You all scared me a bit with the non-replies early on. Thought the board was sick of me already.

Looking forward to getting back into it with spring ball, although we still don't know how much of the 15 practices will be open. I genuinely believe they could be very, very deep assuming health and regular improvement. Schedule certainly isn't easy, but they should be good enough to be in it in the fourth quarter in every marquee matchup, especially at home. If not and we're looking at seven or eight wins again, it's a disappointment. The bar is high around here again (for those paying attention) and nine should be the goal.

Anyway, let's see what kind of answers I can pull out of you know where for these questions...

Q: What have you heard about Alumni upgrades. How about the 20.5 million layout each school can use starting this summer-will BC step up close to this number? Can you explain why the Spring game died? Kevin can you get a sit down with Blake especially about the state of both BBall programs and how it gets fixed? Thanks. Love the movie mention!

A: So, nothing on the upgrades, but that could change when we get over there next week and I can ask about them. This will be my sixth year covering them (fifth full season) and money and where it's going has never really been on the table as far as media discussion no matter who asks.

Spring game is ultimately dying everywhere because of the chaos from the portal. Matt Rhule put it well last week or the week before, saying he doesn't want to showcase guys on TV and then have them get poached by another team. Zero rules means if a kid - like Reed Harris for example last year - goes off in the spring game and a staff is watching in the offices that day, they're making a text, phone call and/or email immediately offering the kid money. It's far more beneficial for a staff to just treat it like one final regular practice or in this case, they could just scrimmage inside Fish. It makes sense why you'd just scrap it all together, but whoever makes the calls did a terrible job last year not allowing that to be a fun tailgating day for students, especially with all the buzz still hot as hell coming off the hire. Either way, the spring game just isn't worth it for teams because of the lawlessness of college ball in 2025.

No shot on the sit down, but I can ask. He'd probably only do it for a BC affiliated publication or like the Globe or Herald and both of them are trimming college coverage significantly from everything I'm hearing.

Q: Ask BOB: Zelensky or Trump? The board wants to know.

A: . I have a feeling he's on the right side of history...

Q: Are the two Alabama transfers on campus? Do any of the transfers or early enrollees stand out?

A: Not sure on Lonergan, but the other QB Shaker Reisig has been there since the team went on the bowl trip to NY. Not sure on Ty Lockwood either, but I believe he's been there since January too. Haven't seen them in action of course, looking forward to seeing if any of those guys pop early.

Q: Along the same lines, are we expecting an open QB battle (I'm sure the coach speak answer is yes) and how is the OL shaping up?

A: So, I'm fully pot-committed on Grayson James, but not just because of the take a year ago. I genuinely believe with a full offseason as the starter he's only going to look better than he did a year ago, and once given the opportunity to play he clearly showed how different this offense can look with a legitimate passer. Now, having said all that, Bill O'Brien believes in competition. I think Shaker and Dylan will absolutely be competing for the 2 spot along with Jacobe Robinson, but it's going to be Grayson's job until he gives it up or until one of those guys just absolute blows everyone out of the water. No need to rush their development with a guy who has shown he can help the team win and more importantly, he's got the respect of everyone in that locker room because of how he handled last year.

I think Logan Taylor and Jude Bowry are locks to have great seasons (assuming health of course) and then it's sort of up to Matt Applebaum to figure out the rest. Eryx Daughtery, Dwayne Allick and Kevin Cline are guys who could take it to another level too. There's plenty of big boys in there with experience within the system, just not the type of game experience past lines have had. Given how highly Trapilo praised Applebaum during his combine interviews, I'm confident they'll be ok up there, it just might not look great early on while they're figuring chemistry out.

Q: Are there any specific strength numbers we can get from the S&C program, e.g., improvements made over the winter? Maybe this would be more of a summer thing.

A: Good question, I'll ask next week. I saw Coach Fitzgerald at the women's lax game last weekend (two weeks ago?) and there were guys in there. He's regularly regarded as the second best hire BC made last year behind O'Brien and players rave about him. They were also very well conditioned late in games last year if memory serves me right, I think they're good in that regard.

Q: Will the offensive scheme change? In year 1 the offense was understandably designed with TC in mind during the offseason and James came in mid season. With a whole offseason to prep will there be changes to fit James' skillset?

A: I gotta believe it'll look more like the Patriots offense for all of those years with Lawing and O'Brien now having a legitimate thrower at their disposal. Grayson can move better than people give him credit for, so we might see a few RPO's, but with Bond, Skeete, Harris as your Top 3, a loaded running back room again and (hopefully) someone standing out at tight end, I'd expect far more of a downfield offense. O-line obviously plays a huge part in that, but I think they're well balanced and finally a bit more of a big-play team regularly.

Q: How does the FSU/Clemson settlement impact the revenue BC gets from the ACC?

A: So this one I can't even pull out of my ass. I'm not a math guy. in fact, I went to three different colleges and never finished because of two math courses. Thank god for sports journalism. Aside from having a general understanding that it means the ACC won't die until at least 2030, I won't pretend to know. I saw Nicole Auerbach was tweeting out a thread today that seemed to clarify things pretty well, I just haven't had a chance to read it yet. I still think we're heading for a world where it's just the SEC and Big 10 at some point, if not more like an NFL model with divisions and 2 conferences.

Q: Why did we hire a guy to be an analyst who quit on his community after only a year ago being elected to office who then quit a week into his BC job?

A: Haha, there's a reason I never even put anything on the site about it. Weird situation. We'll obviously ask O'Brien about it whenever we first speak with him, but I have absolutely no idea.

Q: Has BOB ever considered being a head basketball coach as well? BC needs one.

A: Better question is when does he take over the baseball program as a baseball guy. I think Belichick eventually coaches UNC lax, why not BOB coaching Birdball to Super Regionals?

Q: Who are the OL starters next year? Who are the freshmen that can make an impact this year?Who are the breakout candidates?Why does James always look to be in a total panic when dropping back?WTF is wrong with BC hoops and when will they make March Great Again?

A: Taylor, Bowry, TBD. if I had to guess, probably Taylor, Bowry, Allick, Cline and Daugherty. Don't ask me who is lining up where yet except for Taylor and Bowry. But, I think there's some guys like Hess, Funke, Crounse and Mickow that all have a chance to play, plus we haven't even mentioned Amir Johnson from Merrimack.

Andy Quinn the Irish kicker might be might favorite freshman already. Just because of how bad and non-existent the kicking game was a year ago, I can't wait to see him kick. Dawson Pough (WR), Sterling Sanders (DL), VJ Wilkins (WR), Nedrick Boldin Jr. (WR), Kaelan Chudzinski (TE), Omarion Davis (DB) and Zeke Moore (TE) all have a chance in spring ball to make a great early first impression and a case for more looks in camp. Especially the tight ends, where that No. 1 job is seemingly wide open.

First time starter last year, obvious jitters were expected. I thought he was fine overall and increases this offense's production likelihood on a given drive dramatically.

Not being a basketball guy by any means, all I know if they were screwed from the start when talent left in the portal for more money. Funny though, I was talking to a buddy of mine the other day that's a huge CBB guy (his favorite player all time is Sean Williams) and reliving them being good. The last time they were in the tournament I was drinking Rolling Rock for $11/18 pack my sophomore year of college. Hopefully soon, covering the NCAA tourney is sort of one of those bucket list items for me as a writer.

Q: Which players redshirted last year, which didn't?

A: Here's the up-to-date roster. I'll double check and make sure it's accurate when we're over there.

Thanks again for these guys, this is always a good time as I try to further immerse myself in all things BC.