Gallagher talks about new BC job

After two years as a Penn men’s basketball assistant coach, John Gallagher announced last week that he would be trading red and blue for maroon and gold.

Gallagher will join former Columbia coach Joe Jones as an assistant under former Cornell coach Steve Donahue at Boston College next season.

After a collegiate career at Saint Joseph’s, Gallagher served as assistant coach for five years at La Salle. He spent the next two seasons at Lafayette College before jumping to Hartford in 2006 under Dan Leibovitz. Gallagher arrived at Penn to work under former coach Glen Miller in April 2008 and stayed on when Miller was replaced by head coach Jerome Allen.

The Daily Pennsylvanian caught up with Gallagher on Monday to discuss his new position and reflect on his time at Penn.

Daily Pennsylvanian: How do you feel about your new job at Boston College?

John Gallagher: It feels great. I feel blessed, obviously. Coach Donahue is a good friend, and I feel really excited to be working for him. It’s an exciting time and an exciting opportunity to join his staff.

DP: Can you talk about how this came about and how you came to a decision?

JG: Steve’s from the same high school as me. He’s 15 years older than me, but ever since I got into this business, we’ve always talked about one day working together. I don’t think there was a point in time. He called me, and he said, you know, I got the BC job. And he told me what he was thinking, and obviously I was flattered that I was in the discussion.

DP: What was your initial reaction after talking to him?

JG: I was flattered that he would have considered me. I’ve known him a long time — I’ve known him since I was in high school. We have two similar backgrounds: We have the same high school coach, Bud Gardler, and we have the same mentor in Fran O’Hanlon. So they were the two common threads. I think he was comfortable with me.

For me, it was a win-win. Jerome called me and his initial reaction — and I think it’s still his reaction — was “you have to do this, it’s the ACC, John.”

DP: So Coach Allen called and said you should take the position?

JG: He didn’t say “you should take it.” The way he said it was “this is an opportunity for you, Coach Gal, you have to really, really look at.” It was more or less like, “this is the ACC, John. And you can fulfill your goal of being a head coach with this next step.” That was how I took what he said.

DP: Is it tough for you to be leaving Penn, where you’ve been for two years?

JG: It’s tough, because I’ve formed great relationships with the players. It’s tough because [Penn assistant coach] Mike Martin and I have worked together now two years, and I think we’ve worked together very well, especially the second year with recruiting. I think Jerome’s leadership and the way he makes everyone feel in the program — from managers to assistant coaches to the twelfth man to the first man — I think he has a special way about him. I know where Penn’s going to go and from that angle, it is hard to leave.

From the positives for my family and for where my goals and aspirations are, I had to make this move.

DP: How fast have you hit the ground running? And what is going to be your role at BC?

JG: I think it’s everything. The way Coach Donahue runs his program, he wants guys to be able to recruit, be able to coach, be able to run individual workouts, be able to scout. We did our first individual on Friday afternoon, and we saw our first kid in New England Friday night. We’ve been doing it all.

DP: Did you talk to Coach Allen about who’s going to fill your slot here?

JG: I’ve only spoken to him on what he’s looking for, not on what I think. I think Jerome Allen has been in basketball long enough to know what he needs, what the program needs. I don’t think there will be a problem filling my spot at all. I think they’re gonna get somebody great in here.

I think the program is in great hands — I don’t think it’s in good hands, I think it’s in great hands. I really mean this.

I think Jerome is a big-time basketball coach. I’ve been around a lot of coaches, from Phil Martelli to Speedy Morris, Billy Hahn to Fran O’Hanlon to Dan Leibovitz to Coach Miller to now Jerome. I think Jerome has some natural gifts, and I think he’s going to do absolutely phenomenal at Penn. I think the players know it, and I think anybody associated with the program on a day-to-day operation knows how good a coach he is going to be.

DP: What will you miss most about coaching at Penn?

JG: I’m going to miss the fans. In my opinion, there’s nothing better than Big Five basketball. The Penn fans are great, they have the most unique way about them, the way they follow their team. I think being a part of it for two years was an overall great experience, even though we struggled at times. I think Penn fans are very, very special.

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