Ness Switched Sides of the Ball to Get on the Field at BC

Jackson Ness has been at Boston College as long as star wide receiver Zay Flowers. His first year in Chestnut Hill, Anthony Brown was QB1, running back AJ Dillon was trucking defenders and Steve Addazio was still head coach.

Ness was recruited by Addazio's staff. He was a three-star strong side defensive end from Upper Arlington, Ohio.

Except, the 6-foot-5 Ness barely saw the field at that position. He got in for one game as a freshman before redshirting that season. Then, after not playing at all in 2020, he made two appearances last year, registering one tackle. In total, he played 15 total defensive snaps in three years, according to Pro Football Focus.

Ness could have transferred. Or he could have walked away from the sport.

He did neither. He wanted to be on the field at BC.

"I mean, look around," Ness said in Alumni Stadium Sunday morning. "It's an awesome place. Great, special people are here, and I wanted to play here."

This offseason, Ness went to third-year head coach Jeff Hafley and asked to change sides of the ball. He wanted to go from defensive line, where he was buried on the depth chart, to offensive line, where the Eagles were retooling after losing three four players to the NFL.

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for him coming in and saying that," Hafley said. "The guy's been here forever. ... It's just his mindset. It's what he's all about."

Ness had played left guard his senior year of high school, but he had never lined up at center before. That's where offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo plugged him in, right behind former four star Drew Kendall.

"Sometimes you make a move like that, and it works," Hafley said. "And [DeGuglielmo] felt like that one worked right away."

Ness said that he had to learn on the fly, especially at the center position where you have to make the right calls at the line. The redshirt junior noted, however, that it was helpful that the rest of the offense was grasping a new system, so he wasn't alone in dealing with change.

Similar to guard Dwayne Allick, who also moved from defensive to offensive line this offseason, Ness has had to adjust his playing style for his new position.

"I think defensive line is more get off the ball and sprint basically," Ness said. "I think offensive line is more power and fast feet and engaging with a guy."

He continued: "I think a lot of the skills kind of translated, but I had to really work on my feet in the spring specifically to settle down and wait for them to come to me and then engage with them instead of just attacking."

Redshirt freshman quarterback Emmett Morehead, who has worked with Ness extensively in the spring and summer, emphasized that Ness has a "great O-Line body" but a "D-Line mentality."

"I think the snaps are kind of a secondary thing for him because he's super smart," Morehead said earlier in fall camp. "He's getting the right calls, lining everybody up right. The center has to control the whole O-Line. He's getting that part right."

In addition to spending time with the twos, Ness was with the first-team offense for a good bit of fall camp while Kendall was out with an injury. It provided Ness an opportunity to practice with starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec.

And it helped him solidify a spot on the two-deep.

"He's gonna play this year," Hafley said of Ness. "And he knows that. He should be proud of himself. He should be really excited about what he's accomplished in a short period of time. He's a good football player. He will help us win games this year.

"I'm very confident."