How important is Herzlich's slow 40 time?

After impressing NFL teams Sunday in the interviews, Mark Herzlich ran a disappointing 40 time on Monday. Unofficially it was a 4.92. As Mike Reiss says, NFL linebacker prospects would like to run a 4.7 or better. But for Mark's purposes, one second doesn't mean much in the whole process. If an NFL team wants to draft him, it will be about who he is and what he might become. It won't be about how fast he is right now.

Most NFL teams are going to pass on Herzlich. These are the same teams that would pass on a guy with a knee injury, character issues, or if he were undersized. It has nothing to do with cancer. It has to do with risk. Mark's history and the rod in his leg inspire many of us, but to a team in need of help, he represents a player who might get hurt again.

Conversely there will be teams that have already decided to draft Mark if he becomes available in a slot that they deem valuable. They'll view him as a character guy who will learn the system quickly and contribute right away. They are also measuring the risk. Mark may get hurt but no more so than any draft pick. If he gets hurt again or has further complications, they will just wash their hands of like they would with any other late round "flyer" pick.

Mark will be on an NFL roster next fall. We know he won't get the big payday that he might have received pre-cancer, but as this point he just needs one team to give him a shot.

Herzy takes the stge ad other links

Mark Herzlich was one of the big stories of the NFL Combine. He answered all the media and medical questions with poise. Now he will have to show that he has his old speed and agility during the Linebacker drills.

Castonzo's stock is also rising after good times and numbers in the drills.

Here is a Hokie take on our basketball team. It hits the obvious points but gives too much weight to meaningless stats like Rebound Margin.

The women's basketball team's slide continued with their loss to Maryland.

Still alive

BC's win over Virginia was crucial. It was a must win and became that much more important after Virginia Tech beat Duke Saturday night. The BC-VT game Tuesday will probably get one team in the Big Dance while putting the loser on the narrowest of margins.

Likes
-- A tight rotation. Ideally Donahue would like to play 11 guys a game. But that is not a luxury he has. Heck, it's not even good strategy when you don't have starter talent on your bench. Today, Donahue played all his starters 29+ minutes. With that he got his most efficient game in weeks.
-- Reggie stepping up. I keep hoping for a mega-run from Reggie. Let's hope this is the start of a big spring.
-- The defense. Virginia is not good on offense, but holding any team to 32% shooting is impressive.

Dilikes
-- Biko Paris' outside shots. We don't ask him to do much, but he does need to make some 3s.
-- Moton's ball handling. Even in limited minutes, he still had two turnovers. He needs to improve on that next year if he doesn't want the incoming freshmen playing ahead of him next year.

Hockey beats UMass and other links

The hockey team won their first game of the weekend against UMass. The series concludes Saturday at Conte.

I am a little surprised with the attention Rich Lapham is getting in around NFL draft rooms. I guess his size and agility will always get NFL teams drooling (while ignoring Lapham's shaky consistency).

This is a decent preview of BC basketball from a UVA blog. Saturday is obviously a must win.

HD finally got around to mentioning a BC player in her countdown. Harris should be higher though considering he could become the conference's all time leading rusher next season.

Dustin Pedroia provided some "bulletin board material" for BC's exhibition with the Red Sox.

Congrats to Janna Anctil. The ACC named her the Field Hockey Scholar Athlete of the year.

Pearl bandwagon lost this blogger

Despite watching his UW-Milwaukee team knock off one of Skinner's better squads, I've been a Bruce Pearl fan since he arrived on the national scene. When Gene decided to fire Al, I openly campaigned for Pearl to get the job. He was a little more showy than most around BC would have liked, but I thought his persona and work ethic would energize BC basketball. But it was not to be (for a variety of reasons) and we made the more appropriate hire in Steve Donahue. Even when the NCAA infractions surfaced there was a part of me rationalizing Pearl. "It was only illegal calls." "He lied to NCAA investigators about a cookout." From afar I deemed it minor rule bending. No cash changed hands. No grades were changed. The violations were the type that seemed fitting with everything we know about Pearl -- hard working, aggressive, personable. With the NCAA's recent report, that's all changed.

Investigators found that Pearl kept making illegal calls after he was busted by the NCAA this summer. That is brazenly arrogant and dumb. It is one thing to push the envelope. It is another to continue to break rules after you have been caught. When the dust clears Pearl is headed for the broadcast booth. No real program will touch him for a few years. He's a winner, so after his time in purgatory he will probably get a second chance, but it won't ever be at BC...and we are better for it.

We've seen this before

Because we don't have much history with Steve Donahue, I am still not sure what to make of this game. The terrible first half was reminiscent of some of Skinner's stinkers (and I am a huge Skinner fan). The signs of life in the second half were encouraging but also due to Miami choking a bit. But even in the second half there were questions about BC's defense, BC's rotation and BC wasting too much time on their own possessions. Those keys are not Skinner issues. They are not subjective emotional issues. They are Donahue concerns. The only silver lining is that our bubble has not completely burst yet. If we run the table and pick up a win in the ACC Tourney, we might still sneak in. That is the ugly truth of a 68 team tournament. Here are some other thoughts gathered from Twitter, the gamecast, the ACC's feed and listening to Meter and Huck online.

Likes
-- Trapani's production. At times Joe seems like the only one who cares. He played hard and filled up the stat sheet. I don't know how bad it would have been without him.
-- The second half charge. This wouldn't have been necessary if not for the terrible first half, but when you are looking for any signs of life, a little rally helps.

Dislikes
-- Tempo. There has been some debate about this, but I still think BC should up the tempo and attempts right now. I know we don't have a lot of quality depth, but I feel some of the offensive stagnation could be cured by a little more chucking. And if it means we are more vulnerable in transition, I am okay with that.
-- Cahill's minutes. He's a great story and is playing beyond expectations, but I think some of his time should be going to other guys who might play better defense.

I remain somewhat optimistic. If we can just get hot, we might back into the ugliest tournament field in recent memory.

Another option for the ACC Championship Game?

[Eds note: This might be a little too Atlanta-ish for BC fans but bear with me, as it might impact the ACC.]

Just when it seems like the nomadic ACC Championship Game has found a relevant home in Charlotte, Atlanta suddenly becomes an option! If Arthur Blank builds a new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons it will have a major ripple effect on both the SEC and ACC games.

For those of you not following the Falcons's stadium story, here is the quick summary. The Georgia Dome is aging and not owned by Arthur Blank. The Falcons owner wants to build a stadium in downtown Atlanta that he would own and control the ancillary revenues. Because he plans to pay for the construction, Blank wants to save a few dollars and build an open air stadium instead of a dome.

If the Falcons leave the Georgia Dome, the aging stadium's relevancy takes a big hit. Without the Falcons, it is less likely to get any needed upgrades and there is a question as to if it could even stay open.

The SEC has stated that it wants to keep its championship game indoors. If the Georgia Dome goes away, would the SEC move its championship to New Orleans? If the SEC did move their game, the ACC could easily play a few ACCCGs in Blank's new stadium. The new locale offers easy travel for most of the conference and plenty of hotel rooms. Plus -- like Jerry Jones before him -- I predict that Blank will pay top dollar to have marquee events on his field.

If the state of Georgia keeps the Dome just to keep the SEC game in town, the ACC might still be able to play their Championship in Atlanta. If the SEC is playing down the street, why can't the ACC play their game on the Friday before in Blank's new building? Or even late Saturday after the SEC game is over. If you have two stadiums there is no reason to think both games could be played on the same weekend. Plus, in this scenario, the ACC gets to be the party crashers and ensure that there is plenty of buzz and excitement during championship weekend.

The ACC has been trying to emulate the SEC's Championship for six years. But one crucial ingredient was always missing -- Atlanta. If the stadium musicals chairs causes the SEC to rethink THE ATL, I think Swofford and company would be smart to swoop in on the opening. It could offer stability and revenue and piss off a bunch of SEC fans.

Bracketology 101 and other links

Even though Lunardi is on the bandwagon, I am more encouraged that the more accurate Bracketology 101 has BC in the Tournament. Those guys have BC among the last four in and among the "First Four" games. The cynic in me says that it will be a certainty that BC is included in the first "First Four." Because the "First Four" is like being in the Tournament but not really.

Ground Breaking stuff here from the Sporting News -- BC produces a lot of NFL linemen!!

Pennsylvania OLine prospect Adam DePietro is hoping for a BC offer.

College Football News expects Donnie Fletcher to have a big senior season.

More scouting on Castanzo and other links

This is actually a fairly good assessment of Anthony Castonzo. Handling speed rushers will be his biggest challenge at the next level. But even with the little things he needs to improve, there is no reason he won't go in the first round.

The BC women picked up another ACC win by shutting down Virginia's offense.

BC baseball improved to 2-1 with their win over Tennessee Tech.

BC target Graham Shuler received an offer from Wake Forest this weekend.

I love the California aspect of Donahue's recruiting. It works well on a couple of levels. The guys come together and provide each other with a support system. It hits an area that is deep in talent. And unlike football, I think selling BC to a basketball prospect is easy given that the ACC is still considered the best hoops conference and all these guys want to knock off Duke and Carolina.

"It was this close..."

There were no moral victories or real victories for BC in Chapel Hill. At this point 'moral' victories don't help your resume. But there were some good takeaways in BC's tight loss to UNC. We now have to close strong and get to nine conference wins. But I think we can do it. Here are my thoughts.

Likes
-- Going for the win. After the game there was some second guessing regarding BC's final shot. A two-pointer forces OT, while Reggie took a long 3 with little time left. But he is our best player. He just made a big shot and his dribble was able to get separation on the final attempt. If it goes in, BC steals the win.
-- The transition D. After last game, Donahue obviously made this a point of emphasis. It hurt us on offense (we only had 8 offensive rebounds!) but the trade off kept us in the game.
-- Attempting 27 3s. We were terrible from 3 today (25%) but I like the attitude. We weren't going to beat them inside, so why not chuck it. If anything I think we've shied away from the 3s too often in our losses.

Dislikes
-- Still no answer for Zeller. The doubling wasn't very effective this time around. If we make the tourney, a team with any sort of size is going to give us trouble. Zeller is not as good as we've made him look this year.
-- Hesitation from the role players. Cahill, Paris, Elmore and Moton all had space at different times on the perimeter that they passed up. If Jackson and Trapani are cold, these guys need to try to hit some 3s...especially if the defense is laying off of them.
-- Paris's day. Not only has he cooled off as a shooter, but his productivity and efficiency is not where it was early in the season. His turnovers were killers.

HD talks to Rogers and other links

HD posted a Q&A with Kevin Rogers. He was actually pretty candid in that he hasn't had a chance to watch much BC nor does he have any preconceptions about the guys. What I find encouraging is that he plans to adapt to the talent around him and is ready to recruit. Both qualities were lacking with our former OC.

BC Sports Information Director Chris Cameron started a Facebook page that joked about in-game, halftime interviews. I personally find them useless. There are only a handful of coaches who ever say anything interesting. I would much rather see more highlights or analysis at halftime.

We haven't landed a big recruit from out west in many years. Will Davonte Neal change that?

Devin Fuller considers himself a dual threat, Michael Vick type QB. He enjoyed BC's Junior Day and hopes to make a commitment this summer.

Steve Donahue added another Californian to his recruiting class.

BC is recruiting Noor Davis as a Defensive End, while most schools see him as a LB. Maybe the unique position difference will help our case.

If Northeastern and BC keep this up, we are going to need more pucks! Following up on Monday's game, the two teams skated to a wide-open, high scoring tie.

We've known that AC and Herzy were good students, but it was nice to see Richman and Williams join them on the All-ACC Academic Football Team. Castonzo was honored for the fourth time.

The baseball team lost their season opener.

Rogers from a Notre Dame perspective

I asked the Notre Dame fans from the defunct Irish blog Blue-Gray Sky for their thoughts on our new Offensive Coordinator Kevin Rogers. What follows is a string of quotes from them. Please note I am not cherry picking what they wrote.

I have to confess I have very little immediate recall on Rogers, other than embarrassing clips like this:

I always blamed Davie and not any of the offensive coaches.

The offense was good enough in 1999 to win all those close games.

The Rogers offense was effective at times, but horrible in others. He ran far too many qb draws, so many that it was easily predictable. 2nd and 3? Qb draw. 3rd and long? Qb draw. First and goal inside the five? Qb draw. 3rd and 78, qb draw... U get the picture...

"Failed Expectations"

The guy was brought in to make Jarious Jackson and Carlyle Holiday the second comings of McMabb and instead installed a vanilla offense with no sense of clock management. It always seemed like he had all the pieces but he could never really put them together. Now, how much of that is Rogers and how much is Davie? Couldn't tell you. However, we were unnecessarily mediocre under him, I will say that much.

I remember shotgun with 2 backs being a big part of what we did.

The straight-armed, telegraphed hand-off never bothered me. What bothered me was using the straight-armed, telegraphed hand-off without a counter play or play action off it.

I can't wait until Rogers calls Y-hide to beat us at home, and ND fans everywhere explode because they knew it was coming, but Kelly admits they didn't see it in any of the tape/film in preparing for the game.

I remember a common knock being our lack of an offensive identity. Shotgun, option, wishbone, power I . . . we were like the menu at one of those greasy fast food joints that tries to serve every conceivable kind of food.

Really, we had some amazing players on that team and a smattering of cleverly designed/called plays here and there.

If you ask some offensive players from that era they'll tell you that they believe (as Rogers believed) that he was often hamstrung by Davie, who was too hands-on for his own good.

Its funny to look at the careers of people like Rogers - if you took out his ND tenure, you'd think he was a pretty decent offensive coach, given his success at places like Syracuse and Va Tech. As fans, we often joke that people "didn't forget how to coach when they got to South Bend," but for someone like Rogers I really wonder if that's true...

Straight-armed telegraphed running plays

Here's how every Notre Dame running play looked under Rogers.

1) QB gets the ball from center and turns in the direction of the running play
2) QB extends arms out as far and as straight as possible towards RB
3) QB walks towards running back until RB takes ball.

It should be noted that this was especially ineffective on long-developing run plays. I remember it being explained at the time as making it as easy as possible for the backs to handle handoffs or something. It completely telegraphed every play. If ND didn't do this sequence, they weren't running the ball. Bleh.

He's a victim of staying at ND for a year too long. He was offered the OC job under Stoops and stayed, getting tuition and stuff for his kids covered. Ditto a few other big ones. He was offered a few small head jobs but didn't go, and I think he was offered the Rutgers job as well.

Instead of waiting to see where the dust settled after they pulled the plug on Davie -- who I can confirm absolutely bludgeoned the offense, including some technique issues many people talk about -- he took a job with Frank Beamer the next day, even though it was a position coach job and a really stubborn decision. From there he took the reins on some offensive stuff, but was stuck behind Steinspring, who's a complete idiot.

The negativity of ND Nation and how sour it went really wore on him, his family, everybody.

He did a pretty good job w/the Vikings O, interviewed for the OC position w/the Bears, but they gave it to Martz, and then this year happened, hence him needing a new job. Went back to college I'm assuming because of the labor situation, and I suspect he'll do well at B.C.

Davies back in the US and other links

Charlie Davies is going to make his US comeback not far from where his 2009 car accident took place. Davies -- who is on loan from French club Sochaux -- signed with D.C. United. While still not 100% Davies should make an impact on the the United squad. I don't know a ton about professional soccer, but I hope that Davies keeps getting better. Before the accident, he was about to become a European star. Let's hope he gets back to soccer's highest level sooner rather than later.

Anthony Castonzo is glad to use this time to focus on football, instead of splitting time with schoolwork.

After her record setting performance, the ACC named Caroline King its Track & Field Performer of the Week.

Another night, Another Beanpot and other links

Not wanting to leave the spotlight all to the men, the BC women's hockey team won their version of the Beanpot with a 3-1 victory over Harvard. It is BC's fourth Beanpot title.

BC is one of the few schools recruiting Jarron Jones for OL instead of DL. Maybe that will make a difference.

Carolyn Swords is a Naismith finalist.

BC was one of the first to offer Pennsylvania OL prospect Chris Muller.

Beanpot Champs again!

Forget the BU Invitational. BC is once again the Champion of Boston. Credit to Northeastern for giving us all we could handle. The Huskies kept fighting back from our early leads and went ahead in the 3rd. We answered, took the lead and then allowed them to tie and force OT. Jimmy Hayes sealed the deal with his game-winning goal six minutes into OT.

This is BC's 16th Beanpot and our third in four years. In the past winning the Beanpot has been a springboard to big things ahead. Let's hope it brings us luck again this year. Next step: Hockey East Champions!

Quick Schedule breakdown

THe ACC released the 2011 football schedules today. Here is BC's:

Sept. 3 -- NORTHWESTERN
Sept. 10 -- at UCF
Sept. 17 -- DUKE
Sept. 24 -- MASSACHUSETTS
Oct. 1 -- WAKE FOREST
Oct. 8 -- at Clemson
Oct. 22 -- at Virginia Tech
Oct. 29 -- at Maryland
Nov. 3 -- FLORIDA STATE (Thursday)
Nov. 12 -- NC STATE
Nov. 19 -- at Notre Dame
Nov. 26 -- at Miami

Good news
We are back on Thursday nights! Now that the SEC and Pac 10 play on Thursday, the former staple of the BC schedule has become rare. I always think of it as a great showcase for the program. I also like that the UMass game is back to Parents' Weekend. Starting our season with a FBS cupcake has been a momentum killer and Fools Gold. I also like the extra preparation time for NC State and Virginia Tech.

Bad news
We have some brutal stretches in this set up. Going on the road for three straight games (which includes Blacksburg and Death Valley) is tough. Then after that stretch we take on Florida State on short week. We also close on the road with games at Notre Dame and Miami.

Outlook
If Vegas put up lines today, I think we would be favored against Duke, Wake and UMass and would also be a slight favorite on the road against an improving UCF. We should be able to win all four. That means we would just have to go 2-6 against the rest of the schedule to get bowl eligible. I think it can be done. If our offense improves by even three points a game, we are a bowl team.

Kevin Rogers

After a long and murky process, Kevin Rogers is Boston College's new Offensive Coordinator. Rogers comes to BC with a long track record and it will be interesting to see how he puts his imprint on BC. Let's get to know him a little better.

The Resume
Minnesota Vikings Quarterback coach: 2006-2010
Virginia Tech Quarterbacks coach: 2002-2005
Notre Dame Offensive Coordinator & Quarterbacks Coach: 1999-2001
Syracuse Offensive Coordinator & Quarterbacks Coach: 1997-1998
Syracuse Quarterbacks Coach: 1991-1998
Navy various staff positions: 1983-1990
William & Mary Running Backs Coach: 1980-1982
Ohio State Graduate Assistant: 1978-1979

Like Dan Henning, Rogers graduated from William & Mary, where he played Linebacker.

The High Points
Because they hit some hard time fans forget how cutting edge Syracuse's 1990s offenses were. Rogers was a key part of that innovation. The Orange were the first to combine and execute with any consistency Pro-style passing with Option elements. As the QB coach and key recruiter, Rogers developed Marvin Graves and Donavan McNabb.

In the two years that Rogers called plays for that offense, the Orange won the conference both years and led the conference in total offense both seasons. McNabb also led the league in total offense. Rogers was a shining star.


Notre Dame: best of times, worst of times
In 1999 he joined Bob Davie's staff as OC and QB coach. The Irish implemented his passing into their option offense and increased their efficiency, ranking 19th nationally. Jarious Jackson had his best statistical year yet but Notre Dame suffered a losing record. In 2000 the productivity declined a bit. Notre Dame had a deadly ground game but was a total mess at QB. Reminiscent of BC's 2010 season, Rogers used three different raw QBs trying to find something that worked. In 2001, the QB shuffle continued (only with Caryle Holiday in the mix this time) and the offense fell apart. Bob Davie and his whole staff were fired after the season.

Virginia Tech: starting over
After Notre Dame, Rogers joined Virginia Tech as QB coach. He did not call plays there, but was credited with developing Bryan Randall. He also was responsible for baby sitting Marcus Vick. Vick had good productivity but also was a major distraction. Supposedly Rogers became fed up with the situation after Vick stomped on Elvis Dumervil in the Gator Bowl. He joined the Vikings as QB coach.

The NFL
Rogers time with Vikings doesn't tell us much. The whole Childress/Favre situation obscures any imprint we could derive. He kinda/sort helped develop Tarvaris Jackson. For what it is worth, one of the first things Leslie Frazier did upon becoming head coach, was fire Rogers.

Reasons to be excited about Rogers
This is a guy who has recruited in the Northeast. He's recruited in the ACC. He's been away from the college game for a bit, but has a deep history to mine in his return. He's coached at schools with recruiting restrictions. He's called plays and led some very productive offenses. At one point he was one of the most innovative minds in college football. Plus he is a character guy who everyone seems to respect.

Reasons for concerns
Look at the list of quarterbacks Rogers has developed at the college level. Do any of them remind you of Chase Rettig, Christian Suntrup or even Dave Shinskie? He has never really relied on the classic pocket passers. His philosophy of over recruiting the QB position and seeing what sticks is more inline with Jags/Logan than the TOB/Spaz way of picking "one guy" each class. Rogers hasn't called plays in nearly 10 years. He has never worked with any of the current BC staffers. How Notre Dame fell apart in 2001 was very disconcerting. His offense is no longer unique.

Overall
Rogers is a big improvement over Tranquill. He was not my choice but I think he can still be serviceable. My biggest concern is his ability to adapt his offense to the personnel we have in place. I also wonder how he will work with the staffers we have in place. Staff chemistry is an underrated aspect of college football. I think we have some good guys on the offensive side. I hope they will work well with their new boss. I will have more from Notre Dame folks later this week. As I've said, I have real concerns about the process that landed us Rogers, but that is not his issue. That is a BC issue.

The past two years have been frustrating to watch. If Rogers changes that, we will owe him a big thanks.

Starting 2012 recruiting and other links

I've always wondered why we weren't more relevant in the Michigan Catholic schools. Our message is well received at the Catholic powers in other parts of the Midwest but we haven't brought in an impact player from Michigan in a long time. Maybe that will change with Devin Church. The running back stars at Brother Rice (the Brennans's alma mater). BC was the first to offer him and he seems pretty excited.

Although Duke is hitting him hard, OT Graham Shuler says he will visit BC.

People in Albany are enjoying John Cahill's moment of glory.

Women's hoops lost to Duke and dropped to 4-6 in ACC play.

Kevin Rogers rumors

I've been wrong repeatedly throughout this process, so I will save the extensive post on Kevin Rogers once the announcement is official. But now there are a few people saying Rogers has been offered and accepted the job. Gene is in London this weekend, so I don't know if/when the official announcement will come. I'll tweet what I know in the meantime.

My gut reaction is that this is an improvement over Tranq but not the perfect fit. Rogers' track record is mixed at best, he's been away from play calling for a long time, he's been away from the college game for a long time, and he favored "dual threat" QBs in the past.

We'll see how this plays out. This post is not some hedge either. I've been right on some things before and wrong plenty of times. I am just passing on rumors that have legs, so take it for what it is worth. I am still holding out hope that this is wrong and my original Day post turns out to be true.

Reggie puts team on his back in big win

I hope we make the tournament every year. But I think if we sneak in this year we could be very dangerous. One reason is our style can put pressure on teams that haven't faced us before. The other -- bigger -- reason as to why we could be dangerous is Reggie Jackson. He showed today that even when his teammates are struggling, he can do enough to give BC a big win. Here are my other thoughts.

Likes
-- Offensive adjustments. Teams have been playing us tight on the perimeter for weeks and we finally added some new wrinkles. Reggie backdooring. Reggie driving. Multiple dribble/drive wrinkles. It opened many more things and didn't slog the offense down with post ups on the low block.
-- Help for the 5s on defense. Every time Maryland got the ball to a big man on the low block, we sent a help defender to slow the Terps down. It was much more effective than I would have guessed and Maryland didn't kill us with passing or open looks out of the double teams.
-- Cahill! Wow. I don't expect him to be on the floor for 20 minutes per game for the rest of the season, but it was nice to see our walk-on make a difference. Donahue should send this tape to every spot shooter we recruit. If you can hit an open 3, you will love playing for BC.

Disklikes
-- Turnovers. we were so careful with the ball early this year. We've gotten sloppy and it is not like Maryland was great on D. BC had too many mental mistakes today.
-- Raji's clunkers. I guess you have to take the good with the bad with Corey's shooting.

The adjustments are encouraging since we will need to play much, much better against UNC to keep our bubble from bursting.

Track record and other links

I usually neglect BC track, so I felt it was worth mentioning that Caroline King broke the school record for the mile. It was the second-fastest mile in the nation this indoor track season.

The Hockey team shutout Providence 3-0. They seem ready for Monday's big game.

Although he's has good things to say about BC, recruit Casey Cochran is visiting Notre Dame.

Since ESPN dropped Conference USA, UCF and their brethren are on regional Fox sports channels. That actually increases the odds of our game with the Knights getting on TV. The Fox channels will probably jump at the chance to get a big market team on their networks.

Chris Herren now talks to high school students about drugs and alcohol. He also has a book about his experiences coming out this May. I hope this recovery takes.

The never-ending OC search

Doug Martin is the latest guy to interview for the BC open Offensive Coordinator position. Doug Martin coached under Steve Logan for a long time and has a good connection with Jags and Logan. He would have been a good candidate for the OC job TWO YEARS AGO when we had Logan personnel. Now we've moved back to pocket passers. Bringing in Martin doesn't make sense. None of this search makes sense. And it is all due to one person: Gene Defilippo. I've hinted around this topic for a long time, but now let me come out and say it as clearly as possible -- Gene has more influence than an AD should in the day-to-day of the football program. As much as I am frustrated by Spaz as a head coach, he should be hiring his own staff. As much as I want Ryan Day to be the new offensive coordinator, that should be what Spaz wants, not what Gene wants. We might still end up with Day as OC (a position that Gene has dangled in front of him for three years). But I don't think our AD running the show is good for the rest of the Spaz era.

Gene has done many great things for BC. I don't need to rehash them all. Gene's unconventional style also led to the hiring of Jags over more obvious candidates (which I applauded). So can I complain when Gene's micromanaging leads to results and decisions I don't like? I don't know, but I think I can. If I liked the Jags hire or the Ryan Day promotion that doesn't mean the path we took to get to those decisions was healthy, professional or good for program stability.

Gene holds all the cards. He has a coach that he just bought off with an extension and who isn't going anywhere over the OC position. He has an ambitious young assistant who wants to move up but wants to do it at BC. I still think we will end up with Day, but all we've done is kill momentum and plant serious questions in the whole staffs' heads about how things are run around BC.

Mock Drafts and other links

Everyone thinks Castonzo will be a high pick but no one knows which teams really like him yet. This mock draft has him going to the Dolphins at No. 15.

The NFL.com also forecasts Castonzo as a Top 20 pick.

For a position coach and nice guy, Sean Devine draws a lot of criticism among the diehard BC fans. He has been the whipping boy for our OL struggles the past two years. But maybe he has more value to BC as a recruiter. Rivals listed him as one of the best recruiters in the conference. I am glad we have a closer but I also want think we need a great OL teacher. If Devine's pupils don't improve this year now that we are "free from Tranq" than I think we might want to keep Devine as a recruiter but move him to another position.

The BC women will be playing in the Championship of their Beanpot too.

Clunker

With any first-year-coach you have lowered expectations. Yet I don't know what to make of our uneven play. We always lose at Clemson, but I had hopes for tonight. We lost again and looked like we had no answers. Is Donahue getting more out of the talent than Al but needs everyone to play well to win OR are we the same inconsistent underachieving team we were under Skinner last year? I don't know. We clearly have limitations, but I feel like we are getting exploited on a few occasions and could be making more adjustments. Here are my other thoughts on the game. Leave yours below.

Likes
-- The Stars. Big nights from Trapani and Jackson. Both were efficient on offense and also worked hard on D.
-- The first and second half comebacks. The team was down early in the first half and took the lead. They were down big in the second half and cut the lead to 5. We obviously didn't win, but I appreciate they that they kept fighting.

Dislikes
-- Interior D. I don't know why it takes so long for teams to work inside. Once they do, we have no answer. Trapani can't do it all. Southern isn't a very good defender and Dunn is barely seeing the court. If other teams bigs keep killing us, I think we should just go with a 2-3 zone fulltime. It won't change the results inside, but it might help us with the other scorers.
-- Paris going cold. We cannot win when he only makes one basket.
-- Shot selection. I have no problem with the 3s. I do have a problem with the guys becoming tentative. We have started passing up decent looks from 3 to get one more pass in. I think Donahue needs to tweak things so that we can keep shooting with abandon.

Sucks2BU: BC advances in the Beanpot

The Beanpot doesn't matter, yet it totally does and we won!!!!! We will face Northeastern next Monday for the Championship.

The game went to overtime and Tommy Cross sealed the victory 3:17 into the extra period.

The signs all pointed to another Classic BU upset at the Beanpot. We scored, they answered. We get momentum and then they score again. We weren't getting the calls. It looked bad. When it went to OT, I assumed it would end with a painful BU goal.

But it didn't. BC now needs to win next Monday to give York yet another trophy.

I am glad the team played well. Beanpot victory years have been sparks leading to Frozen Fours and National Championship. Now let's do it again!

Beanpot time

The Super Bowl is over. Recruiting is over. It's time for the Beanpot and for bandwagon BC hockey fans to start paying attention! We take on BU in the opener. The Terriers are pretty goodish/decent this year. We are better. But as we know, Jack Parker seems to have all the luck in this tournament.

Leave your comments here during the game. I will have my valueless hockey opinions after the game.

Alex Murphy: Future Dukie

As I tweeted earlier, Goodman and everyone else is reporting that Alex Murphy committed to Duke. That's not really a surprise. What is a bit disappointing is that Alex mentioned how tough it was to say no to Florida. No mention of BC anywhere in his interviews. I know Donahue's crew worked hard on this and it could have been a program changer. Now we have to go find someone else.

I wish Alex the best of lu...(just can't finish the sentence because of the Duke aspect).

Super Eagles

I can't read lips, but I bet BJ and Robert's celebration mentioned something about BC. Congrats guys.

Why beating VT matters

Big win for BC today on a lot of fronts. First of all that was probably our last chance at a quality win before the ACC tournament. (Scary thought, isn't it?) It also showed we could win a close game with a defensive stop and win a game during this prolonged funk from Reggie. Finally, it stopped the bleeding. I don't know how the season will play out, but I feel a little better. Donahue got the guys to play well, made a few adjustments late in the game and we won. Bring on Clemson! Here are my other thoughts. Feel free to leave yours below.

Likes

-- Reggie's help D late. I don't know if we give Reggie enough credit for being a smart player. He read and timed the pass perfectly on his steal. It really helped the game.
-- Moton's maturity. Loved him driving to the basket and I agree with Donahue that he is probably our best defender.
-- Raji and Trapani on the boards. I know they have done new things this year, but both are probably at their best close to the basket, cleaning up the glass.

Dislikes
-- Sticking with the small lineup once teams adjust. We played small ball for long stretches (usually with Trapani at Center and with three smallish wings). In the first half, VT kept taking perimeter shots. In the second half they drove and posted up. Yet we kept the small guys out there. Why? It would be one thing if we were lighting it up, but we weren't.
-- Tempo. Our tempo has slowed the past couple of games. I know we lost some high scoring games, but I still prefer fast paced/high attempt games to the more methodical style we are playing now. Plus some sloppy passing on the perimeter led to a few easy VT baskets.

BC wins Beanpot primer

The hockey team smoked UMass tonight 5-0. I called the win a "Beanpot primer" but that is not a very fair description. This was an important league game and gave BC two more points. Samuelsson set the tone with two goals and an assist. With the win, BC improved to 19-6-0.

Recruiting starting for 2012 and other links

Recruiting never ends. Just look at BC. We are hitting 2012 recruits and will probably get a commitment this spring.

Herzy will be featured in an NFL documentary about the process for rookies? I don't think that the film will help Mark's draft status, but this will certainly help raise his profile further. I think Mark has a real future in front of the camera.

Danny Rubin has cooled off, but he has still been one of the surprises of the season.

Signing Day means new Eagles

As someone who has been following BC recruiting as a skeptic, today is always a fun day. It means the speculation and projecting is over and we now have a group of guys to welcome into the BC family. You can do your best to guess who will make an impact, but history shows that these things are very tough to predict. What we do know: at least five of these guys will have minimal impact on BC. We know a few will be average and hopefully most will be great. Five years from now about four of them will be on NFL rosters. Basically they are in line with most BC recruiting classes of the past decade.

As for criticism and praise...I am glad we kept the Cincinnati pipeline flowing. I also appreciate we were able to take advantage of a deep year for Massachusetts talent. I don't like that we were not a bigger player in New Jersey. I also wish we had used up all our open scholarships. I think "banking" has little upside while another body always seems to be needed.

Because of the weather, BC did not hold a full press conference. Instead Spaz just spoke to reporters over the phone.

Scout.com ranked BC as the 35th overall. They consider it the fifth best ACC class.

The other major service, Rivals.com calculated BC as 39th overall. Rivals has BC as the seventh best in the ACC.

ESPN.com only list their Top 25 and BC didn't make the cut.

It does bother me that Spaz still blames the roster issues on the previous coaching staff. Why doesn't any reporter remind him that most of the staff created those "gaps" under Jags and that the team has had the same recruiting coordinator for five years. Shouldn't he have been involved in fixing those gaps years ago?

Illinois is becoming another niche spot that BC is mining.

Bruce Feldman named Albert Louis-Jean as one of the top early enrollees.

Brian Mihalik wants to study business at BC.

Alex Howell is already in touch with Ryan Quigley.

Signing Day storylines

This should be a pretty uneventful Signing Day for BC. I will have a recap and my thoughts later today when everyone is signed and official. This is what to watch as the day progresses.

Christian Suntrup signing
Suntrup is the keystone to the class and another promising pocket passer. He has said all the right things, but that hasn't stopped the rumors and speculation. Michigan and Miami both made late pushes, but Suntrup still seems headed for Boston. If he stays true to his word, BC will finally be back on plan for grooming a QB instead of rushing kids out as freshman.

Using the last scholarship
When Graham Stewart ditched BC for Florida it opened up another spot in the class. It looks likes we will save the scholarship for a transfer or walkon, but there are still a few prospects hoping for a last minute offer. I am against banking scholarships in general. I think attrition and injuries can drain any season. The added depth of that last two or three scholarships can make a difference.

Will the staff get announced after signing day.
I don't think BC will announce the new OC tomorrow, but I do expect it by the end of the week. Plus after signing day you don't have to worry about kids decommitting.

Draft forecasting and other links

Mike Mayock lists Castonzo as the second best tackle in the draft. That should be enough to be a first rounder.

Massachusetts product Dan Giovacchini is still hoping for a last minute BC scholarship offer.

With all the focus on top prospects, it is important to remember two stars can blossom too.

This is from Donahue's visit to the Dining Halls. I appreciate the effort...but can't help myself from asking "do you think they talked defense?"

Ugh-ly

We are not this bad. Sure, UNC played well and we played poorly, but the game should not have been so lopsided. We are clearly flawed (no real inside scorer, mediocre penetration, one of the worst defenses in college basketball) but we can play better. What has me scratching my head is Donahue's lack of adjustments in game. I don't believe in micro-managing a basketball game. In fact I love Skinner's "let them play" mentality, but Donahue is supposed to be an Xs and Os guy. He made good adjustments and had exciting rotations earlier in the year. Now he doesn't seem to tell emphasize the simple adjustments ("Hey, Josh, they are over playing you. Step into the pass and use your body to keep him from stealing the ball").

This might not make sense given UNC blew us out, but I really think we should have picked up the tempo. We looked hesitant on offense too often and ran down the shot clock many times. We can't play defensively with UNC, so why not try to out score them?

Other thoughts as I wonder if we are about to slide way, way down...

Likes
-- Trapani's hustle. I harp on Joe, but I give the guy credit for fighting well after the game is over. We need more of that.
-- Raji's shot selection. For some reason the most of the guys are either passing up good shots or forcing bad ones. Not Corey. He is doing a great job in shot selection and has a pretty quick release.

Dislikes
-- Southern on the low block. He is not a good rebounder and not an especially great low post scorer. He is much better on the high block where he can pass.
-- No time for Dunn. I don't think Dunn is some sort of hidden gem. He may not be showing the right attitude in practice, but we could use his size and minutes. We are making average players look great because we have no one to match up with them.