Hafley Talks Staff Cohesion, Player Competition Ahead of Spring Season

Now in his second year as Boston College’s head coach, Jeff Hafley continues to champion the phrase, “you win with people.” And he’s not just talking about his players and their buy-in.

“Keeping our staff together, in my opinion, is more important than anything else that we could do in the offseason before spring ball,” Hafley said.

He was able to do that, despite defensive backs coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim receiving a Power Five defensive coordinator offer and offensive line coach Matt Applebaum having the chance to coach in the NFL. Both returned, and Abdul-Rahim was promoted to associate head coach.

“It says a lot,” Hafley said. “They love Boston College, and they love our players.”

In addition to his complete staff, Hafley will also have six graduate students back from last year’s roster: safety Deon Jones, safety Mike Palmer, defensive tackle Chibueze Onwuka, wide receiver Kobay White, kicker Aaron Boumerhi, and punter Grant Carlson.

The O-Line, which now includes three graduate students—Zion Johnson, Ben Petrula, and Alec Lindstrom—is running it back, too. Hafley shouted out Johnson, who passed on the NFL Draft and has already emerged as a stronger leader this offseason, according to his head coach. He noted that Johnson, as well as Ben Petrula and Alec Lindstrom, is more confident and comfortable this time around. Hafley name dropped other veterans, such as White and redshirt senior quarterback Dennis Grosel, and emphasized how cool it’s been to watch them return.

“It’s been a lot of fun to see,” Hafley said. “I’m grateful those guys decided to come back. And hopefully they can take another step to help us and then to help themselves, too, which is also really important.”

But seniority doesn’t guarantee playing time under Hafley’s watch. He wants the spring season to “be about competition.”

That mantra will especially resonate in BC’s linebacker room, which saw Max Richardson, Isaiah McDuffie, and John Lamot—who combined for 227 total tackles in 2020—depart this offseason. Hafley said he’s excited to see who wins the jobs (two openings in BC’s nickel formation, and three in base).

“It’s open competition,” Hafley said. “And I mean it. From the guys who are returning to the guys who transferred in to the guys who are incoming freshmen, we’re going to play the best player.”

Some position battles won’t be settled by the end of spring ball, and that’s OK, Hafley said. He’s not going to over-rep players, and he wants to run ones, twos, and threes throughout the 15-practice schedule.

The spring season officially begins on Saturday and wraps April 24. Hafley and his staff pushed for a late start date so that strength and conditioning coach Phil Matusz could have more time to develop players in the weight room. Hafley explained that Matusz has had to put in extra hours, running through a collection of smaller training sessions because of the pandemic.

BC still isn’t allowed to have everyone in the locker room at once and is continuing to split up team meetings into different sections, just like the fall. The program’s testing schedule is ramping up again as well. Hafley said the program will be tested for COVID-19 three times per week during the spring season. His message to his team Tuesday was nearly identical to the one he gave last summer after players and coaches returned to campus for the 2020 campaign.

“I said, 'We've got 15 practices guys,’” Hafley recounted. “‘I know this is going to be hard. You've gotta go back and you've gotta dig deep, and you've gotta find how you did it in the fall. And we need to all come together and do it again if we want to get these 15 practices in.' … I said that if they can't do it, come and see me. But now it's time to really tighten up [and] sacrifice.”

Most importantly, it’s a chance to get back in shape and work on scheme—an opportunity that was cut short last year due to the COVID-19 shutdown. Hafley, who works extensively with the defense, assured reporters that BC is going to offer a lot of different looks this year.

He pointed out that staff continuity and player familiarity results in less pressure, more creative formations, and more fun.

“I can’t wait for Saturday, guys,” Hafley said. “It feels like it’s been a while. And I can’t wait to start practicing football and being around these kids again.”

Other Notes

Hafley welcomes Earl Grant: Hafley congratulated and welcomed new BC men’s basketball head coach Earl Grant at the beginning of Tuesday’s presser. Hafley met Grant, who had his introductory press conference earlier that morning, hours before Hafley’s media availability. He later discussed how meaningful it was to have the support of fans, alums, and donors after he took over the football program in 2020. Then he had this to say about coaching at BC:

“When I walk around campus, I can still sense the students are excited, and they haven’t even come to one of our games yet,” Hafley said. “And I appreciate that. And I appreciate when I see the other coaches around our campus, and they’re still very excited. And that’s why I’m trying to go to the other games, and I’m trying to show the same support for them because it is a great group, and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to come here. Because I felt that this is the type of place where we could all do it together.”

Hafley and QB Phil Jurkovec never discussed entering the 2021 NFL Draft: Hafley was asked if he and Jurkovec ever talked about the gunslinger entering this year’s draft. He said no. Jurkovec was always coming back, and he was ready to roll for another year in Chestnut Hill, Hafley said. Earlier, the 41-year-old head coach talked about how it was advantageous for BC to have Jurkovec in his second year with an opportunity to learn from last season’s mistakes.

BC is hosting a weekly high school football clinic: The pandemic has made it difficult for Hafley and Co. to evaluate potential recruits. He said his staff is putting on a once-a-week clinic to help high school coaches showcase their players. As for the Eagles’ current early enrollees, Hafley spoke glowingly about how they’ve handled the transition to BC—both in the classroom and in the weight room.

“I think our culture has consumed them, and I think when you do that, you have a chance,” he said. “And I’m grateful for the guys on our team that welcomed them in and helped them. That’s the cool part.”