ACC Coaches Speak Anonymously About Boston College Football
Coaches rarely speak their mind at press conferences, especially about their opponents. Being truthful about other teams can hurt their squad, and give their opponent "bulletin board material" for the game. Instead coaches usually speak in jargon, or in cliches, which they do to protect the best interests of their team.
However, Athlon Sports gave coaches an opportunity to be truthful about other ACC teams. In their yearly article, coaches were allowed to speak anonymously about opposing programs. Here is what other ACC coaches had to say about Boston College.
On BC not being very competitive the past 11 seasons:
""(Jeff) Hafley has a lot of work to do here. Mediocrity was accepted in this program for a very long time."
On Jeff Hafley's perceived strengths:
"Hafley did a fantastic job as DC at Ohio State, but that's not something you can apply in this situation. The Buckeyes ran about as simple a scheme as anyone in the country last year. If you do the same thing at BC, you'll lose every game by 50. You have to be complex, creative and different to make a difference with a roster like this."
On the direction of the program's recruiting
"They're going to push NFL prep in recruiting, we think. They have a lot of ex-NFL guys on staff, so they'll push that to recruits. That might not work, but give them credit for doing something different."
Apparently this coach has never played David Bailey
"They've had some good running backs in the past, AJ Dillon played really hard and should have a shot at a pro career, but they need to find another one quick. The offense's strength is the line, so they can build off that."
On the defensive scheme
"Defensively they don't lose a lot but they need to scrap it and start over. Go completely fresh with their scheme."
On recruiting:
"The toughest part of the job at BC is that it's like Syracuse. There aren't enough local players to build off of. In this league, are they ever going to have enough to line up against the Southern schools? Is that the expectation?"
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There is a lot of bulletin board material in these coach conversations. Whether it is just wrong (the running back comment), or ill informed (the recruiting area/focus comments), it doesn't seem like many ACC programs are respecting the new staff or what they are trying to do at Boston College.
It would be easy to argue with many of these points because they seem off base, or focused more on what the past regimes of Frank Spaziani and Steve Addazio did. But of course Jeff Hafley and his staff will have to prove these doubters wrong, and he will have to do it through strong recruiting, player development and play on the field.
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