How the Pandemic Confirmed Hafley’s ‘For The Team’ Mantra

Jeff Hafley’s first few months at Boston College were a tease.

Meeting the media in the Yawkey Athletics Center, holding in-person team meetings, going to Logan Airport to recruit a transfer quarterback. It was hectic, exciting and, most importantly, normal: an expected roller coaster of emotions for not just any head coach taking on a new job but a rookie head coach in his early 40s.

Before he could get used to Campanella Way, however, everything changed. Everyone left. They had to. COVID-19 flipped the world upside down.

During what Hafley calls a “unique year,” adaptation was key. So was buy-in. And while the learning curve was steeper, the payoff was more rewarding.

“Here’s what I took away,” Hafley said passionately at the ACC Kickoff lectern Thursday. “We’ve got a bunch of guys who came together, and they didn’t make excuses. … We had a bunch of guys who were told they weren’t going to be able to do something, and they proved that they could.”

BC, which was picked by many to bottom out the ACC in 2020, went five straight months and more than 8,000 consecutive COVID-19 tests without a positive result en route to a respectable 6-5 record amid a 10-game ACC slate. It wasn’t until the final week of the regular season that a player tested positive, and he stayed home after Thanksgiving break, preventing any potential outbreak. The Eagles never had a practice or a game canceled.

Meanwhile, other ACC teams were hampered by the virus, starting in training camp when programs such as Pittsburgh and Syracuse missed out on critical practice time. Others like Florida State were reluctant to release testing results. COVID-19 sidelined Clemson star quarterback Trevor Lawrence for the Tigers’ top-five matchup in South Bend, and it caused outbreaks at Miami and Wake Forest that shook up the ACC schedule late in the season.

At BC, though, a rebuild was full steam ahead. Hafley asked his team to control what it could control and invest in each other. Parents and classmates couldn’t file into Alumni Stadium. The work was being done behind closed doors.

“My family usually goes to every game,” graduate offensive lineman Zion Johnson said Thursday. “And with the pandemic last season, they weren’t really able to go to as many games. We had the cardboard fans. That can actually affect you. But I also think that our team did a great job of handling that and making the sacrifices necessary to go out and win.”

Hafley noted that the lack of crowd often played tricks on him, especially when he was running out of the tunnel. He described the confusing feeling of the smoke fading and empty seats emerging into the line of vision, populated by nothing other than cutouts.

He admitted that once the headset was on and the game started, he forgot about everything else. At that point, it was just football. Yet as soon as he got in the car to go home, the traffic-less drive was almost eerie, and he was reminded of reality.

As well as BC handled COVID-19, the virus understandably took a toll on the players and coaching staff. The Eagles, who suited up for as many as nine straight games without a bye, looked fatigued by the end of the 2020 campaign. BC’s much-improved defense was gashed for an average of 533.7 total yards per game in its final three weeks of action.

Hafley, a player’s coach, called his team’s Leadership Council—a senior-heavy crew that consists of one elected player from each of the team’s position groups—together and invited a player-inspired decision about the program’s bowl participation.

The players opted for holiday time with their families, and BC became the first bowl-eligible team to remove itself from the postseason selection process (not including LSU, which issued a self-imposed ban because of NCAA sanctions). Twenty-one other teams followed. Hafley’s bunch established a trend that was conscious of player and staff health, both physical and mental.

“I really feel like he’s the same guy, on and off the field,” graduate defensive end Marcus Valdez said of Hafley on Thursday. “He’s always going to keep it real with you, tell you the truth, and he’s always going to motivate you. I love what Coach Haf preaches: ‘Tough. Love. Compete.’ And being ‘For The Team.’ It’s always sacrificing toward a bigger goal.

“It’s always good to be part of something bigger than yourself.”

BC hasn’t stopped doing that.

At the end of June, the program signed 14-year-old Hingham, Massachusetts, native Jack Giorgio, who is battling cancer, as part of an arrangement with Team Impact, a nonprofit that matches kids with chronic or serious illnesses with college teams for two years. Giorgio was greeted by Hafley and a swarm of BC players, who, according to Valdez, weren't all required to attend but wanted to anyway.

Then, on Thursday, ESPN’s David Hale reported that BC mandated all players and staff members receive COVID-19 vaccinations. It was in line with school policy, as BC is one of six ACC institutions currently requiring vaccinations for students in the fall. Only one player objected, but Hafley helped him find a transfer destination in June, per Hale.

Whether it was canceling training camp practice in August in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting, holding team meetings about voter education ahead of the 2020 presidential election, or opting out of a bowl game, Hafley’s shown that he has his players’ best interests in mind, even those who are looking for a new home.

“I learned more about myself and more about our football team going forward because of the pandemic than I probably would have in four or five years being the head coach of Boston College,” Hafley said.