Hoffses interviews Mobley and other links

Eric Hoffses posted an interview with basketball transfer target Matt Mobley. BC is the only major conference team recruiting Mobley right now. He visits BC this weekend.

Shakim Phillips signed a free agent deal with Pittsburgh. Good luck to him.

The Bears claimed former Eagle Chris Pantale off of waivers.

Arizona QB prospect Dylan Wright visited BC. Most services have him as a three star.

Eagles in Atlanta and Indy and other places

As expected, none of BC's current seniors were selected in the NFL Draft. But when you are a potential late-rounder, being an undrafted free agent is not a bad thing. It enables the player to select a team with a favorable roster.

Nick Clany will be joining Matt Ryan with the Atlanta Falcons. I am obviously biased by fandom and geography, but this is a good fit for Nick. The Falcons are very thin on defense and at Linebacker (yet they didn't draft another LB). Clancy will get a chance on special teams and should probably get a very good shot at the practice squad.

Another team that loves BC guys is Indianapolis, so it was not a surprise to see them sign Emmett Cleary. He joins former Eagles Anthony Castanzo and Gosder Cherilus as protection for Andrew Luck. The Colts had a need at OL and only drafted one lineman. I guess that means Cleary's chances to make the team are decent.

Chris Pantale signed with the Jets. I have no idea who is going to be QB there this year nor how they will use him. I hope he gets a fair shot. If he hadn't been injured this season, I think he would have been drafted.

John Wetzel signed with the Raiders. They are another team with a lot of holes, so hopefully he gets a chance.

This is the first time since 2005 that no BC player was selected.

Remembering BC's Mr. Irrelevant

BC won't have a player drafted Thursday night. But with Wetzel, Clancy and Cleary all listed as late-rounders or undrafted free agents, BC may have a Mr. Irrelevant this year. It would not be the first time an Eagle ended up as the last player in the Draft. In 1995 the Carolina Panthers selected Michael Reed with the last overall pick.

Little is expected of Mr. Irrelevant, so Reed turning his tenure into two seasons was viewed as a success. He hardly played, but was able to extend his career after the NFL with two seasons of NFL Europe. After his playing days Reed got into coaching. He was on TOB's staff at NC State and recently joined Clemson.

Reed is making a name for himself now as a recruiter (Dabo praised his work on their 2013 class). I don't think his draft-day notoriety means anything to high schoolers, but his NFL background doesn't hurt. If any of our current eagles ever get selected last overall, I hope they use Reed as an example. He turned his one shot into a career.

The pre-Combine consensus on BC's three prospects

The NFL Combine kicks off this week and three BC players have a chance to make a name for themselves. After our disappointing season, I was surprised that our three seniors Emmett Cleary, Chris Pantale and John Wetzel even earned invites. More accomplished BC guys have been snubbed in the past. But even with the Combine opportunity, none of the three Eagles are sure to get drafted. All will need to use this time to change perception or get one or two teams to fall in love with them. Here is what the experts are critiquing prior to their workouts.

Emmett Cleary

WEAKNESSES Must gain additional strength in his lower body in an NFL weight program, usually widens to anchor but can get put on his heels by better power rushes if losing the hand battles. Not the quickest of feet. Height gives him some stiffness running in the open field, also makes him vulnerable to slipping off blocks or overextending after initial contact.

Chris Pantale 

BOTTOM LINE The Eagles’ starting tight end has not accumulated tremendous production throughout his career. While this is definitely in part due to the offense he played in, he does not profile as a great receiver at the next level. However, he should be a solid pass catcher, who also possesses a strong blocking mentality.

John Wetzel

STRENGTHS Tall and thick throughout his frame that gives him great strength as a run-blocker. Explodes from a three-point stance, making him tough for tackles to hold their ground when he crashes the edge and making him capable of taking out linebackers at the second level. Strong punch, consistent in his aiming point. When balanced and patient in pass protection, extends his long arms and move his feet well enough to eclipse small rush ends -- and pulling off a bull rush against him is extremely difficult because of his strong anchor.

Pantale's Shrine game and other links

Chris Pantale caught two passes in the East-West Shrine game. The West side won the game.

Men's Hockey bounced back from Friday's loss to beat Northeastern.

Silas Spearman is now one of BC's main recruiting targets.

Hockey, Beyonce? and other links

The Men's Hockey team lost at home to UMass, 5-2. We hadn't loss to UMass at Conte since 2007.

Delaware hired former BC Offensive Coordinator Dave Brock as their new head coach.

The Women's hockey team beat Mercyhurst. 

Chris Pantale is making the most of his opportunity to impress at the East-West Shrine game. 

Finally, check out this picture of Beyonce:

As reader Brian pointed out, that is a Flutie-era Boston College helmet. Isn't it? I can't think of any other college or pro team that ever looked like that. What is it doing there? My guess is that it was just some prop the photographer or GQ had lying around. But the pic is random. Someone should show it to Under Armour and Bates and explain that it would be a much cooler alternate helmet. "See, the white stripe helmet stinks. Let's go with the Beyonce helmet! That will make us seem cool."

York surgery and other links

Jerry York will miss two games after having eye surgery. While I am sure the surgery was serious and the recovery slow enough for him to miss games, the tone of BC's press release was fairly calm. In his absence Mike Cavanaugh and Greg Brown will split his duties. Here's to a speedy recovery.   

I feel for Chris Pantale. Had he been healthy all season, I think his stats would be much more impressive and he'd probably be drawing more NFL interest. He did earn and invite to the East-West Shrine game. It is not considered the best All Star game, but there will be enough scouts there for him to make an impression.

Profootball Weekly named Luke Kuechly Defensive Rookie of the Year. 

Following right behind the men's team, the women's basketball team beat Virginia Tech. 

I know Matt Ryan is an elite QB, but that doesn't mean I can't laugh at this.

Pantale's surgery scheduled for Monday

BC Captain Chris Pantale will undergo surgery Monday to fix the broken bone in his foot. Recovery is scheduled for six to eight weeks. At this point a medical redshirt is unlikely. Pantale redshirted as a freshmen and as we learned with Momah, the NCAA is unwilling to grant sixth years unless the both redshirts are tied and documented to the same medical issue. Let's hope for quick and healthy return.

Pantale news puts damper on Media Day

Media Day is about fluff, a happy outlook and getting to know the players a bit better. Things didn't go according to plan though as BC announced that Senior Captain Chris Pantale broke a bone in his foot and will miss significant time. That's a tough loss out of the gate as Pantale has real potential and was hoping for a breakout season. Supposedly with Martin's scheme, BC can use more WRs in place of TEs, so I don't think it will derail the offense. It is also a chance for Naples to step up.

Spaz later explained that Ramsey and Miller were both dealing with injuries too.

The good news was that the media turned out in force. The Globe even sent someone!

Spaz was in a light-hearted mood and asked for pitches right down the middle.



BC Sports Information Department did a great job tweeting comments, taking pictures and shooting video.

There should be even more news tomorrow. And for those fans going to the open practice, be sure to take pictures and send them along.

Tessitore feature and other links

SI.com posted a long feature on BC guy Joe Tessitore. Definitely worth the read. Joe is one of ESPN's rising stars and in my opinion the best college play-by-play guy they have. Of course now that BC has Friday night games in our future, Tess has moved on to ESPN's prime Saturday slots.

The players elected Jim Noel, Kaleb Ramsey, Emmett Cleary and Chris Pantale as team captains. Congrats to all of them.

The ACC is playing checkers with TV deals while the other major conferences play chess. This is pretty damning for any remaining Swofford defenders.

Ron Brace is ready for a big year. So is Luke Kuechly. Meanwhile Alex Albright might play both ways this fall. Mark Herzlich will get his shot at starting too.

CBS outlays pretty realistic best and worst case scenarios. I'll post mine closer to the opener.

Reggie Jackson has a chance to break into the Thunder's regular rotation.

Optimism from Football Outsiders and other links

I am a sucker for football analytics and I also really respect CBS's Matt Hinton. So when his ACC preview piece on Football Outsiders listed BC with a .500 record and a 3rd place finish in the division, I was pleasantly surprised. FO is betting on our returning players and the positive trends of the last few games of 2011. I still don't know what to think about the upcoming season, but my love for BC and articles like this have me looking on the bright side.

BC is sending Emmett Cleary and Kaleb Ramsey to Greensboro to represent the school during ACC media days. I think this is actually a great sign for BC and for both players. I expected Cleary to have a break out season last year. He was good, but not all conference. Maybe this year is his chance to shine and get on NFL radars. Ramsey has always had the talent. His health and attitude have been bigger issues. If he is healthy and focused this year, he will be a game changer on D.

Here is more on our newest recruit out of Cincinnati Truman Gutapfel.

Chris Pantale is on the Mackey watch list. The award is given annually to the country's best Tight End.

Beaver Country Day big man Jacquil Taylor is generating local interest. BC has yet to offer, but is following him.

BCeagles.com posted a Q&A with Bobby Swiggert yesterday. I found his talk about paring down the offense encouraging. We need to work on execution not diversity of plays.

HD put out this offseason filler piece ranking coaching jobs in the ACC. I don't really care where she perceives us. When the job changes we will be very attractive to the right guy for us.

Pantale talks offense and other links

HD held a Q&A with Chris Pantale. What I found refreshing was Chris's candor. He spoke of the difficulty learning new offenses, his desire to step up and the attrition of his old teammates.

The class you came in with, why did it get so small?
CP: Part of it was the coaching changes. Some guys came in with bad attitudes I guess, thought they should’ve been playing right away. Some of the guys I came in with had a bigger ego and when they didn’t play right away hung their heads a little bit and started to slack off in school. They brought it upon themselves. It wasn’t what BC did to them. It was their own fault for most guys, but some guys left for what they felt was better options. You can’t blame them if they didn’t feel like they didn’t belong there.

The character of Jags's mega-class has been questioned for years. I am surprised that a current player finally spoke out about it.

Ohio running back LeShun Daniels committed to BC. He's a good and much needed addition to this class after the decommitment of Virginia running back Josh Tapscott.

Daniels' offer list is thin but I like what he showed on this tape.

BC High's Jack McDonald committed to UVA. Trey Kilgore verballed to Michigan State.

Alumni's noise and other links

Spencer Hall wrote an interesting post on noise levels in college stadiums. I know much of Alumni Stadium's noise is dependent upon crowd size and passion, but the there are a few inadvertent features that make our stadium surprisingly noisy for its size. The big factors are the narrow sidelines, the closed ends of the stadium and the secret weapon -- the full aluminum stands. All that metal is much less forgiving to sound than concrete aisles and rows would have been.

The Herald caught up with former Eagle Brady Heslip. I know many are saying Heslip could made Donahue's transition easier, but I don't begrudge Donahue for being honest with Heslip. Letting him walk might have hurt this year, but in the end Donahue is going to be judged on how his own recruits develop and win.

Brian Dumoulin, Johnny Gaudreau and Parker Milner all earned Hockey East honors this week. Here is a good article on Milner and the legacy of the BC goalies.

In recruiting news, BC has now offered a pair of teammates from Eire Cathedral Prep. Hayden Rettig keeps piling up big time offers. BC is after the latest Don Bosco star. BC now has more competition for Ohio Athlete Darron Lee.

From earlier in the week: a Q&A with KPL and a interview with Chris Pantale.

Football 2009 In Review: Top Surprises

This was an annual feature until last January got thrown upside down by the coaching chaos. I will look back on the season in four parts. Let's begin with the positive: top surprises.

1. Mike Morrissey
Everyone loves a walk-on story, but rarely does a walk-on work his way into the starting lineup. Morrissey isn’t exactly our “Rudy” though. He was a “recruited walk-on” meaning TOB and company liked him enough to give him a shot to earn a scholarship but offered no guarantees. Having contributed occasionally in his first few seasons, Morrissey broke out this year – just when the depleted LB corp needed him most. Since his father was in the NFL and walk-ons have to work extra hard, Morrissey showed good instincts in coverage and reading Ds. What surprised was his speed. He was good in coverage and outside or some bad tackles in the Emerald Bowl, was pretty reliable all season. Morrissey is not a game changer or have the upside of LeGrande (the guy he split snaps with) but he was a crucial part of the season and did more than expected.

2. Chris Pantale
Pantale was a well regarded recruit and we heard good things coming out of his redshirt year, but he exceeded most expectations. The team's third leading receiver was also a capable blocker. I guess what most impressed me about Pantale, was his toughness and hands. It seemed like he pulled in a bunch of passes with someone drapped all over him. If anything we didn't get him the ball enough -- especially in the redzone. It will be nice to see him mature in the offense and add a little more size.
3. Ryan Quigley
Punters are rarely appreciated, but Quigley was very good this year. 30% of his punts went pinned the other team into the redzone with only 5% rolling for touchbacks. He got 77 punts off without getting blocked once. It wasn't all controlled either. He could boom them when he had to. In an ideal world, he would never punt, but watching Quigley punt this year was a pleasure.