Martin Jarmond Gives Boston College The Football Coach To Bring Them To Next Level

Martin Jarmond has done a lot of great things for the Boston College athletic programs, like the Greater Heights initiative, improving gameday experience, and hiring promising coaches for volleyball, men's soccer and women's volleyball. But what he lacked on his resume was a marquee hire for one of the flagship programs at the school. Today, that all changed with the announcement of the hiring of Jeff Hafley, the Ohio State defensive coordinator. 

When the smoke rose from Gasson (on Twitter, not literally), and Pete Thamel/Bruce Feldman broke the news. Boston College Twitter exploded. And for the first time in recent memory, the reaction was not anger or befuddlement, it was elation. Boston College fans were EXCITED about Jeff Hafley becoming the head coach. They saw the huge potential in a young coordinator with a limitless upside. Hafley was the name pushed hardest in media reports, and as fans read up more on him they learned about his top ranked defense he helped turn around at Ohio State, and his Broyles Finalist nomination as one of the nation's top coordinators, and being #3 ranked recruiter in country. They synthesized all this information and came to the conclusion that Hafley needed to be the guy at Boston College. And clearly Martin Jarmond agreed. 

When Ryan Day stepped away from the Boston College offensive coordinator position after the 2014 season, many fans believed that they missed out on the next hot coordinator who could take the Eagles to the next level. As we have seen in Columbus those fears have been substantiated as Day has Ohio State in the playoffs and arguably one of the favorites to win the championship. BC fans watched as BC continued on their seven and six win paths, while a coach they mostly likely could have had soared into an elite leader of the Buckeyes. 

But with Hafley, Martin Jarmond is going to try and rectify the mistakes his predecessors made with Ryan Day. It appears clear that at the end of the season he saw Hafley as the guy who could take a bowl eligible program, and rocket fuel it to the next level. He didn't hesitate to make to move on from Steve Addazio, and go with the much younger Hafley. By doing this he is trying to have Boston College move from relative obscurity to a competitive program in the ACC, hopefully with some national relevance. 

By pulling that trigger, Jarmond entered Boston College into a new era at the Heights. Everyone surrounding the program, including fans are elated with Jeff Hafley's hire. Even if he hasn't coached a day in maroon and gold, the Jeff Hafley era has brought excitement back to the Heights, something that has sorely been lacking for years. This excitement is a great first step in fixing the program. 

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