Quick Hitters: Early Notes from Eagles Training Camp

During the first few weeks of training camp, Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley wants to ease his players back into the swing of things. While a first-year head coach, the 41-year-old has seven years of NFL experience under his belt.

He’s using that to his advantage.

Hafley is approaching this year’s training camp like NFL coaches go about OTAs. He’s alternating intense and short practices to prioritize the physical health of his players. Friday was one of those lighter practices. It only lasted 75 minutes and wasn’t full speed, but rather “more of a three-quarter glide,” in Hafley’s words, where there was limited acceleration and deceleration to take some pressure off the players’ bodies.

That way, players get the mental reps without having back-to-back days of hard workouts, Hafley told reporters after Friday morning’s practice.

“We’re trying to make sure everyone’s ready,” Hafley said. “Today was a lot shorter, way shorter. The periods were cut, the plays were cut. I wanted everything to look fast, feel fast—the urgency on and off the field, the bend, the pad-level, the eyes, the angles, the leverage.”

It’s only two days into training camp, but the rookie head coach and his players have already gotten a taste of live football amid the pandemic.

Here are some quick hitters about the start of Eagles training camp:

The “Splash Shield” isn’t perfect, but players are managing just fine: Like many other programs across the country, BC is using Schutt’s new “Splash Shield” helmet attachment to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other diseases. The product is made from clear optical material and has small slits where velcro is used to tie the shield to the face mask. It comes in two parts, one for the top half of the face guard and one for the bottom.

Since BC is continuing to wear its Under Armour visors, it’s only using the Splash Shield’s bottom attachment in order to protect players from the outward propulsion of respiratory droplets.

“It’s just another way to try to do everything we can to keep these guys safe,” Hafley said. “So if it means wearing a mask, a shield, and if it fogs up a little bit, it fogs up a little bit. The players have been great—they haven’t even said anything about them. But they’re all wearing them.”

When asked about the effectiveness of the face guard, cornerback Brandon Sebastian was honest about the equipment’s pitfalls, while providing a makeshift solution to the shield’s breathability problems.

“To me, it’s kind of like wearing a visor, but like on the lower part of my face mask,” the redshirt junior said. But it’s kind of hard to breathe a little bit, cause when I get going and start sweating a lot, it starts fogging up a little bit. But I just take the helmet off, throw on my mask, and I’m usually fine. I catch my breath like that.”

Safety Mike Palmer was initially skeptical, but he emphasized that it didn’t take him long to acclimate to the face guard.

“The first time I put it on, I thought it was going to be like, ‘Woah, I don’t know how we’re going to use these,’” Palmer said. “But as we got out there and got running around, it’s not as bad as you originally thought, and eventually as you get through practice, you kind of forget that it’s even there.”

BC’s new offensive scheme is exciting for guys on both sides of the ball: Tight end Hunter Long and running back David Bailey said that Thursday’s practice was the offense’s cleanest first day of camp since they’ve been at BC. Bailey added that the scheme feels “fresh.” The offensive playmakers aren’t the only ones who feel that way about Frank Cignetti Jr.’s new system.

“I love it,” Sebastian said. “It’s a new offensive scheme. We’re not just pounding the rock down every play, so I feel like running this NFL-style offense it’s really helpful for the defense to see what’s out there and how we can compete against the offense.”

Palmer agreed and affirmed that, on an individual level, it’s helpful to see some elements of the game that are featured at the next level but weren’t included in the Eagles’ run-oriented offense of the past. The graduate student said that, because BC has opened up the playbook, practice has been a little more challenging yet simultaneously more fun.

Sebastian expressed that all of the offensive skill players have taken their game up a notch, namely the wide receivers and quarterbacks. The third-year starting corner pointed out that he has to adjust his coverage technique for each of BC’s signal callers. For instance, when defending Phil Jurkovec in Cover 2, he has to play much tighter than usual.

“I know that Phil is going to throw that ball on a string,” Sebastian said smiling, “so I just need to get on my high horse and try to pick that off, because he will fit that in that small window.”

The battle at right guard is shaping up between three players: It’s well documented that the Eagles are returning four starters on their vaunted offensive line, all of whom received All-ACC honors in 2019. The only spot that needs to be filled is at the right guard position, where John Phillips started all 12 regular season games last season. Hafley said on Friday that three guys are in the mix of the starting job: redshirt freshman Christian Mahogany, redshirt sophomore Finn Dirstine, and redshirt junior Nate Emer.

“That’s a great group,” Hafley said. “It’s a really tight group that works really hard, and whoever winds up winning that position, I know they’ll do a great job, and whoever doesn’t, they’ll probably at some point have to step up and play this year.”

Dirstine is a former four-star recruit from Lawrence Academy—the alma mater of fellow Eagles Joey Luchetti, Ryan Betro, and the program’s all-time leading rusher, AJ Dillon. The 6-foot-5, 312-pound Acton, Mass. native is one of seven BC recruits in the past five years (including the 2021 class) to have earned a Rivals Rating of 5.8 or higher. He made his collegiate debut as a true freshman during the Eagles’ season-opening blowout win over UMass but, not too long after that, redshirted the remainder of the 2018 season.

Behind Phillips, Zion Johnson, and the likes of Anthony Palazzolo and Adam Korutz, Dirstine watched the 2019 campaign unfold from the sideline, as did Mahogany and Emer. Mahogany, the 30th-best prospect out of New Jersey in the Class of 2019, redshirted last season but offers a good bit of versatility, considering that he was recruited by some schools as a tackle. Emer made four appearances in 2018 after redshirting the previous season. Despite his 6-foot-4 frame, he’s the lightest of the group, weighing in at just 295 pounds. Hafley noted that Emer has put in great work with offensive line coach Matt Applebaum in both the weight and film room.

As the first-year head coach mentioned, the two players who lose out on the starting job, will likely get playing time in 2020—either in a rotational role or simply because of injury/illness.

Through collaboration, Hafley is putting an emphasis on player safety: Hafley was featured in Albert Breer’s most recent Monday Morning Quarterback piece for Sports Illustrated. Along with Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley, Hafley was highlighted for his leadership under COVID-19 protocol. Last week, BC received news that all 154 players and staff who were tested for coronavirus on July 31 produced negative results.

Breer wrote about how Hafley got a call from his old boss, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who was looking for advice about executing specific team meetings on site. But Hafley hasn’t just been communicating with friends at the NFL level. He’s also reached out to and bounced off ideas with other college coaches.

“I think we all have to work together on this, Hafley said. “If anybody’s hiding any ideas on how to stay healthy and do things the right way, I think that’s wrong. … No one knows how to do this the right way. We’re all trying the best we can. I’d hope most coaches in the country are sharing. I certainly have been trying to.”