Spring Football Notebook

A season that saw the Eagles win five of their last six regular season games, coupled with nationally notable efforts by many, gave great hope for the direction of the football program.

The dawn of spring practices reignites that optimism and will give a chance for players to begin positioning themselves for continued success on the gridiron when they return in the summer.

One of those players who will unfortunately have to wait is starting quarterback Anthony Brown, who is working his way back from a knee injury that cut short a highly successful redshirt-freshman season. Brown was among the top five freshmen passers nationally with 1,367 yards and 11 touchdowns at the time of his injury. The New Jersey native also ran for 210 yards and a touchdown in 10 starts.

On Thursday, head coach Steve Addazio explained that his quarterback's rehabilitation, following off-season surgery, is on point, and that spring will allow the opportunity for others to step up at the position in the wake of Darius Wade transferring to Delaware after guiding the Eagles over the final three-plus games of the season.

"Anthony's great. Had surgery. Doing great, looks great. He's right on schedule, probably ahead of schedule. He'll be fine. He'll be ready to roll, obviously, as we go into the summer he'll still be rehabbing through the spring, and each week doing more and more things," declared the BC coach.

"E.J. Perry is going to have a chance to come in here and take all those reps, and we're very excited about E.J. He has a very bright future…You've got John Fadule. You've got Matt McDonald. Those are really the guys taking the bulk of the reps in there. And (Dennis) Grosel will be in there taking some reps. But I think great eyes are going to be on E.J. I think what a great blessing to have him take these snaps. I can't wait to watch him."

During his freshman campaign in the fall, Perry moved to second on the depth chart following Brown's injury and made his lone appearance of the season in the team's 39-16 win over UConn at Fenway Park, though he did not throw a pass.

NOTES

At his pre-spring practice press conference on Thursday, Addazio stated that he did not expect offensive linemen Jon Baker and Elijah Johnson to participate. Others that he said were "somewhat still undeterminable" included defensive end Zach Allen, linebackers Connor Strachan and Max Richardson, and tight end Chris Garrison.
Following his storied freshman season, running back AJ Dillon can likely expect a little less contact this spring. "It's all about improvement, but I don't think you need to be foolish in it," Addazio explained. "I don't see us doing a whole lot of tackling to the ground in spring football. But AJ will get some good work. But there will be a good balance in there." The Eagles coach also mentioned the continued progression of fellow freshman back Travis Levy who he notes has "gotten much bigger and stronger."
There will be a few players using the opportunity to try their hands in other places. Addazio stated that linemen Nate Emer and Adam Korutz have been and will continue to work with the offensive line this spring. Tight end Drew McQuarrie will work out at defensive end, Tate Haynes will continue his work at corner, and wide receiver Ben Glines has "taken some dual role stuff," which includes work at running back.
The program also announced on Thursday the additions of Antoine Smith and Bill Sheridan to the coaching staff. Smith, who worked as the program's Director of Football Initiatives after coming over from Texas State where he was defensive line coach, will work with the defensive tackles, while Sheridan, who has served as defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Giants, will focus on the linebackers. With these moves, Jim Reid will move over from the linebackers to the defensive ends in addition to his duties as defensive coordinator.

Boston College Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Zach Allen

Jon Baker

Anthony Brown

AJ Dillon

Nate Emer

Chris Garrison

Ben Glines

Tate Haynes

Elijah Johnson

Adam Korutz

Travis Levy

Drew McQuarrie

Max Richardson

Connor Strachan

Darius Wade

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