BOSTON — Boston College is turning to former Eagles receiver Rich Gunnell as interim coach while looking for a permanent successor to Steve Addazio.
The school is trying to return to the days when it was nationally ranked and competing for an Atlantic Coast Conference championship.
“We’re not taking a step back, this is a step forward,” athletic director Martin Jarmond said Monday, a day after Addazio was fired after seven seasons in which the BC never won more than seven games. “This is a launchpad now.”
Gunnell was a receiver on the BC teams that played in the ACC title game in 2007 and ’08.
BC lost to ACC powerhouse Clemson 59-7 this year and never beat the Tigers in under Addazio, who was fired Sunday.
Gunnell has spent the past four years as the wide receivers coach in Chestnut Hill. He will not interview for the full-time job, Jarmond said; Gunnell declined to say why.
Instead, the school will conduct a national search for Addazio’s full-time replacement. Jarmond said he hoped to have a decision by the early recruiting deadline on Dec. 18.
In the meantime, the school is talking to bowl games about where it will play this postseason. The Eagles earned the right to play in a bowl after beating Pittsburgh 26-19 on Saturday.
“We’re excited about it,” Jarmond said. “It really just got started because we got our sixth win.”