Photo by: Anthony Garro
"This Is Going To Be A Fun Summer" For Coaches and Recruits Alike
May 11, 2021 | Football, #ForBoston Files
Fifteen months after being forced into a virtual world, BC readies return to road.
Jeff Hafley's first year at Boston College didn't exactly start as planned. He was a first time head coach with a reputation as both a defensive wizard and a master recruiter, but he barely caught his breath from the end of Ohio State's national semifinal loss before COVID-19 flipped his world on its head.
Everything went up in smoke after a handful of practices. Students dispersed to their hometowns and erased the spring calendar, and Hafley's coaching staff likewise went home to support their families. The overall flight forced the universe into a virtual reality, and a scheme normally installed during practice sessions on the Fish Field House turf instead converted to the same Zoom world as everyone else.
The crushing blows landed everywhere, and recruiting absorbed a massive piledriver in the aftermath of the NCAA's mass cancellations. A dead period emerged and prevented face-to-face interaction, but suspending the traditional, stereotypical travel built a roadblock to every coach and especially to a new head coach known for his recruiting prowess.Â
Fifteen months later, the new normal of the recruiting world is finally subsiding with the April announcement of the dead period's conclusion. The interactions are back, and with it comes a whole new opportunity for Boston College to continue spreading its wings to showcase its success.
"This will be the first time since I've been head coach here that we will have a chance to get guys on campus," Hafley said at the conclusion of BC's spring practice session, "so I'm really excited. If you think about it, we did the entire 2021 recruiting class on Zoom. We've done most of our 2022 class and haven't met in person. They haven't been on campus, but now we're going to be able to have a chance to get guys up here in June."
It feels like a lifetime ago that those three days in March changed the college sports landscape forever. The NCAA first announced restrictions and changes to its championship tournaments on March 11 by closing doors to the public and took another step the next day when it joined every major professional sport in cancelling its championship structure until further notice.
One day after that, the NCAA suspended in-person recruiting by instituting a dead period on March 13. The ruling prevented college coaches from maintaining face-to-face contact with prospective student-athletes and ended in-person visits to high school competitions. Coaches were allowed to write and contact recruits over the phone, but nobody could visit each other.
It was a necessary step but erected a fairly large barrier in the recruiting process. BC hired Hafley in December, but he remained at Ohio State through the Fiesta Bowl at the end of the month. He joined the Eagles shortly thereafter, about a month prior to National Signing Day, but his first class honored the commitment of athletes already recruited to BC.Â
Spring practice opened shortly thereafter for his newly-assembled staff to begin installing his scheme, but March's chaos happened after five practices. The entire campus scattered to return home, and the coaches likewise returned to their families while standing up a virtual atmosphere for the players.
The situation teetered on the unknowns and required a fast response from Hafley, who immediately went to work. He assembled a new recruiting plan and involved everyone to honor the new COVID restrictions. He built the blueprint with his assistant coaches and recruiting staff by involving everyone at every level of the institution from the athletics department through to the academic side of the house.
"You have to give credit to the assistants and the recruiting staff," Hafley said during this past spring. "People like Joe (Sullivan), Hannah (Femia) and Jason Kwon and all of their assistants, it was just a lot of time and effort and Zooms. There are a lot of virtual tours we tried to create, a ton of videos and pictures. Our academic people stepped up. The deans of the school stepped up. It's been all hands on deck.Â
"One of the biggest things we have to offer is Boston," he added, "and we haven't really been able to sell it because (recruits) haven't been able to step into the city. This is one of the prettiest campuses in the country, and we're trying to bring all of that and develop relationships for academics for life after football. So it was a credit to our staff for all the time they put in. There were a lot of nights where I didn't hang up Zooms until after 10 p.m., and I'm sure assistants were on later than I was."
"We had a short window (to recruit in person) before (the dead period)," special teams coordinator Matt Thurin said. "We went through Zoom and phone calls, and we have relationships with a lot of kids, but they have to come see it. I think we are more than excited to show off who we are and what we're about - the culture of our program and the school. There's so much to offer."
BC's entire office rose to the challenge, and it was clearly evident when the football team signed its best recruiting class in over a decade. More than two dozen student-athletes committed to the Eagles in February as Boston College topped programs more traditionally recognized during signing periods. The team rose to the middle of the ACC, ahead of both Louisville and Virginia Tech, and landed inside the top-40 in the nation on the list of every major recruiting bureau.
The momentum spilled into the 2022 class currently under recruitment, and BC exploded into second place in the ACC as the dead period remained in place. The NCAA, meanwhile, extended the moratorium on face-to-face interaction in November, and it passed a one-year anniversary in March before the decision came down in mid-April that teams could resume activities on June 1.
It sets the table for a golden opportunity, and recruits and coaches alike will now see what Boston College can do with full availability. It's unlikely the virtual world will ever disappear entirely, but the possibilities of the entire staff that built a successful recruitment campaign on the shortest notice imaginable teem with endless dreams of maroon and gold success.
"I think we're all excited to get back (on the road) and see kids in schools when that time comes," Thurin said. "I think there's a great sense of excitement, and I think there's a relief on the side of student-athletes that they get a chance to interact with people when they come to campuses. They're going to get a fair shot at trying to make a decision that best fits them, and that's mutual excitement. It's not just in the regions that I might recruit; it's everywhere in the country. It's going to be one heck of a summer, and it's going to be a lot of fun."
"I'm pumped," Hafley added. "As coaches, we will take some time in May to watch film and continue to work through that, but in June, it will be full speed ahead. Hopefully we can get a bunch of guys to campus and see what we can do. I'm excited, really excited."
Everything went up in smoke after a handful of practices. Students dispersed to their hometowns and erased the spring calendar, and Hafley's coaching staff likewise went home to support their families. The overall flight forced the universe into a virtual reality, and a scheme normally installed during practice sessions on the Fish Field House turf instead converted to the same Zoom world as everyone else.
The crushing blows landed everywhere, and recruiting absorbed a massive piledriver in the aftermath of the NCAA's mass cancellations. A dead period emerged and prevented face-to-face interaction, but suspending the traditional, stereotypical travel built a roadblock to every coach and especially to a new head coach known for his recruiting prowess.Â
Fifteen months later, the new normal of the recruiting world is finally subsiding with the April announcement of the dead period's conclusion. The interactions are back, and with it comes a whole new opportunity for Boston College to continue spreading its wings to showcase its success.
"This will be the first time since I've been head coach here that we will have a chance to get guys on campus," Hafley said at the conclusion of BC's spring practice session, "so I'm really excited. If you think about it, we did the entire 2021 recruiting class on Zoom. We've done most of our 2022 class and haven't met in person. They haven't been on campus, but now we're going to be able to have a chance to get guys up here in June."
It feels like a lifetime ago that those three days in March changed the college sports landscape forever. The NCAA first announced restrictions and changes to its championship tournaments on March 11 by closing doors to the public and took another step the next day when it joined every major professional sport in cancelling its championship structure until further notice.
One day after that, the NCAA suspended in-person recruiting by instituting a dead period on March 13. The ruling prevented college coaches from maintaining face-to-face contact with prospective student-athletes and ended in-person visits to high school competitions. Coaches were allowed to write and contact recruits over the phone, but nobody could visit each other.
It was a necessary step but erected a fairly large barrier in the recruiting process. BC hired Hafley in December, but he remained at Ohio State through the Fiesta Bowl at the end of the month. He joined the Eagles shortly thereafter, about a month prior to National Signing Day, but his first class honored the commitment of athletes already recruited to BC.Â
Spring practice opened shortly thereafter for his newly-assembled staff to begin installing his scheme, but March's chaos happened after five practices. The entire campus scattered to return home, and the coaches likewise returned to their families while standing up a virtual atmosphere for the players.
The situation teetered on the unknowns and required a fast response from Hafley, who immediately went to work. He assembled a new recruiting plan and involved everyone to honor the new COVID restrictions. He built the blueprint with his assistant coaches and recruiting staff by involving everyone at every level of the institution from the athletics department through to the academic side of the house.
"You have to give credit to the assistants and the recruiting staff," Hafley said during this past spring. "People like Joe (Sullivan), Hannah (Femia) and Jason Kwon and all of their assistants, it was just a lot of time and effort and Zooms. There are a lot of virtual tours we tried to create, a ton of videos and pictures. Our academic people stepped up. The deans of the school stepped up. It's been all hands on deck.Â
"One of the biggest things we have to offer is Boston," he added, "and we haven't really been able to sell it because (recruits) haven't been able to step into the city. This is one of the prettiest campuses in the country, and we're trying to bring all of that and develop relationships for academics for life after football. So it was a credit to our staff for all the time they put in. There were a lot of nights where I didn't hang up Zooms until after 10 p.m., and I'm sure assistants were on later than I was."
"We had a short window (to recruit in person) before (the dead period)," special teams coordinator Matt Thurin said. "We went through Zoom and phone calls, and we have relationships with a lot of kids, but they have to come see it. I think we are more than excited to show off who we are and what we're about - the culture of our program and the school. There's so much to offer."
BC's entire office rose to the challenge, and it was clearly evident when the football team signed its best recruiting class in over a decade. More than two dozen student-athletes committed to the Eagles in February as Boston College topped programs more traditionally recognized during signing periods. The team rose to the middle of the ACC, ahead of both Louisville and Virginia Tech, and landed inside the top-40 in the nation on the list of every major recruiting bureau.
The momentum spilled into the 2022 class currently under recruitment, and BC exploded into second place in the ACC as the dead period remained in place. The NCAA, meanwhile, extended the moratorium on face-to-face interaction in November, and it passed a one-year anniversary in March before the decision came down in mid-April that teams could resume activities on June 1.
It sets the table for a golden opportunity, and recruits and coaches alike will now see what Boston College can do with full availability. It's unlikely the virtual world will ever disappear entirely, but the possibilities of the entire staff that built a successful recruitment campaign on the shortest notice imaginable teem with endless dreams of maroon and gold success.
"I think we're all excited to get back (on the road) and see kids in schools when that time comes," Thurin said. "I think there's a great sense of excitement, and I think there's a relief on the side of student-athletes that they get a chance to interact with people when they come to campuses. They're going to get a fair shot at trying to make a decision that best fits them, and that's mutual excitement. It's not just in the regions that I might recruit; it's everywhere in the country. It's going to be one heck of a summer, and it's going to be a lot of fun."
"I'm pumped," Hafley added. "As coaches, we will take some time in May to watch film and continue to work through that, but in June, it will be full speed ahead. Hopefully we can get a bunch of guys to campus and see what we can do. I'm excited, really excited."
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