Jeff Hafley told reporters that hard conversations in regard to roster management were going to happen Sunday and Monday, and it appears as if some of those have already occurred.

Boston College linebackers Hugh Davis and Joe Sparacio entered the transfer portal Monday morning.

Both were redshirt juniors that arrived at BC in 2018. They will now be graduate transfers.

Hafley explained Sunday that, once again, the Eagles have only 85 scholarships to hand out. This past season, because of the COVID-19 waiver, fifth and sixth-year players who played in 2020 and were rewarded another year of eligibility didn’t count toward the NCAA’s 85-scholarship limit.

This coming year, however, “super seniors” will count toward that threshold, meaning that not every player who has his COVID-19 year can use it at BC, or else the Eagles wouldn’t be able to recruit as many players for the future, Hafley explained.

Davis was a three-star recruit from Cathedral (Indianapolis, Indiana). He was the eighth-rated prospect in the state coming out of high school. After redshirting his freshman year, he played in eight games the following season and totaled 11 tackles, including a season-high five versus Richmond.

In 2020, Davis’ snaps were primarily limited to special teams. He finished with a pair of tackles. This year, he played in 11 games and registered six total tackles, including three solos and 0.5 TFLs.

Sparacio, on the other hand, was a bigger contributor. He was a two-star recruit from First Baptist Academy (Naples, Florida). Sparacio was a mid-year enrollee in January 2018 and, after competing in spring ball, played in two games as a freshman before redshirting the season.

The next year, he made nine starts at linebacker and played in all 13 games. It was a brutal year for an Eagles defense that reset the program’s single-game record for yards allowed twice. But Sparacio piled up 50 total tackles with six TFLs, a half sack and an interception. He recorded a career-high eight tackles against Wake Forest that fall and added seven more against Cincinnati in the Birmingham Bowl.

Sparacio’s role shrunk significantly in 2020, following the return of Isaiah McDuffie and BC’s shift to a 4-2-5 defense. He had just three total tackles and played in only four games.

It was more of the same this year. He posted five total tackles and 0.5 TFLs.