Weathering The Storms Make QBs Stronger, Together
August 25, 2020 | Football, #ForBoston Files
This QB room went through it all in about six months' time.
No player lives under a microscope on a football field more than a quarterback. A team's success is significantly tied to their impact and individual performance, and their team's success is often magnified through their own individual scrutiny. The position is the brain trust of the offense, the one with the most touches over the course of an individual game, and, in football's modern era, the most versatile player on the field.
Molding a football team requires deep coordination with the position. A team can play a certain style only if its quarterback can handle the workload, and the player often dictates which plays are called for a particular style.Â
Everything about the room is incredibly unique, and it's why Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti were fortunate to both inherit and redesign the position in a short time. They already possessed an incumbent group of gelling personalities and differing skill sets, but they added to the position almost immediately by recruiting one of college football's most sought-after transfers.
"There's a big improvement (in quarterbacks) from top to bottom," Hafley said. "Whether it's (Sam Johnson), Matt Valecce, Dennis Grosel, or Phil Jurkovec, we have a really good quarterbacks coach, and I hope everyone sees the same improvement. That's a hard position to play, and that's going to take time. But I'm most excited about that, and Coach Cignetti has done an awesome job."
Grosel is the true definition of a college football Cinderella. A preferred walk-on out of Ohio, he arrived in Chestnut Hill without a scholarship but dedicated himself over two seasons to learn the ropes of playing power conference football. He was the fourth string quarterback until a roster shuffle thrust him into a position battle for the backup's job last year, which he won.Gallery: (8-24-2020) 2020 Preseason Camp: The Quarterbacks
He eventually found himself as the team's starter after first string quarterback Anthony Brown suffered a knee injury. He finished the season in the coveted QB1 spot on the depth chart and finished the season with just under 1,000 yards passing and a 3:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
"One of the biggest things you can be is respected," Grosel said. "It was an honor to lead the team out (of the tunnel) on Saturdays, and coming into the locker room in spring as one of those older guys was a different feeling. I felt more responsibility to take a lead, to be the middleman for the new offense to the guys. I wanted to be as open and flexible as possible."
Grosel's story became well-known in the weeks after Brown's injury, but it revealed the uniting fact that the person in the huddle played for a larger position. He carried the support of his backup, Matt Valecce, and the younger players, Sam Johnson and Daelen Menard, all of which worked just as hard as the newly-minted signal caller. They pushed each other with their own individual attributes, a notion that made the room tighter through individuality.
Valecce's sense of humor, for example, differed from the more soft-spoken, thoughtful Grosel. The New York City product carried a distinct brashness to him, and his arm displayed that personality every time he made a throw. His downfield throwing ability made him a unique talent, and it played off of Grosel's dual-threat ability to make plays with his legs.
"I think the guys in the room would say I get my words in, edgewise," Valecce joked. "I talk a lot because I love being around those guys. It's a great room with great personalities. We have a great time in meetings. It's not always super serious, and we like to have fun. That's what it's all about."
It set the tone for last season's depth chart battle that forced Menard and Johnson to make the most of their opportunities. Both quarterbacks were still learning the system at the time, but they alternated plays with the second team in an effort to illustrate their own individual progress, even though each understood the need to collaborate. They set a tone for themselves and raised a bar for the arrival of two new recruits, Matthew Rueve and Andrew Landry.
"Sam and Daelen came in together," Grosel said, "so we put them together as a package deal. They're close friends. We have a lot of guys in that room, and (there are) two freshmen quarterbacks trying to soak up as much as they can. I can't imagine being tossed into this offense right now and just feeling so overwhelmed, but they're working hard and doing a great job. That's all we can ask of them right now."
"We're always making each other better," Valecce said. "We're not independent guys. It's a real different room since I've gotten here freshman year. The room that we have is a great room. It's competitively driven."
None of that culture could have possibly buoyed it through an unprecedented offseason, however. First came a coaching change and the installation of offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti, an NFL coach who was the former offensive coordinator of Sam Bradford's St. Louis rams. His last two stops included positional coaching jobs with the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers, where he had instructed both Eli Manning and Aaron Rodgers.
The coaches vocalized the open competition for playing time by saying the best-prepared players would play, and a further roster shuffle intensified the position battle. Anthony Brown transferred to Oregon, and Phil Jurkovec, a former four-star recruit at Notre Dame, transferred into BC.
Adding those two elements together is a potentially combustible alchemy. Players with years of practice and experience together are naturally close, and removing common bonds while adding a new, highly-touted player is a recipe for disastrous morale. Beyond all of that, Jurkvoec's waiver status compounded the issue because training camp opened without anyone knowing if he would be available for the competition.
"We've become close," Jurkovec said of his spot in the room. "I thank those guys because it's a hard position to have a quarterback transfer in. It can be awkward and weird, but they all made it comfortable for me. They've all been really cool with it."
All of this hung under the looming shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. The March cancellation and subsequent campus disbursement threatened the team's progress and chemistry and further forced everyone into a virtual environment. It led Cignetti to stress the need to remain together while separated, a concept the quarterbacks latched onto together as a cohesive unit when they finally returned to campus in order to live in the "BC Bubble."
"I was looking forward to getting to know (Phil) in the spring," Grosel said. "That didn't happen because of how short it was. So over the summer, we had extra meeting time with Zoom, and we spent a lot of time together, virtually. It's been great. He's a great competitor and a great guy to have in the room."
"It's encouraging that my teammates really care about our team and what we can do," Jurkovec said. "It's hard, it really is, to go months without seeing anybody outside of our circle. People have made sacrifices, and I thank them for that."Â
It led to an incredible room full of camaraderie and competition. An already tight unit is even closer-knit after being forced apart, and the battle layers in practice are nuanced. Hitting plays earn congratulations even as they raise the bar for the next player's throw. Decision making is discussed, even though the person with the strongest acumen might earn playing time. Everyone wants to be the man behind the center, but everyone is proud to be associated with the other quarterbacks.
"The room's come a long way," Grosel said. "It's seen a fair share of guys in the last few years, and I've been through it all and seen it all. It's coming together to be something special. Matt and Phil are great guys to be around. They're experienced guys that know football really, really well. It's really good to bounce ideas off of them."
"Matt's always there to talk your ear off if you want it...or even if you don't want it," he smiled. "Phil's a great guy to be around. I want to be the guy that guys can talk to and lean on to vibe energy off of."
"Our whole message was to control what we could control," Valecce said. "We prepare every day as if we're getting ready to play, even if we were just getting ready to go onto a practice field. We're in our bubble right now, but we love being around each other and being around the guys. We're gluing as a unit."
Molding a football team requires deep coordination with the position. A team can play a certain style only if its quarterback can handle the workload, and the player often dictates which plays are called for a particular style.Â
Everything about the room is incredibly unique, and it's why Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti were fortunate to both inherit and redesign the position in a short time. They already possessed an incumbent group of gelling personalities and differing skill sets, but they added to the position almost immediately by recruiting one of college football's most sought-after transfers.
"There's a big improvement (in quarterbacks) from top to bottom," Hafley said. "Whether it's (Sam Johnson), Matt Valecce, Dennis Grosel, or Phil Jurkovec, we have a really good quarterbacks coach, and I hope everyone sees the same improvement. That's a hard position to play, and that's going to take time. But I'm most excited about that, and Coach Cignetti has done an awesome job."
Grosel is the true definition of a college football Cinderella. A preferred walk-on out of Ohio, he arrived in Chestnut Hill without a scholarship but dedicated himself over two seasons to learn the ropes of playing power conference football. He was the fourth string quarterback until a roster shuffle thrust him into a position battle for the backup's job last year, which he won.
Story Continues Below...Â
He eventually found himself as the team's starter after first string quarterback Anthony Brown suffered a knee injury. He finished the season in the coveted QB1 spot on the depth chart and finished the season with just under 1,000 yards passing and a 3:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
"One of the biggest things you can be is respected," Grosel said. "It was an honor to lead the team out (of the tunnel) on Saturdays, and coming into the locker room in spring as one of those older guys was a different feeling. I felt more responsibility to take a lead, to be the middleman for the new offense to the guys. I wanted to be as open and flexible as possible."
Grosel's story became well-known in the weeks after Brown's injury, but it revealed the uniting fact that the person in the huddle played for a larger position. He carried the support of his backup, Matt Valecce, and the younger players, Sam Johnson and Daelen Menard, all of which worked just as hard as the newly-minted signal caller. They pushed each other with their own individual attributes, a notion that made the room tighter through individuality.
Valecce's sense of humor, for example, differed from the more soft-spoken, thoughtful Grosel. The New York City product carried a distinct brashness to him, and his arm displayed that personality every time he made a throw. His downfield throwing ability made him a unique talent, and it played off of Grosel's dual-threat ability to make plays with his legs.
"I think the guys in the room would say I get my words in, edgewise," Valecce joked. "I talk a lot because I love being around those guys. It's a great room with great personalities. We have a great time in meetings. It's not always super serious, and we like to have fun. That's what it's all about."
It set the tone for last season's depth chart battle that forced Menard and Johnson to make the most of their opportunities. Both quarterbacks were still learning the system at the time, but they alternated plays with the second team in an effort to illustrate their own individual progress, even though each understood the need to collaborate. They set a tone for themselves and raised a bar for the arrival of two new recruits, Matthew Rueve and Andrew Landry.
"Sam and Daelen came in together," Grosel said, "so we put them together as a package deal. They're close friends. We have a lot of guys in that room, and (there are) two freshmen quarterbacks trying to soak up as much as they can. I can't imagine being tossed into this offense right now and just feeling so overwhelmed, but they're working hard and doing a great job. That's all we can ask of them right now."
"We're always making each other better," Valecce said. "We're not independent guys. It's a real different room since I've gotten here freshman year. The room that we have is a great room. It's competitively driven."
None of that culture could have possibly buoyed it through an unprecedented offseason, however. First came a coaching change and the installation of offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti, an NFL coach who was the former offensive coordinator of Sam Bradford's St. Louis rams. His last two stops included positional coaching jobs with the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers, where he had instructed both Eli Manning and Aaron Rodgers.
The coaches vocalized the open competition for playing time by saying the best-prepared players would play, and a further roster shuffle intensified the position battle. Anthony Brown transferred to Oregon, and Phil Jurkovec, a former four-star recruit at Notre Dame, transferred into BC.
Adding those two elements together is a potentially combustible alchemy. Players with years of practice and experience together are naturally close, and removing common bonds while adding a new, highly-touted player is a recipe for disastrous morale. Beyond all of that, Jurkvoec's waiver status compounded the issue because training camp opened without anyone knowing if he would be available for the competition.
"We've become close," Jurkovec said of his spot in the room. "I thank those guys because it's a hard position to have a quarterback transfer in. It can be awkward and weird, but they all made it comfortable for me. They've all been really cool with it."
All of this hung under the looming shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. The March cancellation and subsequent campus disbursement threatened the team's progress and chemistry and further forced everyone into a virtual environment. It led Cignetti to stress the need to remain together while separated, a concept the quarterbacks latched onto together as a cohesive unit when they finally returned to campus in order to live in the "BC Bubble."
"I was looking forward to getting to know (Phil) in the spring," Grosel said. "That didn't happen because of how short it was. So over the summer, we had extra meeting time with Zoom, and we spent a lot of time together, virtually. It's been great. He's a great competitor and a great guy to have in the room."
"It's encouraging that my teammates really care about our team and what we can do," Jurkovec said. "It's hard, it really is, to go months without seeing anybody outside of our circle. People have made sacrifices, and I thank them for that."Â
It led to an incredible room full of camaraderie and competition. An already tight unit is even closer-knit after being forced apart, and the battle layers in practice are nuanced. Hitting plays earn congratulations even as they raise the bar for the next player's throw. Decision making is discussed, even though the person with the strongest acumen might earn playing time. Everyone wants to be the man behind the center, but everyone is proud to be associated with the other quarterbacks.
"The room's come a long way," Grosel said. "It's seen a fair share of guys in the last few years, and I've been through it all and seen it all. It's coming together to be something special. Matt and Phil are great guys to be around. They're experienced guys that know football really, really well. It's really good to bounce ideas off of them."
"Matt's always there to talk your ear off if you want it...or even if you don't want it," he smiled. "Phil's a great guy to be around. I want to be the guy that guys can talk to and lean on to vibe energy off of."
"Our whole message was to control what we could control," Valecce said. "We prepare every day as if we're getting ready to play, even if we were just getting ready to go onto a practice field. We're in our bubble right now, but we love being around each other and being around the guys. We're gluing as a unit."
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