Boston College Athletics
Padded Practice Achieves Another Benchmark For BC
August 11, 2020 | Football, #ForBoston Files
The appreciation of playing and learning wasn't lost this past weekend.
The first week of training camp always fills a team with heightened anticipation because of the NCAA's acclimation period. It starts with helmets-only walkthroughs over the first two days before recalibrating into pads and shells for the third day. Full pads await at the end of that first week as teams return their athletes to full-on football.
It's a normally-interminable process for players who impatiently go through drills and went through workouts over the summer. This year, though, the return of the familiar football sounds was a welcome acoustic at Boston College, where it signaled the next phase of benchmarks accomplished.
"It was awesome to hear those pads pop," offensive lineman Zion Johnson said. "We've been going through walkthroughs and non-padded deals, but nothing beat the first day with pads. We got to see what people were really made of."
This weekend marked the first padded practice since March's spring practice shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so its importance extended well beyond those first hits. It released pent-up energy from a six-month dormancy and shocked the team's system in its march towards an eventual first game, but it also served as a litmus test. For head coach Jeff Hafley, that dual purpose enabled the first opportunity to witness his team's advantages and deficiencies.
"It's way different than playing with shirts and shorts on," head coach Jeff Hafley said. "We thudded up a little bit, but we have to learn how to practice together. We can't take guys on the ground to dive on people, or (we can't) take shots when people aren't looking. Today was a big step in learning how to practice with those pads on."
It's part of a further, unique challenge for a new coaching staff. Hafley entered camp with an additional tax caused by March's abrupt cancellation because it curtailed his best-laid plans. That levy altered expectations and established groundwork for how the team would change and how it would have to adapt on the fly.
"A lot of it has to do with what you do outside the white lines," defensive back Mike Palmer said. "It's still football, so it's not like going from geometry to social studies; it's still kind of similar. It's still difficult, but it comes together well and clicks when you spend the time to learn a new system instead of doing the same thing every year."
"I think you have to look really closely at the personnel first," Hafley said. "Last year, at Ohio State, we had defensive linemen and corners where we thought we could play a lot of three-deep (coverage). I've been at other places where I played a lot of quarter coverage, a lot of quarter-half, and a lot of zone pressures. You have a huge playbook, but you have to see if you have a man-cover skill team or a zone team.
"You have to look hard and adapt," he explained. "We're still doing that. At practice, we have a lot of football and coverages because we're trying to see what we can do best. We want to base it on the personnel that we have."
That underscores the importance of having BC compete against itself while learning new elements of football. The new offensive scheme will challenge the defense in new, unexpected ways while the defense will pressure the offense into further development. Over the weekend, the contact delivered those first images of what the coaches - and the Eagles at large - can expect.
The defensive line knifed through the offense to produce would-be sacks, and the secondary produced turnovers as it re-established itself in its new playbook.
"If we get to the quarterback, that gets pressure off the secondary," defensive lineman Marcus Valdez said, "and then we can call different things. If we can't get to the quarterback, that gives (opponents) more time to throw. All of that is based on how good our rushes are and how we'll we're playing against the run. If we can reset the line of scrimmage two or three yards back, that will give us a little bit more freedom."
"I can tell Marcus Valdez is coming this year," Johnson said. "He's a slippery guy. He's been doing a great job, and he's going to help us win some games this year."
The offense, meanwhile, responded with explosive passing plays. Every receiver caught multiple balls, and each quarterback found ways to produce positive yards against ball-hawking defensive backs.
"I love that new offensive scheme," defensive back Brandon Sebastian said. "We're not just pounding the rock every play. Running this NFL style has really helped the defense see what's out there. When I'm playing, if I'm in Cover-2, I know Phil (Jurkovec) can throw that ball on a string. When he lets it go, I have to get on my high horse to try and pick it off because he can fit it into a small window. I'm usually (playing) deep corner, though, so I can play more top-down."
"I love going against (the offensive line)," Valdez said. "They're one of the best lines in the country, so we're not going to face something better than what we have here. We're going against Zion, Alec (Lindstrom), (Tyler) Vrabel, and Ben (Petrula), and they're the best at their position. We get to grind every day in competition and make each other better."
At some point, the dog days of camp will arrive, but this weekend produced happy football players that could finally enjoy a little physical contact. It gave the team a rawness in its gridiron push, and it achieved another benchmark in the entire program's return to football. It's a process, but it's reaching a tilt through moments of pride and an appreciation for preparation.
"It was so fun," Valdez said. "It's so hard to practice without pads, especially up front in the trenches. You always want to go fast, but coaches tell you to slow down. Once you get the pads on, it's totally different. It was a new experience, and I loved to get some thud in. You hear those pads pop a little, so it's always good."
"We'll show them clips and how to clean it up, but we have to be as physical as we can be," Hafley said. "There's that fine line where we don't want to be reckless, and that's what we have to teach them. We haven't had much time to do that, so we have to use training camp on (to explain) how to toe the line on being physical. We'll work through that the best that we can."
It's a normally-interminable process for players who impatiently go through drills and went through workouts over the summer. This year, though, the return of the familiar football sounds was a welcome acoustic at Boston College, where it signaled the next phase of benchmarks accomplished.
"It was awesome to hear those pads pop," offensive lineman Zion Johnson said. "We've been going through walkthroughs and non-padded deals, but nothing beat the first day with pads. We got to see what people were really made of."
This weekend marked the first padded practice since March's spring practice shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so its importance extended well beyond those first hits. It released pent-up energy from a six-month dormancy and shocked the team's system in its march towards an eventual first game, but it also served as a litmus test. For head coach Jeff Hafley, that dual purpose enabled the first opportunity to witness his team's advantages and deficiencies.
"It's way different than playing with shirts and shorts on," head coach Jeff Hafley said. "We thudded up a little bit, but we have to learn how to practice together. We can't take guys on the ground to dive on people, or (we can't) take shots when people aren't looking. Today was a big step in learning how to practice with those pads on."
It's part of a further, unique challenge for a new coaching staff. Hafley entered camp with an additional tax caused by March's abrupt cancellation because it curtailed his best-laid plans. That levy altered expectations and established groundwork for how the team would change and how it would have to adapt on the fly.
"A lot of it has to do with what you do outside the white lines," defensive back Mike Palmer said. "It's still football, so it's not like going from geometry to social studies; it's still kind of similar. It's still difficult, but it comes together well and clicks when you spend the time to learn a new system instead of doing the same thing every year."
"I think you have to look really closely at the personnel first," Hafley said. "Last year, at Ohio State, we had defensive linemen and corners where we thought we could play a lot of three-deep (coverage). I've been at other places where I played a lot of quarter coverage, a lot of quarter-half, and a lot of zone pressures. You have a huge playbook, but you have to see if you have a man-cover skill team or a zone team.
"You have to look hard and adapt," he explained. "We're still doing that. At practice, we have a lot of football and coverages because we're trying to see what we can do best. We want to base it on the personnel that we have."
That underscores the importance of having BC compete against itself while learning new elements of football. The new offensive scheme will challenge the defense in new, unexpected ways while the defense will pressure the offense into further development. Over the weekend, the contact delivered those first images of what the coaches - and the Eagles at large - can expect.
The defensive line knifed through the offense to produce would-be sacks, and the secondary produced turnovers as it re-established itself in its new playbook.
"If we get to the quarterback, that gets pressure off the secondary," defensive lineman Marcus Valdez said, "and then we can call different things. If we can't get to the quarterback, that gives (opponents) more time to throw. All of that is based on how good our rushes are and how we'll we're playing against the run. If we can reset the line of scrimmage two or three yards back, that will give us a little bit more freedom."
"I can tell Marcus Valdez is coming this year," Johnson said. "He's a slippery guy. He's been doing a great job, and he's going to help us win some games this year."
The offense, meanwhile, responded with explosive passing plays. Every receiver caught multiple balls, and each quarterback found ways to produce positive yards against ball-hawking defensive backs.
"I love that new offensive scheme," defensive back Brandon Sebastian said. "We're not just pounding the rock every play. Running this NFL style has really helped the defense see what's out there. When I'm playing, if I'm in Cover-2, I know Phil (Jurkovec) can throw that ball on a string. When he lets it go, I have to get on my high horse to try and pick it off because he can fit it into a small window. I'm usually (playing) deep corner, though, so I can play more top-down."
"I love going against (the offensive line)," Valdez said. "They're one of the best lines in the country, so we're not going to face something better than what we have here. We're going against Zion, Alec (Lindstrom), (Tyler) Vrabel, and Ben (Petrula), and they're the best at their position. We get to grind every day in competition and make each other better."
At some point, the dog days of camp will arrive, but this weekend produced happy football players that could finally enjoy a little physical contact. It gave the team a rawness in its gridiron push, and it achieved another benchmark in the entire program's return to football. It's a process, but it's reaching a tilt through moments of pride and an appreciation for preparation.
"It was so fun," Valdez said. "It's so hard to practice without pads, especially up front in the trenches. You always want to go fast, but coaches tell you to slow down. Once you get the pads on, it's totally different. It was a new experience, and I loved to get some thud in. You hear those pads pop a little, so it's always good."
"We'll show them clips and how to clean it up, but we have to be as physical as we can be," Hafley said. "There's that fine line where we don't want to be reckless, and that's what we have to teach them. We haven't had much time to do that, so we have to use training camp on (to explain) how to toe the line on being physical. We'll work through that the best that we can."
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