Morehead Ready To Be "The Guy"
The 2023 Boston College Eagles are Emmett Morehead’s team.
Morehead, now in the spotlight as BC’s starting quarterback, met with the media for the first time as “the guy” on Friday following the first day of spring ball. Morehead just radiates leadership whenever he speaks and Friday was no different. Head coach Jeff Hafley is also excited to see what his young QB can do this season.
“Yeah, he needs to take this and run with it right now,” said Hafley. “There needs to be competition, but he needs to take it and run with it. He’s made of the right stuff and our team’s excited about him and I’m happy he’s here.”
Morehead played 10 games last season and showed his teammates and Hafley he’s more than dependable.
“I think he’s respected on this whole team right now as a leader,” Hafley added. “I think he’s 6’6, 242lbs. right now, he looks like an NFL tight end. He’s kind of taken this team..he’s got the respect of both sides of the ball. At the end of the year, he had the really good game against Duke where he almost brought us back, threw for like 400 yards. Then at NC State he drives us back, throws the TD to another true freshman Joe Griffin, we win the game. Then, he takes some shots against Syracuse and he keeps getting up…there’s a toughness about him. He’s smart, he’s always working hard, he’s always got leadership.”
“No change mentally for me,” Morehead said when asked if anything’s different now that he’s officially “the guy” in Chestnut Hill. “Last year I felt like I prepared really well every day. When I got my opportunities I felt like I was ready for them. It’s just the same process for me every day. It’s just fun now having more opportunities. Pressure is a privilege.”
Morehead isn’t phased by having another new offensive coordinator this year either. In fact, he’s embraced more change.
“I think it’s good,” he said. “It exposes me to a lot more information and a different way of doing things. At the end of the day, there’s only so many ways you can line up and call plays. It’s interesting to learn new schemes, but I think this is similar to what I was in my freshman year, so, I’m comfortable with that. It’s more pro-style and I think it’s going to be great this year.”
Not only does Morehead have another new OC, there’s a new (old?) face back coaching the offensive line in Matt Applebaum. Obviously, the team will go as the O-line goes and even though it was only one day, the QB is excited about the guys protecting him.
“It makes a huge difference,” he said. “Last year was really, really tough, Running the ball helps the pass game, our play action wasn’t getting a bite from defenders because they weren’t respecting the run. This year we’re going to run the ball well and be efficient with that. That’ll help the pass game and we can open things up a lot easier and be more efficient on first and second down. It’ll be good. With the offensive line right now we have depth. That was something we were really worried about last year…guys got a lot of experience as well last year. It’s all good.”The decision to keep things in house as far as an OC hire goes may have irked fans, but it’s already been a huge help for the young QB.
“I really appreciated coach Hafley doing that, I think it was a really smart move, especially for the guys in the building already. Not just me,” said Morehead. “It’s nice to have guys that you know well, that were part of my recruiting process and a lot of the other guys’. We trust them, we know them, we’ve known them for a long time. We know they’re more than capable. Chud is the most over-qualified coach in all of college football to be doing what he’s doing. We’re super grateful for that and we’re really excited.”