course of action is to acknowledge our failures and learn from them. What will be done about it? We have two excellent coaches in Steve Addazio and Jim Christian, and I have total confidence in their ability to fix the situation. Both understand the challenges ahead and have plans in place to address them and produce winning programs. I have absolutely no doubt they will succeed.
Administratively, the University recently announced a commitment of more than $200 million to improve athletics facilities. This speaks to the support of our administration as we continuously assess our needs and plan for the future. There are some tremendous success stories unfolding at this moment, from our women’s ice hockey team’s undefeated season, our men’s ice hockey team’s postseason possibilities and a terrific start for some of our spring sports. We completed our fall sports seasons with our highest fall finish ever in the Learfield Sports Director’s Cup standings. Great things are happening in BC Athletics.
Yet, in the world of college athletics, we must also win in football and basketball. As we have in the past, we will fight back, and we will win. We are BC.
Thank you for your patience, loyalty and continued support.
Sincerely,
Brad Bates
William V. Campbell Director of Athletics