Start Of Spring Ball Brings New Looks, New Energy
February 27, 2022 | Football, #ForBoston Files
New coaches, new opportunities as Jeff Hafley kicks off third spring session.
For the past month, Fish Field House offered a climate-controlled hunting ground for several Boston College programs. The location next to Alumni Stadium offered simple convenience for teams accustomed to fighting for practice time under the bubble, and the building most associated as a laboratory for Jeff Hafley's football team turned into a home field advantage for athletes looking to escape the cold. Last Saturday, for example, it hosted the No. 1-ranked women's lacrosse program's win over cross-town Boston University one week after it watched the defending national champion cruise past fourth-ranked Northwestern.
But on Saturday morning, the roofed structure closed its doors and brought its more familiar sounds back to life. Football blew in like an autumn wind, and as New England continued to dig out from a surprisingly-tough snowstorm on Friday, the Eagles donned helmets and shells for the first of their spring practice sessions.
"It's great to get back together," head coach Jeff Hafley said. "They had a really good winter workout. I thought Coach [Phil] Matusz and his staff did a really good job. They worked hard and made a lot of good gains. The first practice is going to be rusty [because] we hadn't played football in a while. We hadn't been able to use a football or our workouts in a while, so there was rust, but I said to the guys that I just wanted to see great effort. I wanted to see them excited to be back out there and give everything they had."
Spring practice won't offer any earth-shattering updates to the Eagles, but even returning to a normal March training session is a break from BC's first two seasons under Hafley. Both operated under the shadow of COVID-19, with the first year aborted after the pandemic's initial outbreak and the second coming on the heels of a season impacted no more singularly than by the ongoing health crisis.
Hafley will instead contend with both the installation of an offense under new coordinator John McNulty and the integration of new position coaches Darrell Wyatt and Savon Huggins, both of whom were announced on Saturday morning. In total, four positions are changing over after two years of total staff stability in Chestnut Hill with one offensive position - tight ends, coached by Steve Shimko - retaining the same position coach after the carousel completed its turnover.
McNulty is the new O.C. but carries dual responsibility as the quarterbacks coach, just as his predecessor Frank Cignetti did, and former New England Patriots offensive line coach Dave Deguglielmo returned home to Massachusetts after a long career in the NFL. Wyatt, the new wide receivers coach, replaced Joe Dailey, who departed to take a position with the Carolina Panthers, while Huggins was promoted from assistant running backs coach to replace Rich Gunnell, a Boston College alum who served a number of different roles for the Eagles, including a one-game stint as the interim head coach for the Birmingham Bowl three years ago.
"We kept to a process," Hafley said, "and we didn't rush it. We talked to multiple people for every position that we had open, and we feel like we found really good coaches that will fit us well and that fit with what John wants to do well. They fit me, the school, the players, and recruit well. We're really excited. I feel a good energy. [You don't] want to lose and have staff turnover every year…but what you realize is when you do it, there is a new energy and you get fresh ideas. So you have to take the positives with it."
Those coaches are being handed the keys to personnel that helped rewrite BC's reputation over its first seasons. The former power running, smash mouth football team was long converted into the high-flying passing attack in Hafley's first two seasons, and not even the adversity it faced during last year's 6-6 season quelled the excitement in Chestnut Hill as the offseason launched last December.
That's because BC returns a good chunk of talent on both sides of the ball. Offensively, quarterback Phil Jurkovec is back after spending most of 2021 at less than full health after suffering a wrist injury, and the skill positions return three running backs and two wide receivers, including both Pat Garwo III and Zay Flowers. Complementary pieces like Alec Sinkfield and Jaelen Gill from last year are all back in camp looking to take another step forward, and a full offseason for Xavier Coleman means the Eagles' lineup could hit cruising altitude by the fall.
The defense, meanwhile, has four returning pieces capable of forming one of the best secondaries in the nation, and even with the loss of Brandon Sebastian, a unit built around Jason Maitre, Jaiden Woodbey, Elijah Jones and Josh DeBerry has the talent capable of ruining good days for good quarterbacks and elite wide receivers.
"There's a lot of talent in the ACC," defensive back Josh DeBerry said. "We see a lot of talent, and we did last year and the year before. So we have to [talk to] the young guys. I'm pretty sure they know [what's ahead] because we watch film all the time, but we just have to remind that this is a different expectation than what used to [exist]."
Seeing the images from the first day is always a fun trip into the unknown, and the undisputed excitement surrounding football season belies the notion that the first game is months away. That said, spring practice is all about development, and as the team began its trek towards the Jay McGillis Spring Game on April 9, BC tried to contextualize the work that barely began when the players went through their initial drills over the weekend.
"I've tried to teach the guys that there are no expectations [right now]," offensive lineman Christian Mahogany, the lone BC returner in the trenches, said. "There are four open spots, and when's the last time BC had four open spots on the line? I don't remember. So when I came in, there was only one [spot]. Now there's opportunity, [but] there are no expectations. We all have to do our best to try and be the best in America."
But on Saturday morning, the roofed structure closed its doors and brought its more familiar sounds back to life. Football blew in like an autumn wind, and as New England continued to dig out from a surprisingly-tough snowstorm on Friday, the Eagles donned helmets and shells for the first of their spring practice sessions.
"It's great to get back together," head coach Jeff Hafley said. "They had a really good winter workout. I thought Coach [Phil] Matusz and his staff did a really good job. They worked hard and made a lot of good gains. The first practice is going to be rusty [because] we hadn't played football in a while. We hadn't been able to use a football or our workouts in a while, so there was rust, but I said to the guys that I just wanted to see great effort. I wanted to see them excited to be back out there and give everything they had."
Spring practice won't offer any earth-shattering updates to the Eagles, but even returning to a normal March training session is a break from BC's first two seasons under Hafley. Both operated under the shadow of COVID-19, with the first year aborted after the pandemic's initial outbreak and the second coming on the heels of a season impacted no more singularly than by the ongoing health crisis.
Hafley will instead contend with both the installation of an offense under new coordinator John McNulty and the integration of new position coaches Darrell Wyatt and Savon Huggins, both of whom were announced on Saturday morning. In total, four positions are changing over after two years of total staff stability in Chestnut Hill with one offensive position - tight ends, coached by Steve Shimko - retaining the same position coach after the carousel completed its turnover.
McNulty is the new O.C. but carries dual responsibility as the quarterbacks coach, just as his predecessor Frank Cignetti did, and former New England Patriots offensive line coach Dave Deguglielmo returned home to Massachusetts after a long career in the NFL. Wyatt, the new wide receivers coach, replaced Joe Dailey, who departed to take a position with the Carolina Panthers, while Huggins was promoted from assistant running backs coach to replace Rich Gunnell, a Boston College alum who served a number of different roles for the Eagles, including a one-game stint as the interim head coach for the Birmingham Bowl three years ago.
"We kept to a process," Hafley said, "and we didn't rush it. We talked to multiple people for every position that we had open, and we feel like we found really good coaches that will fit us well and that fit with what John wants to do well. They fit me, the school, the players, and recruit well. We're really excited. I feel a good energy. [You don't] want to lose and have staff turnover every year…but what you realize is when you do it, there is a new energy and you get fresh ideas. So you have to take the positives with it."
Those coaches are being handed the keys to personnel that helped rewrite BC's reputation over its first seasons. The former power running, smash mouth football team was long converted into the high-flying passing attack in Hafley's first two seasons, and not even the adversity it faced during last year's 6-6 season quelled the excitement in Chestnut Hill as the offseason launched last December.
That's because BC returns a good chunk of talent on both sides of the ball. Offensively, quarterback Phil Jurkovec is back after spending most of 2021 at less than full health after suffering a wrist injury, and the skill positions return three running backs and two wide receivers, including both Pat Garwo III and Zay Flowers. Complementary pieces like Alec Sinkfield and Jaelen Gill from last year are all back in camp looking to take another step forward, and a full offseason for Xavier Coleman means the Eagles' lineup could hit cruising altitude by the fall.
The defense, meanwhile, has four returning pieces capable of forming one of the best secondaries in the nation, and even with the loss of Brandon Sebastian, a unit built around Jason Maitre, Jaiden Woodbey, Elijah Jones and Josh DeBerry has the talent capable of ruining good days for good quarterbacks and elite wide receivers.
"There's a lot of talent in the ACC," defensive back Josh DeBerry said. "We see a lot of talent, and we did last year and the year before. So we have to [talk to] the young guys. I'm pretty sure they know [what's ahead] because we watch film all the time, but we just have to remind that this is a different expectation than what used to [exist]."
Seeing the images from the first day is always a fun trip into the unknown, and the undisputed excitement surrounding football season belies the notion that the first game is months away. That said, spring practice is all about development, and as the team began its trek towards the Jay McGillis Spring Game on April 9, BC tried to contextualize the work that barely began when the players went through their initial drills over the weekend.
"I've tried to teach the guys that there are no expectations [right now]," offensive lineman Christian Mahogany, the lone BC returner in the trenches, said. "There are four open spots, and when's the last time BC had four open spots on the line? I don't remember. So when I came in, there was only one [spot]. Now there's opportunity, [but] there are no expectations. We all have to do our best to try and be the best in America."
Players Mentioned
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