Campanile Spreading the BC Love

As a coach at one of New Jersey's high school powerhouses, Don Bosco Prep, Anthony Campanile got to know Boston College. He knew what it stood for, what players succeeded here and how they thrived on and off the field. He was also a fan of the Eagles' head coach, Steve Addazio.

"I had a pretty in-depth knowledge of Boston College," Campanile said. "As a high school coach, we had come up to camp here. Billy McGovern was here at the time and I was very close with him. And I had actually interviewed with Coach Addazio once before. He was just my type of guy. I felt comfortable here."

When Addazio called Campanile five years later in late winter 2016 – then an assistant at Rutgers – about the possibility of joining his staff, the Jersey guy knew almost immediately where he was headed.

"He reached out to me after our former head coach at Rutgers was let go and I was really, really interested in coming here," Campanile said. "When he asked me to come up, I probably knew within the first 10, 15 minutes that this is where I wanted to be."

There was one big reason: the Eagles themselves. "The excitement of getting to coach these kids was probably the most appealing thing of it all," he said.

It's been said that Boston College football players are a special breed. Not only do they have to have the physical tools to play and succeed in a Power 5 conference, but they also have to excel in the classroom and – most importantly – be stand-up members of the community. It's just what BC is all about. The familiar University and Jesuit mottos – "Ever to Excel", "Men and Women for Others" – aren't just empty words.

And that's what drew Campanile in.

"It's immensely important to me and that's why I'm here," Campanile said. "My attitude and philosophy about football and life is absolutely aligned with everything going on here at Boston College. And not only in the football program, but at the University. It's about being a good person, being tough, being accountable. Treating people the right way.

"These kids are incredibly accountable. And it's not only just intelligent from a scholastic perspective, but they have a tremendous football aptitude. They're some of the smartest kids I've ever been around, and they take pride in that. They want to be the smartest guy; they want to be the toughest guy. I just think they hold themselves to an incredibly high standard in everything they do," he said.

A bullish recruiter with deep ties to the football-rich state of New Jersey, Campanile intends to spread the Boston College gospel to future Eagles.

"There's a lot of people at a lot of schools in New Jersey who that is very appealing to," he said. "This is where you should be if you're one of those guys, and there're a lot of those guys in New Jersey. I'm not going to let anyone else get them. If they're a BC guy, they belong at BC. We're not going to let those guys go anywhere else."

As for his current Eagles, Campanile has been thrilled with his defensive backfield charges.

"It's the best culture in a room you could ever be around," he said. "We have good problems. We have a lot of great players trying to get on the field, and we think all of them could help us win. You go from the top to the bottom, from the younger guys to the older guys, there's just a lot of great players in that group. Whether it's corners or safeties, it's a great a problem to have. I have such a high opinion of these guys and what they're going to do this year. I think the sky's the limit for them."

Campanile's adoration of Boston College's culture and his Eagles is evident. And it's not something he's shy about.
"I love being around our players," he said. "If you're coming to BC as player or coming to see practice, the one thing you should know is that we love the guys we coach. We don't apologize about it. I'm not embarrassed to say that. We use that word all the time. I tell them I love them because I mean it.

"We're going to care about our guys. We're going to love our guys more than anyone else in the country. That's our job. I really, really believe that," Campanile said.

Boston College Athletics

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