Boston College Athletics
NSD Class of '22: BC, Hafley Validated By Best-Ever Class
December 16, 2021 | Football, #ForBoston Files
Maybe Jeff Hafley can finally get some rest now.
There were times over the past two weeks that Jeff Hafley barely knew where he was. He woke up in one city, flew to two or three more, and landed to sleep only after he made multiple stops. That's if he was even able to sleep, let alone have a full dinner.
It was tough, but the steps remained necessary to a process he hoped would mark the second anniversary of his hire on Wednesday with the same excitement and enthusiasm that started his era at Boston College. It was, after all, the start of the NCAA's Early Signing Period, and the last two weeks between the end of the regular season and the National Signing Day start were invaluable to his efforts.
If Hafley hadn't slept over those two weeks, he hopefully got to put his head on a pillow on Wednesday night with the knowledge that pushing all of those chips into the middle of the table paid off in a big way. Sitting in his office above Alumni Stadium, the letters of intent started rolling in, and as the names crossed his whiteboard, the best recruiting class in Boston College program history officially became Eagles.
"I'm really excited about this recruiting class and to finally get a chance to talk about some of the players," Hafley said on Wednesday afternoon. "I give credit to our staff and to our football coaches, our support staff, the recruiting staff…there's so much that goes into with with the faculty and the deans that help Pat Kraft. I'm going to get credit for a good recruiting class, but I don't deserve as much as those people."
Recruiting is a year-round effort, but the Class of 2022 seemed to fall under unusual public scrutiny in the run-up to Wednesday. It seemed to come from multiple areas, as if things were too good to be true for BC, and denigrated the efforts and inroads made over the past two years. This year's class was almost a referendum on last year when Hafley recruited a top-35 year without the aid of in-person visits.
It didn't help that the coaching carousel entered his name into the list of replacements at almost every program looking for a new head coach. The rumors were baseless after Hafley continually affirmed his commitment to BC, but they persisted until he signed a five-year contract extension to keep him in Chestnut Hill through 2026.
Overcoming those obstacles, however they were perceived, built a fever pitch within the program, and Wednesday arrived on that upward trajectory after Hafley's lieutenants fanned out throughout the country. The validation was immediate, and the rankings bureaus topped last year's numbers by throwing adulation at a class that improved into the top-25 nationally.
The Eagles outflanked virtually their entire conference, including Clemson, and finished Wednesday with their best-ever class since the advent of both Rivals and 247sports. None of the commitments fell below three stars, and the four-star athletes offered cherries on top of what turned into a very real confirmation of the efforts exerted by a staff widely recognized for its recruiting skill.
"This was the first time we got to sit down in living rooms," Hafley said, "and we got to know the [parents] and brothers and sisters [of our recruits]. We got to form those relationships, which I think are so important to us. They're important to Boston College because you're looking for a special person. You win with people, and I think this is a special group of people. I can really sense that on the last recruiting trips, we felt like we've known [the families] forever."
It was far from a simple amassing of talent, and BC addressed a dozen different positions by bringing in players with tremendous upside. Four recruits were from Maryland - where BC plays in the Military Bowl in two weeks - while an additional four were from Massachusetts. Two more came from Georgia and Tennessee, but the remainder of the 21-player class hailed from single-entry states. Commitments came from major hotbed states and high profile high schools, though the first letter of intent arrived on Tuesday local time when Australian punter Sam Candotti's signing period opened on the opposite end of the globe.
"We've brought in people that are going to compete from different states and from Australia and Canada," Hafley said. "BC is a national brand. I believe that, and we feel like we can go to California - and we did. We can go to Texas, and we did. But most importantly, we stayed home. I'm not going to be one of those guys that says he's going to fence this area. I said when I got here that we were going to do our best to evaluate this state, and we did. Last year, we kept the best part of the state home, and I believe we did the same thing this year."
The strategy secured BC's future by relying on the very real conversations between Hafley, his coaches, the recruits and the environment around them. Film and conversations played more of a role than raw data, and the star system developed to rate the measurables of the recruits only served as a byproduct validation after the player committed.
Hafley outright admitted he didn't want to influence his opinion of a recruit while he was in the process of evaluating them by knowing their star rating, but the result handed BC the commitment of players ranked throughout the top tier of their home states. Cam Barfield and Alex Broome were both ranked in the top five as running backs from Nevada and Tennessee, and others like Jude Bowry and Noah Clifford were the top offensive linemen in Maryland and Connecticut.
Those goals created unquestionable success because it meant Hafley had to recruit the player and the family with the understanding that certain players are always going to fit the mold at Boston College. It's always taken a special athlete to play in Alumni Stadium, and that didn't change even as the star system refined the Eagles into the top third of the nation.
It instead only enhanced the momentum and understanding of how Hafley could find and recruit the top players who fit the BC mold both as athletes and as people, and as they enter Chestnut Hill, they have the knowledge that this program consistently churned out NFL draft picks and the players who both dot rosters and build championships. It's an undeniable wave, and it's one BC is continuing to ride as the NCAA signing period moves forward.Â
"We have 21 commits," Hafley said, "and we're not done. This class is not done. There's another signing period, and there are other recruits that we're still on. So this is continuing to grow…I want to develop this. I want to do it the right way. I want to build it over time. I want to be consistent."
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It was tough, but the steps remained necessary to a process he hoped would mark the second anniversary of his hire on Wednesday with the same excitement and enthusiasm that started his era at Boston College. It was, after all, the start of the NCAA's Early Signing Period, and the last two weeks between the end of the regular season and the National Signing Day start were invaluable to his efforts.
If Hafley hadn't slept over those two weeks, he hopefully got to put his head on a pillow on Wednesday night with the knowledge that pushing all of those chips into the middle of the table paid off in a big way. Sitting in his office above Alumni Stadium, the letters of intent started rolling in, and as the names crossed his whiteboard, the best recruiting class in Boston College program history officially became Eagles.
"I'm really excited about this recruiting class and to finally get a chance to talk about some of the players," Hafley said on Wednesday afternoon. "I give credit to our staff and to our football coaches, our support staff, the recruiting staff…there's so much that goes into with with the faculty and the deans that help Pat Kraft. I'm going to get credit for a good recruiting class, but I don't deserve as much as those people."
Recruiting is a year-round effort, but the Class of 2022 seemed to fall under unusual public scrutiny in the run-up to Wednesday. It seemed to come from multiple areas, as if things were too good to be true for BC, and denigrated the efforts and inroads made over the past two years. This year's class was almost a referendum on last year when Hafley recruited a top-35 year without the aid of in-person visits.
It didn't help that the coaching carousel entered his name into the list of replacements at almost every program looking for a new head coach. The rumors were baseless after Hafley continually affirmed his commitment to BC, but they persisted until he signed a five-year contract extension to keep him in Chestnut Hill through 2026.
Overcoming those obstacles, however they were perceived, built a fever pitch within the program, and Wednesday arrived on that upward trajectory after Hafley's lieutenants fanned out throughout the country. The validation was immediate, and the rankings bureaus topped last year's numbers by throwing adulation at a class that improved into the top-25 nationally.
The Eagles outflanked virtually their entire conference, including Clemson, and finished Wednesday with their best-ever class since the advent of both Rivals and 247sports. None of the commitments fell below three stars, and the four-star athletes offered cherries on top of what turned into a very real confirmation of the efforts exerted by a staff widely recognized for its recruiting skill.
"This was the first time we got to sit down in living rooms," Hafley said, "and we got to know the [parents] and brothers and sisters [of our recruits]. We got to form those relationships, which I think are so important to us. They're important to Boston College because you're looking for a special person. You win with people, and I think this is a special group of people. I can really sense that on the last recruiting trips, we felt like we've known [the families] forever."
It was far from a simple amassing of talent, and BC addressed a dozen different positions by bringing in players with tremendous upside. Four recruits were from Maryland - where BC plays in the Military Bowl in two weeks - while an additional four were from Massachusetts. Two more came from Georgia and Tennessee, but the remainder of the 21-player class hailed from single-entry states. Commitments came from major hotbed states and high profile high schools, though the first letter of intent arrived on Tuesday local time when Australian punter Sam Candotti's signing period opened on the opposite end of the globe.
"We've brought in people that are going to compete from different states and from Australia and Canada," Hafley said. "BC is a national brand. I believe that, and we feel like we can go to California - and we did. We can go to Texas, and we did. But most importantly, we stayed home. I'm not going to be one of those guys that says he's going to fence this area. I said when I got here that we were going to do our best to evaluate this state, and we did. Last year, we kept the best part of the state home, and I believe we did the same thing this year."
The strategy secured BC's future by relying on the very real conversations between Hafley, his coaches, the recruits and the environment around them. Film and conversations played more of a role than raw data, and the star system developed to rate the measurables of the recruits only served as a byproduct validation after the player committed.
Hafley outright admitted he didn't want to influence his opinion of a recruit while he was in the process of evaluating them by knowing their star rating, but the result handed BC the commitment of players ranked throughout the top tier of their home states. Cam Barfield and Alex Broome were both ranked in the top five as running backs from Nevada and Tennessee, and others like Jude Bowry and Noah Clifford were the top offensive linemen in Maryland and Connecticut.
Those goals created unquestionable success because it meant Hafley had to recruit the player and the family with the understanding that certain players are always going to fit the mold at Boston College. It's always taken a special athlete to play in Alumni Stadium, and that didn't change even as the star system refined the Eagles into the top third of the nation.
It instead only enhanced the momentum and understanding of how Hafley could find and recruit the top players who fit the BC mold both as athletes and as people, and as they enter Chestnut Hill, they have the knowledge that this program consistently churned out NFL draft picks and the players who both dot rosters and build championships. It's an undeniable wave, and it's one BC is continuing to ride as the NCAA signing period moves forward.Â
"We have 21 commits," Hafley said, "and we're not done. This class is not done. There's another signing period, and there are other recruits that we're still on. So this is continuing to grow…I want to develop this. I want to do it the right way. I want to build it over time. I want to be consistent."
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