Zay Flowers says that you can tell Boston College wide receivers coach Darrell Wyatt is from the South just by the way he explains stories, not to mention the phrases he uses.

"When you do something wrong, he'll be like, 'Man, you wrong as rain,' said Flowers, BC's top playmaker who hails from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. "And if you do something right, he'll be like, 'That was clean as a soapmaker's bottom.'"

Flowers said he laughs every time he hears either of those. The senior wideout emphasized that Wyatt does something hilarious every day.

At the same time, however, Wyatt—a Killeen, Texas, native who has been coaching wide receivers for more than 30 years—isn't afraid to call his players out if they make a mistake.

That balance is difficult to achieve, yet it's struck a chord with not only Flowers but the entire BC wide receiving corps.

"He tells you what you doing wrong, and he helps you fix it the next day," Flowers said. "He's one of the best coaches I've had at receiver. Just in details, watching film.

"He's really something that we needed in our room."

While Wyatt is from the South and has spent most of his coaching career in the South, most recently with UCF, he was motivated by the "challenge" of coaching in the Northeast. It was uncharted territory for him.

And the opportunity came fast. Wyatt describes his hiring process at BC like a "whirlwind."

He was brought aboard to replace former BC wide receivers coach Joe Dailey, who helped the Eagles’ wide receiving corps break out during Frank Cignetti Jr.’s two-year stay as offensive coordinator yet took a job coaching the Carolina Panthers’ wideouts this offseason.

The addition of Wyatt was part of an offensive overhaul that included BC's hiring of four new assistants, headlined by new offensive coordinator John McNulty, who was previously Notre Dame's tight ends coach.

McNulty recalled interviewing Wyatt and speaking with special assistant and former NFL head coach Rob Chudzinski.

"It was like five minutes in," McNulty said. "I'm like, 'This is the guy.'"

Third-year Eagles head coach Jeff Hafley emphasized that Wyatt had been recommended to him by several people. Unlike most of Hafley's assistants, though, there were't any ties between Wyatt and Hafley, or really the rest of the staff.

That hasn't mattered.

"What Darrell has done in a short time with the receivers is really impressive," Hafley said.

Wyatt understands that the players he's coaching today are different than the players he coached last decade, or the decade before that. He tries his best to connect with his guys.

And he doesn't shy away from self-deprecating humor because he believes poking fun at himself shows his position group that when he's coaching them with intensity, it's not a personal attack.

It didn't take long for BC's wideouts to embrace that approach.

"Coaches real hard, but he also gonna love you, too," redshirt senior Jaelen Gill said of Wyatt in the spring. "But when it's time to work, it's time to work. The rest of the group knows that."

Wyatt has looked to other assistants on BC's staff to better acquaint himself with Boston, namely offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo, who grew up in Cambridge. Wyatt refers to "Coach Guge" as the "aficionado of all things Boston."

Wyatt goes to DeGuglielmo when he has questions about the city's history and, more frequently, questions about where to eat.

There are still some things about Boston, however, that Wyatt is getting used to, like the traffic patterns and the abundance of "no turn on red" signs.

As far as football is concerned, Wyatt knew what to expect. He had been on staff with coaches from the Northeast. And he had coached players from the Northeast.

"Once I was able to get on the grass and get into the meeting room with the kids—I mean, kids are kids," Wyatt said with a soft voice and a smile.

Besides, he's up to the task.

"I'm a guy that likes a challenge," Wyatt said.