Boston College

Catching Up on Boston College Spring Football

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Spring football practice began on March 3 for the Boston College Eagles. Coming off a 3-9 2022 season, there is plenty of work to get done before the Eagles end spring ball with the annual Jay McGillis Memorial Spring Game on April 15. It started back in February with the return of offensive line coach Matt Applebaum who after spending a season in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins, heads back to the Heights to rejoin head coach Jeff Hafley’s staff. Applebaum spent two seasons at BC in 2020-21. During his first stint with the Eagles, he helped coached nine players to All-ACC selections, as well as a couple to All-American status. In 2022, BC’s offensive line struggled in helping to establish a running game and protecting the quarterback. Applebaum should be able to get that back on track. During his one year with the Dolphins o-line, Miami allowed fewer sacks than the previous season. Their rushing average moved up nine spots from a rushing average of 3.5 to 4.3 yards a carry. One of the reasons why Miami was playoff bound a year ago.

Applebaum has coaching experience at both the college and pro levels. He will be trusted with getting the Eagles back to more of a running game in 2023. His last season with the Eagles was in 2021, BC’s running game averaged 165.2 yards a game while allowing only 2.17 sacks per game. That number ranked them fourth best in the conference. With a new QB running the show for next season, Boston College needs to have some balance in their attack if better results are to be had.

Coach Hafley also has made some changes to his staff to begin spring ball. Rob Chudzinski has been promoted to associate head coach and offensive development. This will be a full-time role for Chudzinski. Steve Shimko has been elevated from QB coach to the role of offensive coordinator, and Darrell Wyatt has moved from wide receivers coach to pass game coordinator. On defense, there will be co-defensive coordinators in Auzaar Abdul-Rahim and Sean Duggan. Paul Rhoards has been added as the new outside linebacker coach.

Boston College has added to its roster since the season ended. 14 newcomers are a part of spring practices. Eight are transfers from other schools and six are early enrollers trying to get a head start on how things are done at this level. The Eagles are also welcoming back some experience that should be a big help to the new faces on the roster. Linebacker Vinny DePalma is returning for his sixth season with the team. Fifth-year starters Elijah Jones and Shitta Sillah, who made five starts at defensive end, are back along with former transfer George Takacs who comes to BC from Notre Dame where he played in 13 games for the Irish and had three catches for 38 yards. Kris Banks, a defensive lineman who did not play in 2022, has also returned.

Quarterback Emmett Morehead is running the show on offense for BC with the transfer of Phil Jurkovec. Morehead and the rest of this group will have to rebound from a disappointing season a year ago. This side of the ball never got it going last year and will need to do so for this team to have a successful fall. Morehead will be missing a couple of key pieces in the passing game. Zay Flowers, who is expected to be an NFL draft selection, and Jalen Gill will not be manning the wide receiver positions this season. However, the core has gotten a boost from Ryan O’Keefe who has arrived as a graduate transfer from the University of Central Florida where he caught 12 touchdown passes and has over 1,500 yards on 157 catches over the last two seasons with the Knights. The Eagles are hoping O’Keefe can help stretch out the passing game a bit more.

All of these changes and new faces will be on display when the spring game takes place on Saturday, April,15 at 11 AM.

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