It's difficult to discuss college athletics in 2023 without touching on the transfer portal or coaching turnover, and New England college baseball is no exception.
The region's prevailing theme in 2023 was in lockstep with the national theme. Some of the region's most attractive coaching positions changed hands while many D1 coaches shifted their recruiting focus to the transfer portal from the less predictable high school recruiting landscape.
There are only 20 D1 head coaching positions in New England, so any time two positions open as vacancies in one calendar year, it's a big deal. Add in the fact that one of the vacancies came at Boston College -- the region's lone representative in a Power Five conference -- and it's easy to see why there was so much interest in the stories.
The BC coaching change started with nuggets of news that seemed fairly benign at the time; both of the team's relatively newly hired assistant coaches left the program after a breakout season that saw the Eagles finish 37-20 and earn a trip to an NCAA Regional. Former coach and BC alumnus Mike Gambino expressed frustration at the school's reluctance to provide financial security for assistant coaches at the time, but it all seemed to blow over in the days to follow when the skipper signed a five-year extension at his alma mater.
