Five Takeaways From Jeff Hafley's Press Conference on Tuesday
Jeff Hafley spoke with the media on Tuesday as he prepares for the upcoming season opener against Duke. Here are some of the takeaways from his comments.
* He still is sticking with his depth chart selection of "Dennis Grosel or Phil Jurkovec" as the starter. "We will get clarification as one walks out of the huddle, right now it means both could be starters". He went on to say that the team is filled with "ors" and they are "going to compete throughout the week, I want this team built on competition." The reason he added all the ors, was that he believes that if a player has a great week of practice they should play. "I want there to be an urgency."
* It wasn't a luxury that they didn't get to play last weekend. "Kind of jealous those guys got to play and we didn't." Hafley said. He talked about how the opening week allowed teams to shake off the rust and jitters. But in the end he talked about how exciting it was to see college football really return.
* "I know BC has done a good job....from Father Leahy on down, BC has done a great job". in regards to the COVID19 testing. While there has been negative stories based on outbreaks at the school school, and yesterday the state took over COVID contact tracing, Hafley feels the school is doing the right thing. And in terms of his football program, he talked about getting "fired up" every time he gets a new round of negative tests. Boston College football is now up to over 2000 tests, with only one positive that came at the beginning of training camp. Hafley credits the leadership on his team and staff with the low numbers.
* Hafley praised the quarterback room and the work his offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti has done with them. "Sam Johnson has done a phenomenal job" he explained. "And even watching Matt Rueve against the scouting team, he has done a great job."
* Duke's quarterback play caught the coaches eye. "The thing that impressed me the most (about Chase Brice) was his toughness. He stood in the pocket and took some really good hits from Notre Dame and got back up. I have a ton of respect for him." Boston College, who struggled with defensive pressure will need to dial some up on Saturday. "We have to make him uncomfortable." Hafley explained. "Hopefully we will get after him like Notre Dame did."
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