Jeff Jagodzinski Interviews With the Jets; The Ball Shifts Back Into Boston College's Court

You were warned, Jeff Jagodzinski.

Athletic director Gene DeFilippo told you that if you interviewed for the New York Jets' vacant head coaching job, you would lose your current head coaching job at Boston College. You went ahead and interviewed with the Jets anyway.

So now this is going to happen:

Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski did indeed interview with the New York Jets and he will therefore not be retained by the school, two people close to the situation told ESPN's Joe Schad on Tuesday.
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DeFilippo, sources say, thought that Jagodzinski was "disloyal" by not speaking with him before scheduling the Jets interview. One source said on Tuesday that Jagodzinski's decision to follow through on the interview made his fate "a done deal."

What we're witnessing here is the college football equivalent of a parent telling a child, "Don't you dare do that," the child disobeying and then the parent grounding said child. Except in the adult world, instead of being grounded, you get fired.

Just what in the name of Doug Flutie happened here?

Two years ago, Boston College hired Jagodzinski because his fiery, in-your-face personality was basically the exact opposite of previous coach Tom O'Brien. The relatively-young gun rewarded that decision on the field, chalking up an 11-3 record in his first season (Matt Ryan, holla!) -- complete with an ACC Atlantic division title and Champs Sports Bowl win. In year two, Jagodzinski won the Atlantic again.

Then, almost abruptly, things fell apart. The Jets fired Eric Mangini, expressed interest in Jagodzinski, who has NFL assistant coaching experience, and all hell broke loose.

For DeFilippo's part, the fact that Jags -- is it OK if I call him Jags? -- didn't ask for permission to interview with the Jets was a bigger problem than him actually talking to the Jets.

"The surprise factor definitely played a big role in this situation," the source said.

Fine, I get that and it's hard to argue that DeFilippo should not be upset if Jagodzinski indeed made this all happen behind Boston College's collective back. If that's how things went down, Jagodzinski owes the school an apologetic explanation.

That said, was the cancel-the-interview-or-else ultimatum the only course of action left? I'm all for holding loyalty up as a pillar of your program -- heck, the ACC has Frank Beamer and Bobby Bowden as models for sticking it out with one school. But if a guy has two solid years with a school and wants to take a shot at the NFL, can you really deny him that opportunity?

Taking it a step further, would you really want to deny him that opportunity? If Boston College can choose between being a school that forbids its coaches to interview for higher-level positions, and being a school that is a stepping stone to the NFL ... well, that decision makes itself.

The simple judgment here is that both parties are in the wrong. Jagodzinski for slinking around (if that's what happened) and DeFilippo/Boston College for reacting in such a strong, completely negative way.

At this point, it's hard to imagine these burned bridges being rebuilt, which means the Jets aren't the only football team in need of a new head coach.