Boston College has made the hard pivot in spring football from fundamentals and positional coaching towards scrimmages and situational game prep.
The Eagles have two sessions remaining to fine-tune the particulars in preparation for the annual Jay McGillis Memorial Spring Football game at 11 a.m. on April 15 at Alumni Stadium.
“All third down is in and we have started two minute and now we are just kind getting everybody on the field playing football,” said BC head coach Jeff Hafley.
“Every day now is more of a scrimmage than with coaches on the field telling guys where to line up and having a script. It is trying to make the coaches think down and distance so they have to call it and not plan it and it’s the same with the players.
“They are learning to play the game now. We will have two practices with a more scrimmage-like mentality and more physical before we taper off for the spring game a little bit.”
Hafley made a significant makeover of his coaching staff after the Eagles’ disastrous 3-9 campaign in 2022. Hafley hired new positional coaches and upgraded existing coaches to coordinators.
Coaching overhauls take time to implement, especially when the roster is in flux with freshmen recruits and portal transfers. But Hafley believes the combination of knowledgeable instructors with enough seasoned veteran players has fast-tracked the transition.
Hafley has not set his maroon and gold rosters or decided a game format, but wants to make the spring game a fun event and a fallback for when the team returns in August for training camp.
“Obviously we are not going to go out and run all our plays,” said Hafley. “No one has seen us play offense yet so we are certainly not going to show it on TV. So, we will dummy down the spring game and have fun with it.
“But the next two (practices) are going to be physical and more competitive with situational football to make the guys think before going into training camp. That is where we are at.”
Sean Duggan (linebackers) and Aazaar Abdul-Rahim (secondary) are two of the positional coaches that Hafley upgraded to co-defensive coordinators while retaining their old jobs. Duggan is a former Eagles’ inside linebacker who came to BC through the St. Xavier High School of Cincinnati pipeline that produced two time All-American Luke Kuechly and All-ACC first team selection Steven Daniels.
Hafley conceded that the defense is well ahead of the offense going into the spring game. Duggan likes working under the new arrangement and has enjoyed the competitive drive the players have shown in practice.
“We have been rotating guys a lot and I think competition brings out the best in everybody and the best part is nobody is comfortable,” said Duggan. “You cannot have an off day and it has been good, but the guys are still rooting for each other and they want to see them succeed.
“But the competition has been real good and we are going to play everybody that can help us win a football game. It has been a hard-hitting spring and I think the last two days will be very much of the same, really competitive between the offense and the defense.
“I think the spring game is more about having fun and letting our players go enjoy it. They put in 14 hard days of football and the spring game is more about them.”
Inside linebacker Vinny DePalma from Wayne, N.J. is back for his sixth year and fifth season at The Heights. DePalma served as a team captain on the defense in 2022 and Duggan is counting on him to run the huddle and position the players in the proper sets.
“Obviously Vinny has been here coming up on a decade now,” joked Duggan. “But it is great having him back, he’s coach on the field, he’s played a lot of football and he sees the game really well.”
DePalma started 12 games last season and led the team in solo tackles (49) and total tackles (89) along with seven tackles for a loss, three quarterback hits, one sack and a forced fumble.
DePalma has thrived in the rugged ACC and is looking forward to playing teams from the old Coastal Division under the new realignment. The three permanent schools on BC’s schedule are Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Miami, all of whom were originally in the Big East.
“I think it is fun to play different schools, fun to go to different places and fun to change it up,” said DePalma. “It still the ACC but a different rotation and I think it is going to be good to the league and good for us.”