Frank Joseph Spaziani (born April 1, 1947) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

from 2009 to 2012, compiling a record of 22 wins and 29 losses. Prior to becoming head coach, Spaziani served on the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

' coaching staff for 12 years, the last 10 as

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

. He also served as

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a Public university system, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution ...

from 2016 to 2021.

Early life and playing career

Spaziani is a native of Clark, New Jersey and a graduate of Arthur L. Johnson High School. Spaziani played

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1965 to 1968. He was a member of the teams that went to the 1967 Gator Bowl and the 1969 Orange Bowl. He was the subject of one of

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...

's notable early quotes: the Nittany Lions' coach said of Spaziani, "Don't get the idea that I like him because he's Italian. I like him because I'm Italian." Spaziani was also a starting

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the Penn State baseball team.

Coaching career

Canadian Football League

Spaziani coached in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) as a defensive coordinator for the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

(two seasons) and

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

(three years). He helped to lead the Blue Bombers to the

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

s and the Stampeders to the 83rd Grey Cup in 1995.

Boston College

In 1997, Spaziani left the Calgary Stampeders for a position as

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

s coach for the

Boston College Eagles The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level ( Football Bowl Subdivis ...

. Coached by Spaziani,

's Mike Cloud was a consensus first-team All-America selection and a finalist for the 1998 Doak Walker Award. Cloud also set a

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

and school single-season rushing record with 1,726 yards in 1998. In 1999, he replaced Tim Rose as defensive coordinator, becoming Boston College's seventh defensive coordinator in the 1990s. In 2001, the Boston College defense ranked 12th nationally in passing defense, 10th in pass efficiency defense, 19th in scoring defense and 25th in total defense. In 2002, they were ranked 13th nationally in passing defense, 25th in pass efficiency defense, 23rd in scoring defense and 37th in total defense. In 2003, they were ranked second in the Big East in total defense and second in rushing defense. In 2004, they were ranked first in the Big East. The Eagles ranked second in the Big East and 31st in the country in total defense and first in the Big East and 12th in the country in scoring defense.

Mathias Kiwanuka Mathias Kagimu Kiwanuka (born March 8, 1983) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected 32nd overall in the 2006 NFL draft. He played coll ...

was the 2004 Big East Defensive Player of the Year. Spaziani was named interim head coach for Boston College twice. In December 2006, after the departure of Tom O'Brien, he coached Boston College to a win versus Navy on December 30, 2006, in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. However, Jeff Jagodzinski was hired as the permanent head coach. Spaziani was also named interim coach after Jagodzinski was fired on January 7, 2009, for interviewing for the open head coaching position with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

. Known for concocting elaborate defensive schemes, "Spaz" was given an honorary PhD from the school in 2008. On January 13, 2009, Spaziani was officially hired as the Eagles' permanent head coach. Spaziani was fired on November 25, 2012, following a season in which Boston College went 2–10, the worst record since 1978.

New Mexico State

On January 8, 2016, Spanziani was hired to be the

for the

New Mexico State Aggies football The New Mexico State Aggies football team represents New Mexico State University in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football as a member of Conference USA. New Mexico State spent the 2013 season as an independent and from ...

team.

Personal life

Spaziani is married to Laura Spaziani (''née'' Heikel); they have two sons and one daughter. They reside in

Hingham, Massachusetts Hingham ( ) is a town in northern Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Plymouth County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Part of the Greater Boston region, it is located on the South Shore (Massachusetts), South Shore of Massachusetts. At the 2020 ...

. He is a brother of

Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity in North America. As of 2021, it had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 118,000 alumni. The fraternity is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded on February 26, 1897, at Vincennes Uni ...

fraternity International.

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links

New Mexico State Aggies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spaziani, Frank 1947 births Living people American football linebackers American football quarterbacks American people of Italian descent Arthur L. Johnson High School alumni Baseball pitchers Boston College Eagles football coaches Calgary Stampeders coaches Coaches of American football from New Jersey Navy Midshipmen football coaches New Mexico State Aggies football coaches Penn State Nittany Lions baseball players Penn State Nittany Lions football coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football players Virginia Cavaliers football coaches Winnipeg Blue Bombers coaches People from Clark, New Jersey Players of American football from Union County, New Jersey Sigma Pi members