Boston College offensive coordinator Steve Shimko knows the football DNA makeup of the quarterbacks on the Eagles’ roster.
Shimko deployed several quarterbacks with different body types, skill sets and levels of experience during the Eagles’ first training camp scrimmage on Sunday morning inside the Fish Field House. BC opens the season against Northern Illinois on Sept. 2 at Alumni Stadium.
“What I’ve learned in this profession is that there is a not a single quarterback that is like another,” said Shimko. “They may have some similarities, but they all have their own unique things.
“They all have their own strengths and they all have their weaknesses. We are trying to bring them up and make them good or possibly great. I’d say we try to put them in the best situations to highlight their strengths and call the plays that we feel they are best at.”
The offense and defense matched up with a full complement of game officials and executed the gambit of situational football that featured red zone, two-minute drills and field goals when the scrimmage was opened to the media.
After the internecine hostilities had ceased, BC fourth year head coach Jeff Hafley said that all three units were ahead of where they were last year.
Incumbent Emmitt Morehead, who started the last four games of the season in relief of Phil Jurkovec, was primarily based with the first offense but the scrimmage did not subscribe to a rigid power structure.
The offense and place kickers wore white and the defense was decked out in maroon. Redshirt junior Matthew Rueve and sophomore Thomas Castellanos were adorned in the distinctive black quarterbacks’ jerseys and made use of their reps with the new system.
But there was a heightened level of interest in Jacobe Robinson, a 6-3, 228-pound, athletically gifted dual-threat true freshman from the football hotbed of Henderson, Tex.
“Operationally, I learned that the quarterbacks were doing the job handling the offense,” said Shimko. “They are doing a great job just managing the huddle and whatever it may be.
“They did a good job handling the substitutions from the sidelines and just the working game process with the coaches and other players. There was a little give and take with the quarterbacks and what they feel confident with.
“If they are not confident or the guys in the huddle aren’t confident with the play than we are throwing that play out.”
Shimko and co-offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski have employed a new system and the early install is ahead of schedule according to Morehead, who takes the bulk of the snaps in practice.
Despite serving as Jurkovec’s understudy for two thirds of the 2022 season, Morehead threw for over 300 yards in his first two ACC starts against Duke and NC State. He finished the season with 1,257 yards on 115 completions with 10 touchdowns and six picks.
“We have so much that we are doing well and now we have to find out what we are really good at,” said Morehead. “What we might not be that comfortable with and what we need to stick with.
“That is what we are going to kind of figure out in the next three weeks. I would say for how much we have put in, we’ve handled so much of that information really well and installed it really well.
“Everybody across the line knows where to line up and what we are running and the details. There are always going to be mistakes. But for a first day (scrimmage) it was really impressive how far along we are.”
Co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim has two natural leaders in the cornerbacks’ room. One them was imported and the other is domestic and both were active in the scrimmage.
The Eagles secondary got deeper and smarter with the addition of Alex Washington, a 6-0, 189-pound, graduate transfer from Harvard. Washington played in 27 games for the Crimson with 57 tackles and six interceptions. Washington was a Phil Steele first team All-Ivy League selection in 2022.
“It is always great to get an older more mature Ivy Harvard guy,” said Abdul-Rahim. “The guy is an extremely bright individual and he is getting acclimated at playing on the Power-5 level.”
The top returning starter on the backend is graduate Elijah Jones, a 6-2, 184-pound, shutdown corner from New York City. Jones started 22 games over the last two seasons and was an All-ACC Honorable Mention in 2022. He finished the season with 34 tackles, 32 solos with two picks and a team high 13 pass breakups.
“Eli has been here six years and he understands our defense and understands our expectations and the program,” said Abdul-Rahim. “We have some talented players who are pushing them and the whole room is good and fits together.”