Boston College fired longtime men’s basketball radio broadcasters Kevin Collins and Josh Maurer, allegedly telling both that the decision came directly from new head coach Luke Murray, who did not want anyone associated with the old coaching staff to stick around.
Collins and Maurer called BC basketball games together for nine years, and both learned in late July that they would not be returning for the upcoming season, leaving little time for them to find new full-time gigs before the start of the 2026-27 season.
“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 told Awful Announcing in a phone interview. “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.”
Murray has not commented on the situation, but BC athletic director Blake James issued a statement to The Field of 68 that pushed back on the accusation, although it did not explicitly absolve Murray.
“The decision to not renew the contracts of our men’s basketball radio announcers was made by Boston College Athletics administrators in consultation with our MMR partner. We wish both Kevin and Josh the best going forward,” the statement read.
Murray, a first-time head coach, joined the program after serving as an assistant under UConn coach Dan Hurley for five years. He replaced Earl Grant, who went 72-92 over five seasons.
Both broadcasters had been trying to set up an introductory meeting, or even just a brief call, with Murray throughout the offseason, but to no avail.
“I was always told either coach Murray is off recruiting, or we have an official visit today, and it’s not a good day, we’ve got a lot going on,” Collins told Awful Announcing.
The reasoning given, relayed to the two by the deputy athletic director, was that Murray did not want anyone in the travel party who might have taken part in what was described as a “losing mentality” under the past coaching staff, although Collins and Maurer did not have a close relationship with the prior staff.
Collins raised the issue with Craig Anderson, Boston College’s deputy athletic director and the team’s basketball administrator, whom he had a good relationship with.
Collins said Anderson pushed back on Murray’s position in internal discussions before being overruled.
Maurer and Collins had been assured that no change was coming after they ensured their current arrangement still worked for the program.
Maurer also does play-by-play for the Milwaukee Brewers, and when his baseball duties would overlap, Collins would do the broadcasts solo.
That assurance held from Murray’s hiring in March until last week.
BC has yet to name replacements for their radio broadcast.
“He’s 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 told Awful Announcing.
He added: “You just allow this guy to come in and demand our jobs and our livelihoods without any real fight. It seems like without giving us a chance to perhaps speak up and defend ourselves, or at least try to build some type of connection with coach Murray before he was allowed to make that decision. It just seems really unjust to me.”
