Yes, it’s time. Earl Grant is about to wrap up his fourth season as the head coach of Boston College basketball, and it’s been his worst one yet. After BC’s roster completely fell apart in the 2024 offseason, Grant was not able to pull together enough talent from the transfer portal and coach them to any real level of success this year. The Eagles are in 16th place in the 18-team ACC, they are 4-14 in a weak conference, and they are going to completely miss out on the ACC tournament in Charlotte. It’s a total failure of a season, and there aren’t many bright spots that can give fans hope for the future.
One key player, Donald Hand Jr., has emerged as a budding young star. Chad Venning has been a fun big man to watch, but he is on the fast track to graduation. And the rest of the roster has been rather lackluster, with nobody rising up as a potential #2 or even #3 option on a tournament team. 2025 was always supposed to be a rebuilding year after Quinten Post went onto the NBA and most of the roster around him left, but the way this team has been coached all year does not inspire confidence that Grant can turn things back around.
First, I should emphasize that firing a coach should not be taken likely. Programs that fire their head coaches every 2-4 years are constantly stuck in a state of purgatory. Schools should find a guy they really believe in and let him establish a culture for a multiple years, let him get to know the job, and believe in his development as a coach. Reward consistent progress and don’t make hasty decisions.
Earl Grant has had that opportunity, but the results are a mixed bag. He has been able to find talent in the transfer portal in the past and his development of Quinten Post especially stands out as his greatest achievement so far. Those actions led to Boston College winning their most games in over a decade last season. It was a promising third year of his tenure.
But that team last year had even more potential than they actually achieved. Offensive scheme issues often caught up with that team, and they barely functioned when Post wasn’t out on the floor, relying on the pure hustle of Jaeden Zackery or the streaky shooting of Claudell Harris to keep them in a lot of games. Quinten Post is now ripping it up in the NBA with consistent minutes for a playoff team. And BC went under .500 in the ACC last season?
After Post left, Grant was not able to convince any of his other starters to stay at BC. We know it’s hard to recruit at Boston College, especially in the era of the transfer portal. But the utter collapse of this roster does not bode well for the future of Earl Grant’s teams. And the players he got in the transfer portal to replace them were not good enough to keep BC competitive.
Now the program is starting from scratch with only one really impactful player (who might not even stay in Chestnut Hill next season). With such a thin roster, Grant’s coaching ability took center stage this season. And it hasn’t been pretty.
The team’s offense is marred by long scoring droughts that happen multiple times every game, when the players can’t move the ball, settle for contested shots, or turn the ball over. Despite Grant’s “Gritty Not Pretty” culture, the team’s defense comes and goes as it pleases, with players often failing to contest shots at the perimeter or playing a step behind when grabbing rebounds. And the team has lost several OT and other close games this season because of poor clock management and unpreparedness for crunch time situations. In Year #4, this team is both lacking talent and is poorly coached. That’s basically a big flashing neon sign that says “FIRE THE HEAD COACH!”
Given the low level of investment from the university, I don’t think anyone can turn around the Boston College men’s basketball program within a few years. But we can still have reasonable standards. When those standards are not being met after four full seasons, and the future does not look promising, it makes sense to start over.
By BC standards, Earl Grant caught lightning in a bottle last year. But there are a lot of coaches out there who can grab a few players from the transfer portal and have a decent season. BC should get someone that can actually outsmart their opponents, consistently recruit new talent, and build a lasting culture. Earl Grant hasn’t proven that he can do any of that. It’s time to move on.