[Update, 11:45 a.m. on Thursday: Here’s a full story in today’s Daily Free Press about the promotions, complete with quotes from O’Connell and Young.]
The departure of former associate head coach Steve Greeley to the New York Rangers in mid-August left a hole to be filled in the Boston University men’s hockey coaching staff.
On Wednesday, BU announced that assistant coach Albie O’Connell will fill Greeley’s spot, and director of hockey operations Scott Young will be promoted to assistant coach.
Young was originally reported to be the one slated to get Greeley’s job, per Jeff Cox of SB Nation, but some hiccups along the way made that difficult. Mike McMahon of College Hockey News tweeted that “Young was said to be the man in line for Greeley’s vacant spot as soon as it opened. Small hurdle with admin, not major, & now official” and added that the “issue was that he doesn’t have a degree. Left BU after 2 yrs.”
O’Connell and Young joined the Terriers last summer but had spent their college hockey careers with BU as well. O’Connell played for the scarlet and white from 1995-99 and captained the team during its 1998-99 season. Young skated for BU for two seasons from 1985-87 before leaving to begin his 17-season NHL career that included two Stanley Cup championships and three Olympic appearances.
Prior to returning to BU, O’Connell served as an assistant coach around the region, including stints with Harvard (2011-14), Northeastern (2008-11), Merrimack (2007-08), Holy Cross (2006-07) and Niagara (2004-06). And after Young hung up his skates, he was the head coach at the St. Mark’s School from 2010-14.
Best wishes to both Albie and Scott in their new roles. I wonder who DQ will get to become the new “Director of Hockey Operations”.
Another example of administration over reaching and negatively impacting the Hockey program . In my opinion they cannot keep undermining Dave. Not a good reason Scott should not have been named associate Head Coach if he was the first choice.
In all due respect, Larry, I think Albie deserved the job. He has paid his dues and is a top notch recruiter. if he did not get this position, he could easily have fled to Yale where there is an opening for an associate head coach. i do NOT like the BU administration at all, but i will take that they gave the green light to allow Young to coach and recruit. i know young was a great player, but he needs to pay some dues in the college game before he gets that job. it can’t be just based on the fact that he and DQ are tight buddies
Now who will be the DOHO? i want a former pro who is tight with the staff. and i want the best guy out there even if it means he did not go to BU (he can not be an eagle, however)
Now the issue is going to be about these stipends. we need them to let DQ pay recruits the extra money in order to stay competitive with the those schools who are giving the extra boost. that will be another area where the admin needs to step up. they do that, and i can better live with the letenov rejection.
ps_ this quote concerns me
“We don’t feel any urgency to rush into things,” said Boston University athletic director Drew Marrochello.
i think Albie deserved the job. great recruiter and has paid his dues. young was a great college and pro player, but he needs to spend more time coaching the college game before he gets that job. i am glad the admin did the waiver
now let’s hope they will let DQ give the stipend to high level recruits
Curious: Why don’t you think that Albie was Quinn’s first choice ? I don’t get it. As far as payments to players, this has to be addressed by the NCAA. In the same league some teams can pay and others can not ? What ?
Vinnie, I think you misunderstood my comment. It was my belief that Scott was the coaches first choice for associate head coach and was overruled because Scott only completed two years of college. My point was that if he wanted Scott for that position it should not be disallowed for the preceding. As far as do nothing Drew, in my opinion he is puppet for the administration with little or no authority.( remember Gary nothing doing Strickler)
I hope Coach Quinn provided Albie with a copy of the recruiting rule book and told him to memorize it., I recall he had problems understanding them on Huntington Ave.
As far as stipend , keep dreaming ! I heard that dictator Brown requested athletic department budget cuts.
OK, here we go again, and I love reading the ongoing comments and discussion. At least we are all interested and our passion for BU Hockey is so evident.
Here are some random, rambling comments, — again.
Larry, if Scott was David’s choice to fill the Associate Coach position, then you are correct that the administration and AD’s office once again blew it and overstepped their bounds. Lack of a college degree, as is rumored to be the reason the administration gave for preferring Albie over Scott, is not a good reason to reject someone for a hockey coaching position. Further, extreme deference should and must be given to the head coach in the selection of his assistants and staff. On the other hand, I also agree that Albie O’Connell is a fine selection and is deserving of the position. Hopefully, he was David’s choice and the administration stayed the hell out of the selection process. I very much hope Albie and Scott will be with BU for a long time. Congratulations Albie.
SoCC, Payment to players is called “Full Cost of Attendance” and has been authorized by the NCAA (which I detest — from long before the days of Buckton and Marzo and even long before the days of Dick DeCloe). Full Cost of Attendance allows schools in the 5 major conferences to pay additional money to scholarship players over and above the usual costs of a scholarship. It is estimated that that will amount to between $6,000 and 8,000 per year per scholarship player. BC and Notre Dame are members of one of the 5 conferences and thus can offer their recruits substantially more than what BU and other Hockey East members can offer. However, a school can “opt-in” to the “Full Cost” program and offer Full Cost to its Recruits. UConn has already opted in as you might expect. Recently, North Dakota announced that it has opted-in. Rumor has it that UNH will opt in. Unless BU does so also, it does not take a genius to realize the significant disadvantage our coaches will be working under when they try to recruit top players. Right now, in HE, BC, Notre Dame and UConn have major advantages over the rest of HE.
Years ago, the Friends of Hockey would have been all over this. BU cannot afford to wait until it loses top recruits due to the advantages our rivals and opponents now have. Unfortunately, as many of you have posted previously, the current version of the Friends of Hockey is a synonym for the administration.
And, just another note, the evisceration of the Friends started long before David came on board as head coach. As a head coach candidate and as a first year coach, there was nothing he could do to create a strong friends group. Right now that cannot be done by the coach no matter how successful he is. He stands alone. He cannot take on the administration; no coach could. Even a great coach found that out. (So please don’t put the demise of the F of H on David.)
As in the past, it is money and a dedicated alumni with an abiding interest in the BU hockey program that can make a difference. Look back to the days when Jack Kelley was brought in; when Walter Brown Arena was planned and built and when the Friends took on a powerful Dean who soon found his office located on the BU campus, — in Germany. In each instance, money talked; dedication spoke; and the administrations then in place listened.
AMAZING post guest!!
>>Another example of administration over reaching and negatively impacting the Hockey program . In my opinion they cannot keep undermining Dave. Not a good reason Scott should not have been named associate Head Coach if he was the first choice.<<
Larry, unless you have specific information that Young was the first choice for AHC and that the administration forced a change, your post is unwarranted and comes across as a naked attempt to artificially strengthen your anti-administration position. My understanding is the O'Connell was always the first choice based on his many years as a proven assistant and recruiter on the collegiate level. Scott Young will be a tremendous addition to the staff; the rich pipeline of forwards coming in during the next few years–including DeBoer and Weiss, the newest commits–will be thrilled to be tutored by a coach with Young's credentials.
Guest–nice job on the stipends issue.
Guest, Thank you for your response.I agree with the majority of your thoughts and vividly remember the many battles the Friends had in support of the program. However I disagree that Dave had no role in the demise of the Friends. I was told by a board member that Dave was supportive of the Friends until he was persuaded by the development office to go in a different direction. As coach he certainly has a right to make that decision. In my opinion I feel he made a mistake.
Terrier Blogger, I am surprised that you did not read on line that the reason for the delay in the announcement of a new associate head coach was that there were issues with the administration. Also, it was speculated on that same site that Scott was going to be named. I have the right to my opinion regarding the administration and strongly believe my thoughts are warranted. My sources are well connected as I have been part of the hockey program for over 50 years. If you want to be a B.U. Cheerleader go ahead. I noticed you ignored the fact that our new associate head coach had issues with the NCAA in the past. So I hope he learned his lesson and wish him the best of luck.
Of course I read the line the line, which said: ““Young was said to be the man in line for Greeley’s vacant spot as soon as it opened. Small hurdle with admin, not major, & now official.” The issue had nothing to do with the AHC position, as you contend, but only about whether an exception to the rules would allow a non-degreed member of the coaching staff. O’Connell was always the choice for AHC. Cox’s tweet was misleading because it referenced Greeley’s vacant spot; the opening was for an assistant coach, not an AHC. Do you have anything at all that shows the admin was denying Quinn his choice for AHC?
Re O’Connell’s brief suspension while at NU: if it presented a serious problem, he’d never have been hired by BU or by Harvard at his previous stop.
I’ve also been connected to the program for nearly 50 years, also have excellent sources and have been a member of the Friends for many years. Not sharing your hair-on-fire conspiracy theories doesn’t mean I don’t have issues with the program and the administration. I’ve advocated for years about more efforts to keep recent graduates involved through discounted tickets. Ticket and parking prices are way too high, as several other posters have pointed out. I share also your and many others’ unhappiness about the diminished influence of the Friends. And as tremendous as the recruiting has been and continues to be, not adding the stipends to recruit packages could certainly cost BU some elite prospects.
I had to look up why he was suspended and was relieved it wasn’t anything horrific. “The suspensions, which were indefinite as of February 18, were resulting from a NCAA recruiting violation that the program committed which was related to excessive telephone and text messaging with prospective student-athletes.” (the Head Coach was also suspended)
I think given the fact Quinn and Co have really only had 2 full years in their positions, they will most likely come to see “how things work” and then the rest of us will know what direction the Admin is taking this program….I’m hoping they can come to some agreement and meet in the middle about what is best. I would say things were pretty successful this past year. I am extremely anxious to see how the team does without Jack. Personally I didn’t think he was all that great during playoffs and it was nice to see the other guys carry the team for once. With only 3 impact player losses….I have a really good feeling. GO BU!
Sorry, Allison but my recollection is that Jack was on of our better performers in the NCAA tournament. I believe he assisted in the winning goal against Yale and played a solid game against Minnesota-Duluth. His best performance was versus North Dakota, as he dominated play with two goals and an assist. In my mind he clearly was the best player on the ice for either team. He did well against Providence until the third period, when the entire team seemed overwhelmed. Jack is impossible to replace, remember on most nights he was the main focus of the other team. It will be interesting to see how players wil react without him.
I also think Letenov is an impact loss even though he has never played a game for them. At the summer luncheon, Greeley was touting him as a possible top six guy
Is it my imAgination but It seems drury has distanced himself from the program? Anyone know anything ?
Finally I hope they have a moment of silence and then a video salute to the late Herbie W and Jack Garrity. My father said Garrity was unreal and I saw Herbie. What a player! That picture of him with the ice chips spraying is one of my favorites
Vinnie, I could not agree with you more that both Herbie Wakabayashi and Jack Garrity should be honored by BU. Both were all-time greats at BU and were wonderful people. I did not see Jack play, but I did know him I also know some other BU Hockey Hall of Famers who saw Jack play. To quote one, “he was magic; it was like the puck was tied to his stick with a string.” Beyond that, his records at BU speak volumes. As for Herbie, I watched him game in and game out with awe and admiration as he, Eddie Wright and Serge Boily played hockey as I had never seen it played before and as you might guess, I go way back at BU. BU has lost two of its best.
Sorry Larry I disagree about the playoffs. I didn’t say he did terrible and wasn’t an impact but he was not on his game. It didn’t seem it because he did come up big with the assists and goals you mentioned but if you go back he really didn’t stick out so much as he normally did throughout. And please….I still get nightmares thinking about PC (LOL). Clearly that kid is a one in a million (both on and off the ice and he will be missed greatly) but I am really looking forward to seeing all the other talent we have shine.
Young WAS the first choice for AHC,no degree=no job,but at least they let Scott on the staff…
Interesting to read in the Globe that BC was one of the only Power 5 conference teams to vote against stipends, and they’re at the lowest end of the scale in payments, offering something like $1300 per athlete, while the top-grossing D-I programs are offering between $5 to $6 grand for athletes in football and basketball. Would be interested to see what ND and UConn will offer.
Terrier Blogger, I am a passionate and emotional Terrier fan. I believe that Jeff Cox is a reliable source of information . In fact Mike of college hockey news and B.U. Hockey 7 confirmed that Scott was the Coaches first choice. So perhaps, my rants and anti – administration sentiments are more realistic then you initially thought.
Larry perhaps you are right. However at least they let him on the staff and I don’t think Albie getting the job is undeserved. He is pretty qualified. A compromise from this anti-sports admin is a victory in a sense.
Larry, I don’t care where the Guest is getting his information, but I have been involved with BU HOCKEY since the late 70’s,and I know my information is not gossip or rumors, Young was the first choice for AHC, but, it is a free Country and people are entitled to any opinion!
Sorry BU Hockey 7 and Larry, Albie was ALWAYS the 1st choice, Terrier Blogger you are correct. The issue was whether Young could take Albie’s spot without a degree, NOT Greely’s. This is fact.
Ok,whatever you say.I love this blog….