Boston College Athletics
Leahy, DeFilippo Have Teleconference
June 30, 2003 | Boston College Athletics
June 30, 2003
Boston College President William P. Leahy, S.J., and Director of Athletics Gene DeFilippo spoke with members of the media via teleconference Monday afternoon following the University of Miami's announcement that it would accept an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference. Below are excerpts from the teleconference.
Gene DeFilippo: We are disappointed in Miami's decision to leave the Big East. It is a setback. But we have a long and proud tradition in our athletics program, as do Syracuse, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and the other remaining members of the Big East. The Big East will still retain its BCS affiliation for the next three years, and by then, who knows what will happen. Now is the time to re-group and move forward, and that is exactly what we will do.
Q: What are your thoughts about future Big East expansion?
Gene DeFilippo: To be candid, we have put all our efforts to this point toward trying to make sure Miami stayed as a member of the Big East, so we really have not given a lot of thought to that. I do feel, though, a real urgency for us to study this and to get going with it. And that is the first thing we will do tomorrow morning, to begin to look at where we will go and how can we make and keep the Big East as strong as it can possibly be. We intend to work with the other members of the Big East to strengthen our conference.
Q: Will a decision be made on whether to keep the football schools and the non-football playing schools together?
Gene DeFilippo: That will certainly be discussed. As you know, in the past, because the Big East consisted of 14 schools, the football schools were really limited in looking at expansion. Now that Miami and Virginia Tech have left, I think that will be one of the first things discussed. That's something the athletic directors will begin talking about tomorrow morning. Nothing is all good or all bad. There certainly are advantages either way.
Q: If you had this to do over again, is there anything you would do differently?
Fr. William P. Leahy: I'm very comfortable with the way we conducted ourselves, and I would do it the same way we did it. I would look at the academic interests of Boston College and how they matched up, and I would look also at trying to secure the athletic future of Boston College, and I would look at what the financial benefits would be for us. And I would do it in that order. What we have to do now is assess where everything is in the Big East, and look at our future in light of our past, where we have always responded in very creative, successful ways.
Q: How will this affect your football program?
Gene DeFilippo: This is not doom and gloom. Our football program has had some very difficult times in the past, and was dealing with some major problems when Tom O'Brien arrived here in December of 1996. The last four years, this football program has won 32 games. We've been to four straight bowl games and won three in a row. This is a setback. This is a bump in the road. But this program has gone through adversity in the past. This program will handle this adversity and be stronger for it.
Q: Do you think the Big East will be able to retain its BCS affiliation?
Gene DeFilippo: There's nothing that I know of in the ABC contract, or in the BCS contract, that says someone would lose their BCS bid if a change in conference alignment occurred. I'm very confident we will be able to retain that affiliation for three years. Who knows what will happen in the future. There's a group out there exploring a playoff, and we could very well go in that direction. There's a group studying an expanded BCS, and there are other options. I can't predict the future, none of us can.
(On the spirit of cooperation between the remaining Big East football schools)
Gene DeFilippo: I really sense, on the athletic directors' side, a real sense of cooperation and urgency. We have to face a challenge. I see us coming together, and working to stay together and add strength to our league.
Fr. William P. Leahy: From my vantage point, the presidents of the I-A football schools have never had better communication and as much communication as they have this past week. I think that can only serve us well as we move forward.
