I had the chance late last week to chat with departing BU associate head coach Steve Greeley about his time at BU and what the future has in store for him. You can read that article here.
Something that stood out to me that didn’t make the cut in the actual story was when I asked him what skills he has that will benefit him in his future. I think his response essentially epitomizes what made him such a successful and impressive coach while at BU:
“I think my work ethic and my passion for the game are two things that have helped me throughout my career working in hockey. I get wrapped up in it in the sense that I follow every league, I know what every box score is. I don’t want to let myself get outworked. I didn’t want that to happen when I was in L.A., I didn’t want that to happen while I was at BU, and I certainly don’t want that to happen when I’m in New York. I’m gonna give 100 percent to the New York Rangers to help make them a better organization in any way I can.”
Going to miss coach Greeley
Sarah, why did you not ask him about how the administration supports the coaching staff ??? Especially in light of our recent defection to U Conn.
Steve did an incredible job recruiting and evaluating talent. He will be missed ! Good luck in the NHL.
Now that letenov has been officially cleared to play for unconn, there are a few things i would like to say
But, before i get accused of being a “troll”, as one responder called me on an earlier post, for having the audacity to call BU a wannabe elite school (not in top 50 of forbes), i would like to set the record straight on my allegiance to BU and you can believe me or not….. don’t really care
my father (class of 43) and i (class of 72) are both graduates from bu. my dad took me to bu games at the old arena when i was 12. if you do the math, that would make me a grown man”. i witnessed the titan match ups against the great ken dryden of cornell and was there with my parents for the 3-3 tie with cornell at the Boston Arena Christmas tournament in 1966. as a student, we won back to back national championships in 71 & 72 and i had the pure pleasure of watching bruce taylor (often from my 13 th floor dorm room at west campus) run circles around BU opponents
that said, coach quinn does need to worry about the mercurial nature of the present administration and admission dept in terms of its support to the hockey program. that combined with a puppet athletic department and basically defunct friends of BU hockey means his excellent work at recruiting can be undermined at the drop of a hat.
in my humble opinion, BU men’s hockey is the jewel of BU athletics. in all due respect, to the women’s athletic programs and all the other men’s programs, men’s hockey is the king. now i know college hockey is regionally followed, but it is the men’s hockey team that can go head to head with any brand name program in the country, and come out many times victorious. sorry, but women’s hockey does not have the same cache as men’s hockey (and i loved watching poulin, wakefield, ward etc play), and occasionally winning the patriot league/america east in Bball only to get slaughtered in the first round can not really be considered something to get truly excited about. Yawn
so, Allison, in all due respect, to you and the fellow poster (name politely omitted) who only sees the pollyanaish bright side when it comes to BU, it is not that “easy” to relax when you have witnessed first hand the absolute indifference the BU administration has shown toward athletics throughout the years.
GO BU always
PS -oh yea, i almost forgot, the football team is playing who this year?
Vincent, I agree with your assessment. As a long time fan of over five decades it is troubling to see the demise of the Friends. As a former member of the board, I feel particularly sad for the former leaders and founders who helped build the program. As a former manager I know personally that both Jack Kelly and Jack Parker appreciated the tremendous support that they received during their tenure. The current administration does not and will not acknowledge the positive impact of success full hockey program. Their actions always speak louder than words.
I couldn’t agree with you more, for the life of me, I can’t understand why Max was told 2 months before the season starts, that he would not be admitted to BU…If this type of interference continues, my number one question is,How long will Coach Quinn put up with it???
It seems that before the Coaches can defeat any opponent they must constantly beat the administration. It appears there is a real lack of communication and understanding concerning admissions and no support from up above.
To Vincent above: I also have been a BU Hockey fan for as much time. You are so right about the devolution of the academic state of BU in the years under Brown. When I went to BU it was way above BC in any poll of great colleges. Although BU is outstanding in some areas it’s insular approach outside the University is its undoing. Where are the stories in the local press about some of its great work ? The low rank in Forbes (90’th something with BC way up there ) is truly embarrassing. They worry about some course in Russia some years ago ? Give me a break. Time for Brown to go. Now.
Oh I don’t take any offense. I just try to stay positive and not get caught up in the “politics” so to speak. Can I ask what everyone thinks the Admissions did to not let max in? I have an idea and heard some rumblings but just curious what you guys think?
No offense taken on my end either. I would also like to know what the BU administration could do to improve attendance at the games. I have always wanted, in the worst way, to figure out how that could happen. It reminds me of the new Yankee Stadium. The old one was CRAZY with passionate fans. The new one is beautiful but the empty seats leave me with an empty feeling (as a fan).
By the way Walter, I am pissed too about Letunov not being a Terrier. Still, how can you justify Brown leaving BU with all our academic rankings skyrocketing? By the way, BU is #42. One other thing that’s kind of funny and just crossed my mind: It seems like every story a college sports fan reads these days is about how the corrupt sports-minded schools are letting “student athletes” into their respective institutions … when many of these young people have no business being anywhere near a university (some should even be incarcerated). I’m NOT saying anything is wrong with Letunov AT ALL; but it’s refreshing in a way to hear that a promising athlete can’t play a college sport because of an academic issue.
How about advertising, marketing and better support by the administration! It would be nice to fill Agganis more than twice a year. I heard season ticket renewal was not meeting projections for this year. I am not surprised , just disappointed.
Glen. I have my recent Forbes in hand and BU is 91 and BC is 37. Please believe that I don’t believe that there is such a REAL difference in standards but in PERCEPTION. The rankings were based in part on grads placing a value on their education. Part of my problem is the crazy actions of the Tiano types who were completely out of control and the end of the Parker stay. The AD should have been let go at once. Where are our academic rankings “skyrocketing ? Source please.
I now realize you were looking at Forbes … my bad. I think most people consider US News and World Report to be the standard when it comes to making decisions about colleges and universities. Anyway, thanks for pointing that out to me. BU is 42 and BC is 31. I am actually surprised about BC. I have always thought of it as a sports school as opposed to an academic school … but obviously, between USN and Forbes, they have clearly upgraded their reputation. Anyway, the “skyrocketing” rankings I mention refer to the RATE of increase that we have enjoyed over other institutions (though I am VERY disturbed about our skyrocketing tuition). Our national rankings, over the course of one year, had us moved from the #51 to the #41 spot. More important though, the recognition of our specific schools, ENG, Questrom, ENG, and SPH (forgive me if I have forgotten others) have particularly been soaring. I just noticed that Biomedical Engineering reached the #9 spot. Anyway, to say that we have gotten off on a tangent is an understatement LOL. This is a hockey blog … and that program isn’t doing too poorly either. Going forward, when potential BU coaching staff consider whether they want to coach our hockey program, the fact that Greeley got a job in the NYR front office after a few years here (and years with the Kings of course) will make the job that much more enticing.
Glenn, under the current administration the future of hockey is unpredictable. It is positive to recruit all this potential talent but even better if they are actually admitted.
I am no fan of Brown. He made mess of the hockey program, forced Jack out and now that B.U. is relevant in hockey, wants to ruin it. He has a habit of making poor decisions , covering them up and making others the scape goat for his shortcomings.
No politics, just being honest and reading the tea leaves. It seems UConn had no issues accepting him. In fact he is eligible this year.
Unfortunately, not only are the crazies in charge , they are stronger with full support by the administration !
I have been a lifelong fan and am going to be a senior at BU. Every year I have been at the school the amount of students attending the games has decreased. Freshman year the student turnout was not bad, but sophomore year the attendance significantly reduce and I thought thought this was reasonably do to the abysmal performance of the team. However, I barely saw the attendance improve this year, besides one or two games, which I believed was unacceptable considering the year BU had. This is just not something fellow BU fans have noticed as I am friendly with someone on the team and he said that he was very disappointed with student turnout. I believe this purely has to do the with school doing an abysmal job marketing the program as when I ask fellow students on game night if they were planning on attending the hockey games the majority of responses were they would have gone if they knew a game was taking places. That is unacceptable with the marvelous facility BU has and the quality of their hockey program.
>>No politics, just being honest and reading the tea leaves. It seems UConn had no issues accepting him. In fact he is eligible this year.<<
My take on your train of comments is that you're reading the tea leaves to fit your arguments.
Yes, UConn admitted Letunov. They also this summer admitted Joe Masonius, a UNH verbal who couldn't get admitted in Durham. Fact is, UConn's standards is alot lower than BU's (tho better than Louisville's).
Denying Letunov is by no means "evidence" of an anti-sports administration, nor is your allegation–without any facts to back it up–that Brown wants to "ruin" the hockey program.
Are you aware that a current Terrier is on the roster after not getting admitted to a higher-ranked academically school? How about the fact that a multi-year All-American at BU and a top player on a BU Hockey East champion squad both ended up here after being denied admission at an Ivy? That's reality, not your conspiracy theories.
You must have been asleep during the administrations rush to judgement and overreaction
when two students athletes acted inappropriately. In particular the administration chose to blame hockey. I recall they had a full investigation with a committee that found minor infractions that did not violate any NCAA rules! However this group of alleged professional appointed, by Brown leaked false information to the BostonGlobe. To this day Brown has never admitted or accepted blame for this fiasco that ruined Jacks’ reputation. In fact when Brown was questioned by a WCVB TV reporter, our fearless leader threatened to have him thrown off the property and arrested ! When did B.U. become part of the Ivy league ?
Your assessment on the lack of attendance and apathetic marketing effort is 100% correct. To make matters worse I heard that season ticket renewals are below expectations.
OK everyone; I LOVE the concern about hockey attendance. So, the $64,000.00 question is … exactly what TACTICAL plans can be enacted? I wish a committee could be put together to create some specific ideas. By the way, I do remember reading an article (about a year or two ago) that college sports attendance in general has been decreasing. They even referenced March Madness basketball games. Still, I think this is a fixable problem.
Please note that there was a great hockey player who tried to get into BU one year. He was denied admission because of very low SAT’s. I got this information from an administrator close to the program and to me. The next time I saw this player he was skating for Harvard. This was a WORLD CLASS player. The reason the player was admitted to Harvard was that the coach at that time had great pull with the administration. Quinn does not have much power with the administration as Parker had. This is the problem. Also the administration has always been against hockey as it does nothing to promote the sport. See Audrey’s comments above for proof. This all has to do with political correctness. Hockey players are white Christian men for the most part and that is the problem.
How is Quinn to have any comparable influence with Admissions in only his 3rd season? I honestly feel he will be the Head Coach of an NHL team before his contract is up…..just an opinion.
Changing the subject, Oliver Whalstrom, former Maine commit, will be going to Harvard. A big time “get” for the Crimson. Probably all for the best; he is so good BU admissions probably would reject him just before he registers for classes.
Sarah,
Thank you for the articles you and your colleagues posted this summer. If time permits, keep them coming. I’m sure that they are much appreciated.by all. And, I love the posts following the articles. Although there is some disagreement among those posting comments, there is also some value to all of the comments If nothing more, they show that we are all very much invested in BU Hockey.
One of the posts correctly referred to BU Hockey as the jewel of the BU athletic program. With respect to BU’s other athletic programs, that is 100% correct. We are a hockey school. Indeed, despite a great many differences I had with him, John Silber recognized BU Hockey as a significant University asset; in short a jewel. He once said publically that he wasn’t looking for the BU Hockey program to match the University’s progress during his administration, he wanted the Univesity to catch up to the Hockey Program.
Maybe in a later post, if there is interest, I will contribute a little history involving the BU Hockey program. Not so much in wins, losses and player achievments, but the roll of the Friends of BU Hockey and the roll of its founders in building the program, recruiting and supporting Jack Kelley, building Brown, supporting later Jack Parker as wekk as some players wrongly accused of eligibility violations. (Poilitical correctness and the NCAA be damned.)
Yea, guest. It would be good for all of us to know the history of the program. If they did they would all understand why so many of us are so upset about the administration’s attitude about the program. It is interesting to me that the people close to the program, the “Friends”. Bernie and Ryan, even Sarah (Who is great ) et al don’t see what we, as long time supporters of the program, but on the outside, feel. “Forest for the trees” thing ? I don’t know.
Guest: I will definitely agree that we are all invested in the success of BU Hockey. Despite our differences of opinion, we all bleed Scarlet.
The day Coach Quinn was hired, I remember 2 things that stuck out immediately, 1.Beat BC,2.win National Chamionships,I believe that is what he said in an interview after the press conference. But,I am puzzled as to why so many bloggers are acting like the team is in a downward spiral. What this Coach has done in the short time as the Head Coach, is amazing. I think everything will be fine, short term, and long term.
it aint the coach. it is the BU administration’s lack of support for hockey and sports in general.
DQ is the man
Oh,I wasn’t saying that it’s the Coach at all, my point was, look what he has been able to accomplish in just 2 yrs.
Promotion of sports has to come from the top and filter down. If you have an administration that does not understand the value of a successful hockey program and apathetic alumni it becomes a difficult task.
John Silber was a tremendous supporter of Jack Parker and the Hockey program and Brown is not. How many game does he attend?
The Friends exist in name only, as they are controlled by the development office. I am friendly with a (former) board member. He related there were no discussions or formal meetings about the development office running the Friends. They told no one and decided they would run it.In my opinion this contributed to the poor attendance One of Coach Quinns ‘ mistakes is not insisting in having a strong independent Friends group that could assist him rather then the do nothing, nothing doing, development office that consistently bows down to the politically correct administration.
Bernie and Ryan do not want to make waves as the administration is very vindictive. Many board members are either in denial, respond vaguely or ignore any questions. Is there any reason the games are not on the radio ? It is tough to get a post game show in the car with no radio coverage, the team up the street has most of there games on 850 am ESPN, It was nice to hear their excuses after B.U. beat them at Kelly Rink.
Dave must recognize the importance of a strong Friends that will support him. He must communicate better with alumni and seek out their support and not rely on the development office
“Dave”, has much more important things to do than appease the egos of the Friends of BU HOCKEY, you all witnessed what his staff and his player’s accomplished in 2 seasons, so let’s add cheerleading and filling the Arena to his list of duties, give me a break….
If you want to make excuses for his shortcomings that is up to you. A program will not exist without paying customers no matter how many victories or prize recruits. I am only relating how Jack Kelly built the program from ground up and how Jack Parker sustained it. Attendance was very important to them . To make sarcastic and ignorant comments will not help the cause. No ego regarding the Friends just fond memories of what they created.They along with my dad and Jack Kelly were my mentors.
And you are comparing a man who has coached 2 seasons, to two Legends in all of College Hockey, who is being ignorant, DQ is far from perfect, but you people will always find something to complain about, all I am saying is, give it more than 2 seasons.
In reading the comments, I agree with certain points raised by different posters, so I thought I’d take an opportunity to share my $.02 on what has been mentioned so far. (Disclaimer: I wasn’t on the FOH board but am close to numerous people who were, but also have connections to people working in BU administration, so I’ve seen and heard multiple sides of this equation).
Jack had A LOT MORE weight with the administration than Quinn does. However, that weight diminished with subsequent changes in administration, especially when Joe Mercurio retired. From what I gathered Mercurio was a great buffer between Jack and President Brown, the Trustees, other top administrators.
One of the biggest misses by the FOH board was not proactively working with Quinn as soon as he started back on May 1, 2013. This enabled the development office to get to him first and pitch their ideas, therefore blowing up FOH as BU Hockey has known it since 1971. Quinn kept the board together during his 1st season, but it was clear that their role was greatly diminished and the board disbanded following the 2013-14 season (at the suggestion of board leadership, but endorsed by Quinn and athletic development).
While it isn’t a replacement for the FOH board, the “Coach’s Cabinet” group was formed as an “inner circle” of high-level donors who would be invited to semi-regular meetings, events, etc. with Quinn. There are several former FOH board members who are part of this group, so those individuals still have similar access to Quinn the way they had access to Jack during the formal FOH days.
As much as I like Quinn, one area of his job I’m surprised he hasn’t done better in is his (well, lack of) engagement with students/alumni/fans/donors. He has the magnetic personality and command of a room that BU Hockey supporters can be drawn to naturally, yet I don’t think he’s leveraged opportunities to further engage with the fan base. I think (perhaps at the suggestion of his superiors) he has been told to just coach, recruit, focus on the student-athletes success on and off-the-ice, and leave everything else to the administration. He is so good at recruiting that one would think the communication and interpersonal skills essential towards successful recruiting of student-athletes is easily transferable towards engaging the fan base.
Regarding the previous paragraph, the administration (i.e. athletic development, marketing, etc.) haven’t helped. I think a root cause is the current mindset of treating men’s ice hockey as if it’s any other athletic program at BU instead of as a historic, marquee program in its sport and one that creates brand loyalty to BU. If one looks at BU Athletics social media accounts in recent years, the pattern of their posts suggests equal emphasis on all athletic programs. I’m not suggesting that men’s ice hockey be given even more preferential treatment at the expense of other programs, but the socialistic approach has certainly alienated more than its fair share of BU men’s ice hockey supporters.
Regarding attendance, there was a ~15% increase in attendance last season (4682 average) from the 2013-2014 season (4085 average). Attendance in regular season games averaged over 5000 for the 1st time since 2011-2012, but attendance as a whole as been in decline since the 2009-2010 season when the average attendance was 5400 for all home games that season (and 5458 for regular season games). I don’t think the half-season ticket packages have yielded enough of an increase in attendance, plus I also know more and more people each year who give up their season tickets (for various reasons). Plus I don’t think there are as many students nor young alumni who have the same level of engagement with men’s ice hockey as their predecessors, and I also sense there are diminishing #s of young alumni who remain in Boston following graduation. Having said that, there’s been a long-standing disconnect between the Agganis ticket office, athletic development (i.e. zero transparency on Frozen Four ticket eligibility based on loyalty points) that is also a contributing factor undermining fan engagement.
Lastly, the administration as a whole starting from the top…Over the years I have become less and less enamored with President Brown. IMO the “Task Force” was a farce and was a witch-hunt more than a fact-finding and cultural improvement mission. I know several people who were asked to provide information as part of it and let’s just say the environment cultivated was far from neutral and objective. I also have friends and acquaintances whose careers/lives have been disrupted by the way Brown runs the University and how that permeates to other top-level administrators. I think there are many aspects of BU that are better today than it was before Brown arrived; however, I also think there’s a significant disconnect between how he presents himself to the broader BU community and who he is behind the scenes at BU (based on the multiple stories I’ve heard).
My bottom line is I support BU men’s ice hockey more than anything else at the university. The long-term success of the program both on and off-ice is something I don’t want to see compromised, and I hope there will be opportunities going forward to rectify some of the undoing that’s taken place despite the program’s resurgence that alienates a loyal, passionate fan base.
Friend of B.U. Hockey, congratulations on your post. I agree with the majority of your thoughts. I do not agree with all your points regarding the disbandment of the Friends. I was told by a board member that the board was to be reconfigured and down sized with people that Dave felt comfortable with and that would actually work at promoting the program. It was my impression that there were too many board members who thought it was a social get together and contributed little. Please do not underestimate or forget the importance of this group of loyal supporters to the program. Founded in 1963 by Jack Kelly, who believed it was necessary to form an organization that would assist him in building the best college hockey program in the country. He needed their assistance with off ice issues, running events through out the year and most importantly creating a family atmosphere.In particular they would raise funds so the athletic budget and the constant cuts to each athletic program never effected the Hockey program. In my opinion the only reason that Walter Brown Arena and Agganis Arena exists today is because of the Friends. The fact that our current coach did not share the same vision as his predecessors is a major mistake that in time will negatively impact the Hockey program. How you can disband a family of loyal supporters ? The lack of attendance speaks for itself. I would think the coach would want the stands filled and not connecting to long time fans simply compounds the problem. How many of you miss Jacks, letters to the Friends ? A tradition that should of continued. I heard rumors about the coaches cabinet. Is it by invitation only ? It certainly was not promoted. So now the jewel of athletics is treated like every other program which was the ultimate goal of the development office. Unfortunately I do not think Dave will last long at B.U and it will not be because of the on ice results.
“I was told by a board member that the board was to be reconfigured and down sized with people that Dave felt comfortable with and that would actually work at promoting the program. It was my impression that there were too many board members who thought it was a social get together and contributed little.”
Larry — This is consistent with what I heard as well. By no means do I condone what happened to FOH; having been around the program and FOH since the 1990s I understand first-hand the importance FOH provides to the BU Hockey community. I feel several things could and should have been handled differently (better) regarding the current and future state of FOH.
Coach’s Cabinet is run by athletic development. No proactive campaign on their part to recruit/retain donors at that level, although as a member, I know the # of donors at that level doubled from 2013-2014. IMO Quinn seems very content at placating the large donors at these Coach’s Cabinet events throughout the season, but there is certainly the loss of the family atmosphere that Jack was so successful at cultivating over the decades.
As much as I want and hope Quinn has a long track record of success at BU, I’ve grown less confident that he’ll be a long-term coach at BU. I believe him when he says how much he loves coaching at BU, but I wouldn’t be shocked if he doesn’t make it past the new 5-year contract he recently signed and ends up back in the NHL. And I agree 100% it won’t be because of the on-ice results.
What I feel Quinn loves most about coaching at BU is the actual coaching and player development, the relationships he builds with his student-athletes, and the recruiting. I think there’s been a bigger learning curve for him on the fan engagement and administrative aspects of the job, something that over the years Jack was very adept at handling. Not sure if those parts of the job will be something Quinn grows into.
You are so wrong about Quinn and his engagement with students, alumni, etc….I have been friends with David since a child, he is constantly on the go,meeting alumni from all over the Country, and I know he does the best he can with the students.I know for a fact, most days he is at the rink very early and often gets home late at night. I think you should review your source of information, or lack thereof!
As Daves friend please ask him why he has virtually ignored the premium level season ticket holders. Is he even aware that large donors that assisted in the funding of the building received special pricing for club seats for the first 10 years. The expiration of the those agreements combined with the elimination of the Friends program has negatively effected season ticket renewals for this year. I know my tickets more than doubled.Selling out two games with one of the most exciting teams in B.U. Hockey history is in my mind unacceptable. To play in a half empty rink with little noise or atmosphere helps the opponent. I feel that part of his responsibility is to work the Agganis arena staff to improve attendance.
BU HOCKEY 7 – Thanks for the reply. I agree and also know for a fact how much extra time David puts in early mornings and late evenings. And this is hearing first-hand the extra time spent with his student-athletes early mornings before their classes working on specific parts of their game. Not to mention the many hours spent after practices going over game video as well as recruiting.
My point is there are quite a few alumni/donors/former FOH board members who want to and can help support the program beyond simply attending games and donating. But I feel those opportunities have been stunted because of administration/athletic development’s insistence on not emphasizing hockey more so than any other varsity sport, and I hope David can further utilize his influence to empower those who are in a position to provide the support to BU Hockey to the fullest level it deserves.
I agree with everything you have said, but let’s not forget that this is only his third season, which hasn’t even started yet.I still can’t believe that only 2 games were sold out, and this was with the best player in all of college Hockey, and a team that spent a good part of the season ranked in the top 3 to 5 in the Country. And with the recruiting that has been done by the entire staff, the future of the program is looking very good. Let’s hope that the Arena is full more than 2 games this season.
Great post “Friend_of_BU_Hockey. There are somethings you say that I disagree with, but not much. I have limited time now but let me just confirm for now that the so called Task Force was an absolute farce bent on Political Correctness and you can guess what else. By the way, for all prior posters, there was only one incident, not two. Max Nicastro was never prosecuted for anything. The DA’s office just dropped all charges as they had nothing to go forward with. What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty?
Guest, the task force report was nothing more than pages of false information created to discredit Jack and force him into retirement. When no NCAA infractions were found,unsubstantiated information was leaked to the Globe, Brown disappeared and made Jack the scapegoat. Even though the information sent to the Globe was not true.
To “Friend of Hockey” above,
Thank you for the information. It was helpful. The one thing I disagree with is that attendance figure (s) you mention. The games I go to do not have anywhere near those amount of people. Maybe tickets are sold and not used. I don’t know. Also with Brown the PERCEPTION of the quality of education in major circles has gone way down especially vis a vis BC. Very bad.
I am now awake from my hibernation and would like to comment on this matter. The whole problem is that BU wants total control over everything. They are PC to the core. The Russian was not allowed because they wanted Quinn to know who is the boss. The reason for not allowing that player a place at BU is specious in the extreme. When walk about a mall BU memorabilia is not to be found. BC abundant however. They kicked out high school games from the football field. Can’t have those kind of people on our soil. Radio hockey only on digital as we can not be on a radio station that might be right wing Bernie had his own production company but BU had to make him and Ryan employees for complete control. No conservative talk allowed as before. . When the new arena went up word was that tickets were to be purchased only via internet. That blew up. Hockey sticks not allowed on hats or shirts as the female sport people might be upset. All sports are equal don’t you know. PC again. I could go on but must prepare for the live hockey blog season. Hello Sarah. Good work, girl.
Thank you Son of Caeser for keeping it real and speaking the truth!
Thank you for the information on Coaches Cabinet. How many times during the season did you meet ? How many people attended and what was the cost? It seems strange that no information was provide by those in charge. Another error on part of development with the dismantling of the Friends is this season ticket renewals. No discount portion for Friends and major Agganis donor discounts expired this year. As direct result Premium Level seats in many instances increased two and half times. No wonder why renewals did not meet expectations. It is my belief that part of a college coaches job is to make sure the attendance and support is strong. Unfortunately, that does not appear a concern of the coach.
Minimum donation for Coach’s Cabinet is $2500 per BU fiscal year (July 1 – June 30). I believe last season there were at least 30 donors at that level or higher.
I recall there were at least 4, if not 5 Coach’s Cabinet sessions last season between October and the start of the Hockey East tournament. The ones I went to (I think I only missed one) were well-attended where the vast majority of donors at that level were in attendance. The sessions would entail a detailed presentation and analysis of video from recent games by Quinn, followed by discussions on player development, recruiting, Hockey East opponents and college hockey as a whole. Each session would conclude with development providing food for those in attendance.
I was told there was an uptick in giving to men’s hockey last season. However, I feel development (year in and year out) misses the opportunity to proactively campaign for additional fundraising at the end of or immediately following the season, as those donations count towards the loyalty points system for that season. Instead, all is quiet until the start of the season when much of the fundraising and donor engagement work could (and should) be done during the offseason.
Also, during these sessions one sees first-hand how good Quinn is at that aspect of his job. He absolutely captivates you with the way he explains what we see on video and holds your attention for the full hour that he usually talks. Even for someone like myself who has watched many hundreds of games in person and many more on TV, I learn something new every time I see and hear Quinn explain and diagnose game video.
Friend of B.U. Hockey, Thank you for the information it is truly appreciated. Please let me and others know, who are interested in the program ,when you are solicited for this years renewal. Where were these sessions held? Was there a particular day and time?
If Quinn does reach out to alumni and fans, why does he ignore the premium seat season ticket holders at Agganis Arena. Except for one appearance when he arrived as coach, he has ignored these fans, many of whom assisted in providing the funding to for the building.
The alleged increase in donations for hockey was certainly not reflected in attendance. It is not surprising the funding increased due to the Eichel factor and dramatic team turnaround.
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Coach Quinn better learn the curve sooner rather than later with regards to fan engagement . As far as Coach Parker , he understood the value and support of the Friends. Especially the positive effect on attendance.
Friend –A large group of BU fans saw first-hand that side of Quinn that you described at a Summer 2014 off-campus gathering. These weren’t high-value donors, just dedicated fans looking for BU hockey talk. Quinn was entertaining and quite candid, answering every question for several hours. He planned to do the same at this summer’s event, but ran into a conflict so Steve Greeley filled in (just a week before his departure). Greeley also charmed the attendees with his explanations and projections for the upcoming season. These were fan-organized events, which hopefully can be replicated not just during the summer but during the season.
How does one find out about these events ?
Um…I’m confused…..why is it the coach’s job to rally the fans? I get that they want to have access to him and that’s understandable but shouldn’t the Athletic Dept. or a marketing team be coming up with all the events and ideas? I highly doubt Jack Parker sat around actually planning fan events.
Hi Allison – Jack had the FOH Board to help with or work with the appropriate people on these events. And he also had more influence and authority than Quinn does right now.
My observation is that the biggest change the last 2 years is the administration has taken all of that away from alumni volunteers/donors (re: FOH board). Not to mention that the different administrative departments – i.e. Athletics, Agganis Ticket Office, Development and Alumni Relations – aren’t always on the same page and thus the mixed results when it comes to student/alumni fan engagement.
Larry, I know you adore Parker and you seem sort of disgruntled with Quinn. Have you ever thought of actually emailing Quinn and asking him straight out about your concerns for the ticketholders? (Are you a reg. season ticket holder or premium?) Id love to know if he answered you!! And if I remember correctly you are close to Parker right? Maybe he has some answers you could share with us? Thoughts?
Allison, At one time I was on the Friends Board with Jack. I know for a fact that he took responsibility for all aspects of the Hockey program including planning events for the Friends. The Friends were founded to assists the Coach in any aspect of off ice activities that would support the team and create a family atmosphere. If you notice any elite program high profile coaches always make an effort to meet and greet elite supporters.I do not have anything but the utmost respect for Dave Quinn. I did send him a letter and he never replied,which is certainly his prerogative. I told him to his face how disappointed I was with a ten win season but made a point the next year to congratulate him on the teams improvement. I am not close with Jack Parker but I have known him for over forty years. He took particular interest in my three children even though they were not athletes. I believe his influence as a role model played positive effect in their development as adults. (especially my daughter) It is my opinion he is the only reason Agganis exits. I felt awful that Brown forced him out and ruined his reputation which was not necessary. I certainly do not condone under any circumstance the alleged activity,but to single out Hockey and to rush to judgement was proven wrong by a court of law.
It is my belief is that development was jealous of the accomplishments of the Friends fund raising ability and was waiting for Jack to leave to take it over. Now that it is under there control they receive full credit. The preceding has adversely effected hockey as they are inept.
Instead of each department working as a team to benefit of the Hockey team, they work as individual corporation satisfying their personal agendas.
Well that is a terrible!! Shame on them! I really like Quinn as a coach. I also admired Parker as well. He was such a fixture for so long. Is it possible he also didn’t have such influence his first few years? I thought the argument above was Quinn wasn’t doing enough to engage the fans? Maybe Quinn will come to have some stronger influence as time goes on? Who knows. My younger sister is close friends with Jack Eichel and he just raves and raves about him.
I don’t like how all these higher ups are controlling the program, especially if they don’t even care for it! THen again….Money talks!! sadly
You are correct about Jack Eichel and Coach Quinn’s relationship, the first thing that Coach would say last season was,Jack is a better person than he is a hockey player, if that is possible. But I also think that he builds relationships with each of his player’s, and I believe that is why he gets so much from each player. Enjoy the season!
B.U. Hockey 7 , perhaps you do not comprehend the term ignorance. Instead of being a defensive Dave Quinn apologist, why not concentrate on the facts. I never compared Coach Quinn with both his predecessors. My only point was they both believed that it was vital to interact with alumni and fans in order to have a loud home crowd advantage. If you do not believe then ask them. Both realized that B.U. hockey is a business and that if they did not have the financial support and an enthusiastic crowd they could not succeed in growing the program to an elite status. Agganis sold out two games last year with almost the best team in the country and a generational player. Season ticket renewal are below expectations. In what I believe is panic move several Saturday games were moved to 4:00 PM. In my opinion from a business perspective a huge mistake! I am sure Coach Quinn cannot be pleased for the quick turn around which could compromise player safety.
It makes me ill to mention that the team up the street has had consistently better attendance for their third sport that is played in an antiquated basketball venue with horrible sight lines.
Larry, you are correct about my ignorance and I apologize for that, it was rude,and wrong. I was brought up to know better than that, but was having a bad day and I just get frustrated with the way BU operates one of the premier programs in all of college Hockey. I agree with your point about the letters that Jack would send out, it would be nice if DQ did the same. But with an organization that has better facilities than some professional teams, and a great on ice product, it is baffling why there are so many empty seats. I don’t know what the answer is, but I just wanted to take this opportunity to apologize for not being a gentleman and for being rude, I hope you accept my apologies.
No need to apologize as I am as frustrated as you! Perhaps I should have not been so demonstrative in my comments but I have had a life long passion for B.U. Hockey. As a longtime fan, I learned never to trust or believe in development or the athletic department. I do express my point of view and I will never win any popularity contests. I like Dave and want him to not only succeed but to be here for many years. My concern is he put his faith and belief in the wrong people.
Thank you Larry, and I also think that the 4pm game time for the players is very dangerous. I am pretty sure that they have a routine that they are accustomed to,and I distinctly remember reading about the players taking a pre-game nap after the meal.I see no reason to switch the time. Ridiculous.
In another questionable move the athletic department solution to the attendance issue was to move seven games on Saturday to 4:00 Pm. Does not make any sense to me!
Moving seven games to 4 PM is not a questionable move; it is absolutely stupid. Making our guys play several times at 4 PM after a 7:00 or 7:30 game the night before during a long season does not make sense. Moreover, it is almost guarantied to lower attendance. What the hell is the athletic department thinking? Don’t they realize that there is something called major college football plastered over TV every Saturday afternoon? Don’t they realize that young families and working people have commitments on Saturday afternoons. Are they trying to keep students and alumni away? I cannot help but think that this is just another move by the Athletic Department to diminish a marquee program to attain parity with other BU sports programs.
I hate 400pm games. As a season ticket holder I have asked all my friends that have tickets and I can not find one that was asked
about this change. Never mind about it being a good idea!
Mike we all saw you falling asleep during the 7 pm games so we thought it was a good idea to change to four
Guest, exactly my sentiments unless they want to attract the eighty and over demographics. Perhaps the administration wants to move the games back to Walter Brown Arena and use Agganis for concerts and other events. It also shows the do nothing , nothing doing athletic department apparently took a nice summer vacation. No cost or imagination in moving the times. As a season ticket holder I do not believe I was solicited.
Mike I agree this is horrible idea, the three stooges must have made the decision. In my opinion it will have the opposite effect as many people work on Saturday. Also many families plan activities during that time period. They must be laughing up the street.
they are usually laughing at us up the street
the who’s on first BU administration
B.U. Hockey 7, I hope you now understand why I was so upset about the dismantling of the Friends. These were the types of issues and battles that would be fought with the administration and athletic department behind the scenes.In my opinion Jacks departure and the reluctance of Dave to embrace the Friends as an independent organization is going to effect the program as much or more than on the ice results. He is the Hockey Coach and major decisions should be approved by him. I do not believe there was any research for this decision , I cannot think of one positive result from moving up the start time! Dave will learn that that he cannot trust or believe anyone in development or the athletic department. I hope it is not to late to rectify this situation!
For the life of me,I can’t understand why they would switch the games to 4pm. It is absolutely ridiculous, I completely understand what you meant Larry!
B.U. Hockey 7, It feels like they are punishing the Hockey programming for doing so well last year. i believe that someone is jealous of the success and popularity of the team or the just hate hockey.
I believe the administration is,well,I actually don’t know how to say this,but here goes -Trying to keep DQ in his place? I could be wrong, but I believe that the success of last years team was a little more than they expected, and don’t want DQ to become too much of an entity within himself?
BU Hockey 7, If true, what small-minded people. The better he does the better for everybody. Being an elite college hockey program brings prestige to the University. It makes the place special. Why do I believe Brown is behind these missteps ?
If they were going to do something maybe afternoon games on Sundays after the NFL season. Not a lot of dates there but maybe the league could support many of the teams doing same as a make up to fill the NFL void. Just thinking. And by the way does not the league have a publicity guy to some of this ? HE does very little to promote the sport.
I am glad that so many here love BU Hockey and support he coach who is great. The amount of inside stuff here about BU Hockey is a gem for people like me who can not wait for the puck to drop.
Thanx again so much, Sarah, for leaving this site up for so long for comments.
I still cannot think of one good reason to start seven games on Saturday afternoons at 4pm. In my opinion it neutralizes any home ice advantage.