Why Boston College Will Finish Better Than 13th in the ACC
Yesterday, the ACC media released their preseason poll, and voted the Boston College Eagles 13th in the conference only ahead of Georgia Tech and Duke. There seems to be low expectations for the Eagles, as publication after publication has them near or at the bottom of the conference.
The point of this article is not to look at the schedule and go game by game, it is to address how the ACC media views Boston College . When you read the reasoning behind these analysts choices, there seems to be four themes why these writers believe BC will not be competitive this year.
1. New coach means rebuild. There is a commonly held belief that every time a new coach takes over a program they have to take a step back before they move forward.
2. New head coach Jeff Hafley. His first year as a head coach, has never run a program or called an entire game, so therefore he is going to have growing pains.
3. Loss of AJ Dillon. The Eagles lose their best offensive player last year, who made up a huge chunk of yardage, therefore offense will take a step back.
4. Defense was bad will remain bad. Eagles had one of the worst defenses in 2019, and writers don't see it improving.
The purpose of this piece is to take each talking point and show how and why each line of thinking won't be accurate this season.
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New Coach Means Rebuild.
In most cases this talking point is true. When a coach is fired, there is usually a myriad of problems with the program that will take time to fix. There could be a lack of depth, mass transfers, or a huge change in philosophy. That isn't happening at Boston College. Look at the depth chart, there are seasoned veterans at almost every position, and explosive young talent at others. Say what you want about Steve Addazio, but he left the program in good shape for Hafley.
This year isn't going to be like 2019 was for Georgia Tech, where Geoff Collins had to take an offense built for Paul Johnson's triple option and turn it into a pro style system. He did have to rebuild, and time and patience is needed down in Atlanta. When Hafley took over he landed an offense that is built to score points with weapons up and down the roster, arguably the best offensive line in the ACC, and a defense that he worked to tighten up. Boston College does not fall in the rebuild category, because they aren't rebuilding anything. They are adjusting a failed offensive scheme, and tweaking the defense to make them more effective.
Jeff Hafley Will Hit Big Road Bumps as First Year Head Coach
It is true, Jeff Hafley is a defensive minded coach who is taking the reigns of a program for the first time. Analysts do have a point that he may struggle on the offensive side of the ball....if he was calling the plays, which he won't be. Hafley mitigated this issue by hiring Frank Cignetti Jr, a seasoned veteran offensive coordinator who has been around and knows how to call a game. Hafley will be able to rely on his veteran assistant to handle that side of the ball, and focus on the big game picture while calling the defense with Tem Lukabu.
Leaving the offense to Cignetti will be a recipe for success, as it will keep Hafley in his comfort zone, calling the defense. This is something we saw the young coach do with incredible effectiveness at Ohio State.
Loss of AJ Dillon
My biggest issue with this line of reasoning is that it doesn't take into consideration the change of offensive scheme. These analysts were partially correct, losing AJ Dillon is a big deal. But it is also mitigated by two major factors. One, Frank Cignetti is changing the offensive scheme. No longer is the running back going to be the focal point of every offensive play.
The other is that the new OC has weapons to work with whether that is Hunter Long, Zay Flowers, Taji Johnson, Jaelen Gill, Travis Levy or Kobay White. David Bailey may not be AJ Dillon, but this offense won't force him to do that. He will get his touches, but with Phil Jurkovec commanding an offense that should be able keep defenses honest. Bailey won't have to run into stacked boxes, and with that offensive line in front of him, he should be effective in his role with the Eagles.
Defense will Remain Bad.
This is a tough one to predict right out of the gate because we haven't seen how the defense will improve, it's all based on conjecture. But there are a few reasons it should be better in 2020. First off the scheme will improve. Last year, Bill Sheridan's defensive planning had quite a few head scratching moments. Whether it was players out of position, or questionable play calling (3rd down pass defense), it can't be argued that the team was not positioned for success. Hafley has fixed this before, look what he did at Ohio State. He turned a defense ranked in the 70s into the top ranked defense in one year. Expecting that at Boston College, a school that isn't swimming with blue chip recruits is a bit unfair. However, it is fair to expect that he can take this defense who has talent, and make them respectable. He has playmakers like Max Richardson, Brandon Sebastian, Mike Palmer and Isaiah McDuffie, he just needs a scheme that can be successful.
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