Five Takeaways from Jeff Hafley's Tuesday Press Conference
On Tuesday, Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley met with the media to talk about the upcoming game with the Louisville Cardinals. Here are some of the takeaways from his comments.
1. Turnovers need to…and will happen
Hafley talked about the need for turnovers, and the absence of those plays in the past two games. But he thinks they are going to happen soon. He talked at length about the importance of turnovers and what his staff does to drive home this point of emphasis. "Coach Tem (Lukabu), he has a deal with the players, he gives them a number of turnovers to get in each practice and if they do the coaching staff has to run gassers. He's got jerseys to give to them. He's got different ways to motivate them.
2. Team needs to move on from Saturday
The head coach was emphatic that the team has to turn the page on Saturday's 33-7 loss to the NC State Wolfpack. "That's an emotional rollercoaster for a player and that's hard. We need to do a good job of just continuing to look at our process and just do everything you can every single day the best you can. And then if you fail, shoot, I'll go back again and I'll do better the next time. That's coaches, that's players and that's life right now. It's not easy. That is not easy, but we have a bunch of positive guys who have each other's back and if they continue to work and get better, good things will happen."
3. Malik Cunningham is a special player
Cunningham who almost defeated BC hurt last year, caught the attention of Hafley. "With that guy single-handedly, not putting the whole team on him, what that guy does for his team is incredible and I think he's a phenomenal player. And a quarterback. I want to make that clear. This isn't just a runner. This guy can throw it." He goes on to say that Cunningham could have been in the league MVP discussion if the team had won more.
4. Getting Zay Flowers the ball, and timing need to improve
The media asked Hafley about trying to get Zay Flowers the ball more often. He discussed how they could do that. "There's other ways to get a lot of guys the ball in space and we'll continue to do that. Timing and rhythm comes in practice, whether it's the receiver taking the right angle. whether it's the receiver catching the football. You gotta practice. That's it. And everybody can look to Dennis (Grosel), there were six other opportunities for us to catch the football and Dennis would have had a highlight night. They're there. He'll make those plays."
5. Status of kicker Danny Longman
Connor Lytton missed his first field goal attempt of the year, and the media wanted to know more about the status of Danny Longman. "I have a lot of confidence in Danny…..They all kick every single day. I thought Danny had a great day today. Danny is available to kick our field goals at any given moment. Sometimes, it's a yardage thing. I talked to coach Thurin in the game about how we kick. Sometimes, we might want Danny in this yardage. You can see him in any game now. We have not given up or forgot about him kicking at all."