Year 3 is usually telling

While I don't believe Jeff Hafley is on any sort of hot seat, I do think this year will tell us if he is going to be great or just good. Year 3 tends to set the tone at BC. 

I like Jeff Hafley and still think he will be special. His first season he managed COVID, the roster and his schedule well. Last year was more disappointing. He mismanaged the QB situation which led to the team underachieving. This year, if he is special, there should be no excuses. This is his roster. He has tweaked his staff. The schedule is manageable. By Year 3 most great coaches are on their way because they've worked out the kinks, have things lined up and have their players in place. Look at the third year of past BC coaches since WWII:

BC Coaches in their Third Year  

Myer -- 1946. Record: 6-3 (Myer's tenure was interupted by WWII.) 

Holovak -- 1953. Record: 5-3-1 

Miller -- 1965. Record: 6-3 

Yukica -- 1970. Record: 8-2 

Chlebek -- 1980. Record: 7-4 

Bicknell -- 1983. Record: 9-3 

Coughlin -- 1993. Record: 9-3 

Henning -- 1996. Record: 5-7 

O'Brien -- 1999. Record: 8-4

Spaziani -- 2011. Record: 4-8

Addazio -- 2015. Record: 3-9

It is not infallible, but does follow a pattern. Let's hope this year is great and carries us for the next decade!

The most important things Jeff Hafley said about his recruiting class

 

Jeff Hafley just signed one of BC's highest-rated recruiting classes since the various internet sites started tracking these things. [ An aside about recruiting...While I do believe that bigger, faster and stronger makes a difference, I remain a skeptic of the recruiting services. There are just too many players out there and too many variables in development to put that much faith in the services. Where I think they have importance is in the positive momentum that they generate among high school players and coaches. Players want to join a winner and if they think other big-time players are headed to BC, it makes Hafley's pitch that much more persuasive.]

We won't have a true measure of this class for a few seasons. In the meantime, I found Hafley's post-Signing Day media appearances very insightful. He is clearly rehearsed and smoother than his predecessors, but still candid. What he had to say was almost as important as who he signed.

1. Hafley admitted he pays attention to the recruiting services and rankings. This is a first for BC. He even pulled back the curtain and said all coaches say they don't pay attention to the services but they all do. While I appreciate his honesty, I thought how he uses them was telling. He said that he asks his staff not to share with him any info on the recruit prior to Hafley's chance to watch the player's tape. Only after he has watched the tape, does he want to know what the services are saying and who is also allegedly recruiting the player. This was music to my ears. It shows a level of detail and doing your homework on a guy but not dismissing other relevant information. I also appreciated Hafley explaining that he only looks at a player after the position coach and coordinator have evaluated the player. Will this system work? I don't know. Hafley has proven to have a good eye for evaluation, so I don't know if he would be more valuable early in the screening process, but it is his team and his system.

2. BC is going to zig instead of zag when it comes to the transfer portal. In my mind, I thought the transfer portal would be a boon for BC. We could clean up on other teams' washouts and get some reclamation products like Jurk. I think a place like BC sells better for a kid who is older and might have been burned. However, that is not what Hafley is going to do. While we will still take transfers, he is going to build the program on traditional high school recruits. What I found interesting is he thinks the transfer portal has made it easier for BC to recruit high school players. He explained that all the colleges are working the portal and somewhat ignoring the high school talent pool. He also explained that fewer high schoolers are getting scholarships. This means BC's pitch is well recieved.

3. He is not yet locking BC into a certain geography or recruiting strategy. While other regimes hit the Midwest hard or tried to build a wall around New England, Hafley is not putting one area above others. He said getting the best players from New England is important, but after that he wants to recruit nationally. We didn't even have our usual allotment from New York and New Jersey. With communication and travel it is probably easier to evaluate kids across the country. But I do think having friendly areas or programs will be needed long-term. Some of our best players have come from either knowing a school real well or getting a tip off from a friendly and trusted high school coach.