Boston College radio announcer says he was fired because new coach Luke Murray wants to get rid of 'losing mentality'

Kevin Collins and Josh Maurer called Boston College men’s basketball games together for nearly a decade. But with a new era regime taking over, both Collins and Maurer were informed their services are no longer needed.

On the surface, it didn’t seem like the two were related. New coaching staffs rarely have any impact on team announcers. They tend to operate in related, but separate, avenues.

But that was apparently not the case this time around. In an interview with Awful Announcing, Collins said he and Maurer were fired because new head coach Luke Murray wanted to sever all ties to the “losing mentality” the program had under its previous regime.

The reasoning delivered to the pair, relayed through Deputy Athletic Director Craig Anderson, was that Murray didn’t want anyone in the travel party who’d been part of what was described as the program’s “losing mentality” under the previous staff, despite neither broadcaster having any real relationship with the coaching staff itself beyond showing up to call games …

“The reasoning that I was given was that Coach Murray basically wants a whole new fresh coat of paint on the entire program and wants no remnants of the past around the program,” Collins said. “We have nothing to do with any of that. But he wanted us removed. Didn’t feel comfortable being around a link to the past, if you will. My challenge was, well, how can he not feel comfortable around us? He hasn’t even given us the chance to meet us.”

Collins, who called Boston College games for 13 seasons, a span that included three different head coaches and five different athletic directors, said he and Maurer attempted to meet with Murray numerous times over the offseason, but were rebuffed. Collins said he and Maurer were told Murray was either recruiting, or that a recruit was in town and it wasn’t a good day to meet.

Collins said he even offered to stay with the program, but work as an engineer — and not an on-air presence — during broadcasts. He was told that wouldn’t work either.

Despite all of that, Collins told Awful Announcing he loves and still supports Boston College. He also expressed that sentiment in a social-media post announcing his firing, saying he, “will always be an Eagle.”

Still, he doesn’t think it was fair the way things were handled behind the scenes.

“[Murray is] a young head coach, no experience, and he’s being given the power to take two guys’ careers away from them who have done nothing but try to serve the program and promote the program.”

Collins later added, “It just seems really unjust to me.”

Murray, 41, was hired as Boston College’s men’s basketball coach in March. He previously served as an assistant at UConn under Dan Hurley. Murray is the son of actor Bill Murray.

Upon being hired, Murray said fans will “find our program defined by a standard of excellence, and our team will play an unselfish, tough and highly competitive brand of basketball.”

Boston College hasn’t posted a winning season since 2010-11, when the team went 9-7.