Boston College Preseason Roundtable Part 1: Jeff Hafley and Expectations Around The Program

A group of insiders give their perspective on the upcoming season.

As we get closer to the opening kickoff between Boston College and Duke, BC Bulletin gathered journalists from around the internet who cover the Eagles. Tyler Calvaruso (Eagle Insider), Andy Backstrom (Eagle Action), Dan Rubin (BCEagles.com), Kevin Stone (nefootballjournal.com), and Emma Healy (The Heights) all were gracious enough to stop by and answer some questions about the start of what could be a very unique year. 

The Eagles have yet to play a game yet, but what kind of culture and program have you seen Hafley installing at Boston College?

Dan Rubin: I hear more and more these days that these players are having the most fun playing football than they have in years. That’s a direct result of the culture and mentality installed from the coaching staff. I think the way that the coaching staff has made an impact stems directly from that - guys are playing looser and more free, and it’s anchoring them when it comes time to dial into the serious nature of training and practice. There’s a genuine love for the work, although I think much of what they’re doing this fall is going to be a continuation of building what they already accomplished as a collective group.

Emma Healy: In every aspect of the game, Hafley and his staff have made a concerted effort to get to know the players as individuals. They feel valued, and it gives them a bigger incentive to perform on the level he expects. It starts with recruiting—even in virtual conversations with potential recruits, Hafley goes out of his way to form genuine connections, which is why I think he’s been so successful in getting commitments from the class of 2021 and 2022. Even more importantly, though, is that Hafley took the time to get to know his team as just that—a team. Because he understands the strengths and weaknesses of the individuals, he can look at the group from a bird’s eye view and analyze how they work best together.

Former head coach Steve Addazio seems to be a completely different type of coach than Hafley in many different ways. What are you expecting to see differently on gameday?

Andy Backstrom: Hafley has already won over the BC fan base, and he’s yet to coach a game. The season opener at Duke will be his first game as a head coach anywhere. So there’s no way of knowing exactly how the 41-year-old will perform. I will say this, though. Hafley has shown, whether it was at halftime as co-DC at Ohio State or this offseason as BC’s lead man, that he is more than willing to make adjustments. He’s a players’ coach who’s not set in his ways. Addazio, however, rarely veered from his game plan, even when it wasn’t working (i.e. BC running the ball up the gut on 1st and 2nd Down trailing by 20+ points to a ranked opponent). Fluidity could be the key to Hafley’s in-game coaching style. It’s something that we never really saw from Addazio—one of the reasons why BC was often pegged as predictable during his seven-year tenure.

AJ Black: I think the flexibility to attack teams in different ways will be a huge difference between Hafley and Addazio. The latter would go into games hell bent on cracking the rock and playing physical football, and wouldn't budge on his philosophy. Expect Hafley to adjust, if a team is soft up front, look for a healthy dosage of David Bailey, if he sees room in the secondary they will be more pass orientated. This isn't just an offensive adjustment, but one that should extend to the defense as well.  This flexibility will benefit the Eagles greatly in the long run, and get BC in better position to beat higher quality teams. 

Boston College went out and addressed many of their weak areas in the transfer market this offseason. Obviously Phil Jurkovec was the biggest splash transfer, but where do you see these transfers making the biggest impact this season?

Tyler Calvaruso: It goes without saying what Phil Jurkovec brings to Boston College’s offense, but the two guys I’m looking at as potentially immediate-impact transfers are Luc Bequette and Chibueze Onwuka. Both are veterans on the defensive line and have the ability to fill some gaping holes in the trenches. Bequette received preseason All-Pac 12 honors from multiple media outlets and was primed for a big season at California. Onwuka already earned all-conference honors at Buffalo last season, which is a testament to what he can accomplish when he is playing at the top of his game.

Jaelen Gill and Deon Jones are going to positively impact the Eagles in their own way this upcoming season, but the fact that Bequette and Onwuka both come in with a bevy of experience at a position of need have them on track to be major contributors in 2020. It remains to be seen how exactly Jeff Hafley is going to formulate his defensive line rotation, but Bequette and Onwuka could wind up being the key to the success of Boston College’s front seven beginning next weekend.

Kevin Stone - In a time where recruitment has never been more difficult, Hafley and his brand new staff have quickly made BC a destination. The current players have emphatically talked about the culture shift and family atmosphere Hafley has provided already. Recruits are flocking to The Heights despite not being able to step foot on the campus yet, and that’s an incredible testament to the feeling of growth surrounding the program.

Final Question: The biggest strength of this team will be ______ and the biggest weakness will be _____. 

Dan - It’s hard for me to boil strengths down to one “offensive line” or “passing game” or “defense” structure because everything intertwines so much on the gridiron. I believe, instead, that the biggest strength on this team is its locker room. Few teams could sacrifice and dedicate to playing football in the manner that BC did, and the concept of a preseason bubble wound up being one of the best things to foster and build the collective unit. The way the players talk about each other makes it obvious that they all really sacrificed for each other in order to make the bubble work and to have an actual shot at playing some football this year.

Conversely, I think that the actual playbook might be the team’s weakness. Coach Hafley made it clear that he’s not going to install certain play schemes or calls if the players aren’t ready, and he repeatedly stated that the team is going to look different in the first game than it might in the eighth or ninth game. I think that’s really good self awareness, but that’s going to be very different from a well-built team like Clemson, which is entering the year at cruising altitude. How BC succeeds is going to be based on how quickly the team can execute on improving concepts.

Emma: BC’s schedule—contingent on a win over Duke—is its biggest strength. In my opinion, the schedule is arranged perfectly for BC to get some confidence-boosting wins early on before getting into the tougher back half. The Eagles have the chance to set the tone for their whole season with wins over Duke in the opener and UNC two weeks later. If BC can pull it off, those two games can make all the difference in the young squad’s mojo. It helps that the Eagles have matchups with Texas State and Georgia Tech early on as well. Even though they’re unfamiliar opponents, BC has the skills (at least, in my opinion) to open up at 4-0. Losing to Duke out of the gate, however, could be a detriment to the rest of the season.

In terms of BC’s biggest weakness, I have to go with experience. I don’t mean literal playing experience, because the Eagles are rooted in guys like Ben Petrula, David Bailey, and Max Richardson, but rather experience under new leadership. In any season with a new head coach, it will take time for players to adjust to a new scheme, coaching style, and playbook, but BC didn’t have the luxury of time this year. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, everything’s on a shorter timeline. The Eagles have only been installing plays over the last month or so, rather than the whole summer. They simply haven’t had enough time to feel completely comfortable—if it was Hafley’s third or fourth year, that might not be the case.

Andy: No ifs, ands, or buts, BC’s greatest strength is its offensive line. The Eagles arguably have the best O-Line in the ACC, a distinction that no other BC position group can boast. Bringing back four starters, all of whom earned All-ACC honors a year ago, will lighten the load of whoever’s under center. It will also make David Bailey’s job a whole lot easier, which will help BC set up the play-action passing game. The Eagles’ offensive success revolves around their work in the trenches. Luckily for BC, the program has a handful of NFL hopefuls up front.

BC’s biggest weakness, on the other hand, is its pass rush. The Eagles don’t have a proven edge rusher. Marcus Valdez, who was named a captain on Wednesday, cut seven pounds of weight this offseason and has generated a good bit of buzz coming out of camp. That said, he only had 2.5 sacks last season, just like fellow veteran defensive end Brandon Barlow. Sophomore Shittah Sillah could have a breakout year. At 6-foot-4, 245 pounds, the former OLB certainly looks the part. The fact is, BC tallied a meager 19 sacks last year, the second-fewest in the ACC. It has to find a way to fill the void left by Zach Allen, Wyatt Ray, and Harold Landry, or else it doesn’t matter how improved the Eagles’ secondary is under Hafley.

Kevin - Speed, speed and more speed. I think this offense & the speed at the skill positions is BC’s biggest strength. These weapons have been severely underrated by the national media. White, Flowers, Gill, Bailey, Jurkovec, this skill group has a chance to be special in a Frank Cignetti Jr offense considering the experience he has getting top tier players in positions to succeed.

The weakness MIGHT just be a lack of experience playing together. The Eagles appear to be on the same page on both sides of the ball from everything we’ve heard, but we won’t truly know how cohesive the players and new staff are until we see it on game days.

Tyler: Boston College’s biggest strength on the field is its offensive line by a relatively large margin, but there is something to be said about the way this team has come together in the BC Bubble. Obviously we haven’t been at fall camp to see it ourselves, but coach Hafley touches on it in almost every single press conference. This team is as tight-knit as it gets. These players truly love each other and will do whatever it takes to come together to bring home a victory. As great as Boston College’s offensive line is, its cohesiveness could be its biggest strength in 2020 - and enough for the Eagles to surprise some people once the season begins.

As for Boston College’s biggest weakness entering 2020, I would say the playbook and scheme are both up there as my top choices. Let’s face it, the COVID-19 pandemic did coach Hafley and his players absolutely no favors. It took away valuable opportunities for everyone to get comfortable with the offensive and defensive playbooks in the spring, and it took away crucial on-field practice time. Hafley is not going to be able to run every single thing he wants right out of the gate defensively because, frankly, this team still has to come together. The same goes for Frank Cignetti’s offense.

The talent is not an issue. From the top of the depth chart to the bottom, Boston College has players on both sides of the ball. It is simply a matter of executing, which is something that has been made much more difficult because of the shortened offseason. The players have already absorbed a lot of offensive and defensive schemes, but the complex stuff won’t be able to be installed until basic concepts are executed on Saturday’s. 

AJ: I agree with Andy. The defensive pass rush will be the biggest weakness going into the season. There are too many question marks there, and this will be a group that needs to prove it. There is certainly talent there, and Hafley did a nice job addressing a thin group, but they are going to need to take a huge leap to get to respectability. Can they do that? That is a big question mark.

In terms of strengths, no need to be repetitive, it's the offensive line. This group has the ability to be one of the best not only in the ACC but in the country.

Follow The Panelists on Twitter:
Dan Rubin: @BCDanRubin
Andy Backstrom: @AndyBackstrom
Kevin Stone: @Kstone06
Emma Healy: @_EmmaHealy_
Tyler Calvaruso: @Tyler_Calvaruso
AJ Black: @AJBlack_BC

Photo courtesy of BCEagles.com