Boston College AD Gene DeFilippo on Friday announced his retirement after 15 years with the school and will "leave his position Sept. 30, according to Shira Springer of the BOSTON GLOBE. He will take a mini-sabbatical, then teach courses in sports management and work as a consultant." The announcement "comes almost eight weeks after DeFilippo was diagnosed with a treatable form of melanoma." He said the cancer was “a wake-up call, but it’s nothing serious.” DeFilippo: “I’ve been in intercollegiate athletics for 40 years. ... It was time for BC to have some new leadership in the athletics department.” Springer notes on Oct. 1 BC Senior Associate AD John Kane will take over as interim AD and "will remain in that position until BC hires a successor." Under DeFilippo, BC "compiled an impressive list of accomplishments, including four national championships in men’s ice hockey." The school during his tenure "invested millions of dollars in athletic facilities upgrades, including renovations at Conte Forum, Alumni Stadium, and the Newton campus sites for soccer, field hockey, and lacrosse" (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/18). In Boston, Steve Buckley wrote DeFilippo "made moves, lots of them, and the fallout was predictable." Some of his moves "worked, and for that people loved and admired him, and some of the moves did not, and for that people vilified him." DeFilippo said, "These jobs are tougher than they used to be. There are few secrets out there now, because of social media. Everyone’s tweeting everything. I love (the job) and all that, but I won’t miss being on 24/7, and working seven days a week, and all the other things that I did" (BOSTON HERALD, 8/18).
