BC Selects Brad Bates As New Athletic Director

Boston Herald, Rich Thompson

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/college/general/view/20221010eaglesturn_to_bates_new_ad_followsretired_defilippo/srvc=home&position=recent

Brad Bates played football for Michigan and loves watching hockey.

Those credentials alone would be enough to convince Boston College alumni and Eagles enthusiasts to nominate Bates for the post of athletic director. Boston College president Rev. William P. Leahy’s criteria were a lot more demanding and selective.

Bates apparently satisfied the requirements of two constituencies — the power brokers and the consumers. Leahy introduced Bates to a gathering of media and athletic department personnel as the school’s new athletic director yesterday at the Yawkey Center. Bates was accompanied by his wife, Michele, and interim athletic director John Kane.

“We wanted someone who would fit Boston College’s culture and all the commitments that reflect those qualities in athletics and academics,” Leahy said. “It was also very important that the individual have a lot of experience which would enable him or her to lead a department that is complex and large. This is a very complex position.”

Bates inherits a position that was controlled and redefined for 15 years by Gene DeFilippo, who, among his many accomplishments, steered BC’s move from the Big East to the Atlantic Coast Conference. DeFilippo retired Sept. 30.

Bates said he appreciated the work DeFilippo did for the institution and plans to immerse himself in the culture and trappings of the ACC.

“I want to thank Gene DeFilippo for the foundation he has established,” Bates said. “I’m really excited about the opportunity to engage the culture (of the ACC). I’ve known Gene for a long time and I talked to him before the process started. Gene and I had worked at different times at Vanderbilt University, so we have a lot of mutual colleagues.”

Bates played defensive back for the legendary football coach Bo Schembechler at Michigan, then began his administrative climb as a graduate assistant with the Wolverines while earning a master’s degree.

“I was a walk-on originally,” Bates said of his college playing days. “Probably there is not a day that goes by that I do something I learned from Bo Schembechler. He was special. Bo was obviously very intelligent, especially passionate and very, very smart. He engaged everyone around him and he certainly believed that collective efforts far surpass individual talents.”

Bates worked in various capacities at Vanderbilt from 1985-2002. He spent the last 10 years building up teams, especially football and men’s hockey, as the AD at Miami (Ohio).

Under Bates’ oversight, Miami won at least one conference championship in 14-of-18 sports. The football team appeared in three bowls (2003, ’04 and ’11), and the men’s hockey team made back-to-back Frozen Four appearances (2008-09, ’09-’10), including a 2009 championship game appearance in which the RedHawks lost in overtime to Boston University.

Bates takes over a department that has experienced highs, lows and plenty of in-betweens over the past five years. Last April, the BC men’s hockey team won the NCAA championship for the fourth time this century under Jerry York.

“Unfortunately for me I’ve seen how good a coach Jerry York is and I’m very much looking forward to him becoming the (NCAA’s) all-time winningest coach,” Bates said.

The other high-profile sports have not done as well as the men’s hockey program in recent years. The men’s and women’s basketball teams have been in decline and are rebuilding under new coaches, and the football team last season failed to qualify for a bowl game for the first time since 1998.

Bates plans to meet with football coach Frank Spaziani, who has been on the hot seat since the start of the season and has watched the Eagles get off to a 1-4 start that includes an 0-2 record in ACC play. The lone victory came against Maine, an FCS opponent.

“Naturally football on any college campus is incredibly important,” Bates said. “The magnitude is just exacerbated because of the history and tradition at Boston College. With football, their success is essential and for a marketing vehicle for the institution it is very important. I really want to visit with (Spaziani). I’ve heard great things about him and the people around here love him.”