Gene DeFilippo Position: Director of Athletics

Since Gene DeFilippo became Director of Athletics in September of 1997, he has led the BC athletics program to an unprecedented period of innovation, growth, fundraising, athletic and academic success. DeFilippo has made a significant impact on the program internally, in the Boston community, and from a national standpoint while molding it into one of the nation's elite both on and off the playing field. He also led the program through one of the most significant periods in its history as it transitioned to full membership in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

DeFilippo is credited with spearheading efforts to strengthen BC's athletics program in a number of areas, including facilities, fundraising, staffing and academic support. Boston College student-athletes' achievements in the classroom have become an immense source of pride for the University and its supporters. The Office of Learning Resources for Student-Athletes recently moved into a brand new home in the Yawkey Athletics Center. Under DeFilippo's leadership, 379 BC student-athletes maintained a grade point average of 3.0 or better during the 2007-08 academic year, earning the Athletic Director's Award for Academic Excellence. The football team won the 2004 American Football Coaches Association's Academic Achievement Award with a 100% graduation rate and BC's graduation rate for all student-athletes has consistently ranked in the nation's top ten. Also under DeFilippo's leadership, U.S. News and World Report honored Boston College as one of the top 20 athletics departments in the country.

DeFilippo has restructured the athletics program and hired top-notch administrators. He initiated an impressive overhaul of BC's athletics facilities that includes new football practice facilities, lighting, scoreboards and other improvements at Shea Field, renovations to Conte Forum, including a new sound system, floor and video boards, two new soccer fields on the Newton campus, new Field Turf for Alumni Stadium, and an air-inflated bubble to cover the stadium turf to provide an indoor practice facility for all sports during the winter months.

DeFilippo was instrumental in raising money to build the privately funded $27 million, 72,000-square-foot Yawkey Athletics Center, which houses the football program, the Office of Learning Resources for Student-Athletes, and a large function area for general University use, freeing up critically needed space in Conte Forum for women's athletics and other Olympic sports teams. After football moved into the Yawkey Center, BC undertook a multi-million dollar renovation Conte Forum to provide additional locker room and office space for many of BC's 31 varsity sports.

DeFilippo renamed the Athletics Association's fundraising arm (formerly Blue Chips) in honor of longtime Athletics Director Bill Flynn. Alumni, parents and friends of Boston College Athletics contributed a record $21 million in 2008, a 10% increase from the previous year's record and more than 200% of what was raised as recently as 2003.

Anne and Gene DeFilippo cemented their commitment to Boston College by announcing their pledge of $100,000 to endow a scholarship. The scholarship will be awarded annually to a female student-athlete who demonstrates outstanding academic achievement and financial need.

In athletics competition, DeFilippo has overseen some of the most successful seasons in Boston College Athletics history. During the 2007-08 season, the football team appeared in a school-record ninth consecutive bowl game and won its eighth straight. The men's ice hockey team won its third national championship after advancing to the championship game for the third straight year and the Frozen Four for the eighth time in 11 seasons. The men's soccer team captured both the ACC regular-season and tournament championships and entered the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament as the overall No. 1 seed.

DeFilippo is extremely active on the national scene. He is the past president of NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics), the nation's Division I-A Athletics Directors' organization, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. He is also a former representative to the NCAA Division I Management Council.

DeFilippo was named the 2000-01 Division I-A Northeast Region NACDA/Continental Airlines AD of the Year. He was honored at the annual NACDA convention in Salt Lake City in June 2001. He received the "Penguin of the Year" Award from Youngstown State University in 2003 and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Springfield College in 2001. In April of 2000, he was awarded the "I Migliori" plaque at the Pirandello Lyceum's annual awards banquet, honoring outstanding achievements and exemplary lives of Italian-Americans.

At Boston College, DeFilippo is responsible for the administration and management of a broad-based athletics program committed to the pursuit of excellence in both intercollegiate competition and academic achievement. The Boston College program is comprised of approximately 750 student-athletes participating in 31 men's and women's varsity sports, all of which compete at the NCAA Division I level, in addition to a wide variety of intramural, recreation and club sports. Boston College also is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference and Hockey East.

As both a top-level administrator and a former Division I football coach, DeFilippo brought to Boston College a wide range of experience on and off the field. From 1993-97, he served as director of athletics at Villanova University, where he was named to the NCAA Division I Management Council. At Villanova, his tenure included the 1997 Big East regular-season men's basketball tournament title; 1994 NIT men's basketball championship; two NCAA championships for women's cross country, and a Rhodes Scholar, among others. In addition to the NCAA Division I Management Council, DeFilippo was named to the NCAA Nominating Committee, the NCAA Special Committee on Marketing, Promotions and Licensing and the executive board of the Philadelphia Sports congress.

His coaching experience includes three years as offensive backfield coach at Vanderbilt (1980-82), which included the 1982 Hall of Fame Bowl. From 1975-79, he was offensive coordinator at Youngstown State University, during which time the team won two consecutive Mid-Continent Conference championships, 1978-79. In 1973-74, he was graduate assistant football coach for the University of Tennessee, coaching in the 1973 Gator Bowl and 1974 Liberty Bowl.

A 1973 graduate of Springfield College with a Bachelor of Science degree, DeFilippo earned three varsity letters as a quarterback in football during his undergraduate career. He received a master's degree in educational administration from the University of Tennessee in 1974.

DeFilippo and his wife, Anne, are the parents of three children - Christine, a guidance counselor at Beaver Country Day School; John, quarterbacks coach for the Oakland Raiders, and Mary, a 2007 graduate of Boston College who is a production assistant for Cramer Productions.