Tverdov surprised, grateful following BC offer

Mike Tverdov didn't see it coming. The BC offer took him by surprise and he's now looking more closely at the Eagles than ever before.

The 6-foot-3, 221-pound defensive end from Union, N.J., does know a bit about Boston College. He knows about the New Jersey connection that has proven fruitful for BC as a recruiting pipeline.

"I know Jonathan Hilliman goes there from St. Peter's," Tverdov said. "K.J. Gray is actually from my town. Anthony Brown is the quarterback for Vianney and I've played against him. They've got a ton of Jersey guys, which is actually cool."

Now BC's coaches have made it clear that they want Tverdob to be a part of their New Jersey connection.

One day two weeks ago Tverdov finished practice with his Union teammates and he saw that Ben Albert had followed him on Twitter. Just a few minutes later Albert sent him a message.

"We want you to call us," was the basic message from Albert.

When Tverdov got on the phone with Albert he learned that the BC staff had evaluated his film collectively and everyone had been impressed. Both Albert and Don Brown told Tverdov that they believed he would be a good fit at the Heights.

"They said they'd be keeping in touch and they really like me," he said. "Then the following morning, on Friday, my coach told me to call the guy that recruits my area -- the receivers coach (Brian White).

"I gave him a call," he recalled. "He actually came in the spring last year and he had wanted to get me in for camp, but I couldn't go. He said he really thinks I'd be a great fit there. He liked me on film because I'm a pretty big-sized kid. He said they really want to see me in person but they believe what they see in me on film and they want to offer me. He said they look forward to building a relationship."

Since then Tverdov has been in contact with "all the coaches" in the last week. He was on the phone with Steve Addazio and then Albert again.

"It kind of came out of nowhere but I'm glad. It's a big one," he said. "Boston College has done really good this year, especially on the defensive side of the ball."

This year Tverdov has been to games at Rutgers and Temple. He was supposed to attend a game at Penn State but those plans fell through.

He said every school recruiting him likes him as a defensive end.