One of the most important pipelines for BC Football is in a bit of a shakeup. Last week it was announced that long-time Don Bosco Head Coach Greg Toal Sr was out at the New Jersey power. The initial announcement framed it as voluntary and a retirement. Based on this article and Toal's continued and purposeful silence, it seems like there is more to the story. Toal is promising his former players he will speak this week. Future Eagle Marcus Valdez was one of the players rallying around Toal. As for why this matters to BC...Toal is the father of two former players and has sent dozens of players from the school to BC. Having him serve as an advocate for BC has always been an asset to our New Jersey efforts.
Former WZBC guy Mike Gualtieri has a podcast and has interviewed a few BC-related people like Meter and Luke Russert.
BC Baseball is off to a bit of a rough start. Bethune-Cookman swept them this weekend. Softball lost to Drake Sunday but is off to a much better start.
The Women's Ice Hockey team finished their regular season with a win over Providence.
Showing posts with label Brian Toal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brian Toal. Show all posts
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Picture Day and other links
BC provided a look behind the scenes of the annual Picture Day. Am I just weird or would other people like to hear the audio of the events instead of the soundtrack? What are they saying to Montel when he poses or does Spaz have anything to say? Is someone making a joke? The best news from the day was to see Harris and Williams moving around.
Williams expects to be back, but Spaz isn't as optimistic.
The Jets cut Brian Toal. He had been trying to make the team as a Fullback. Not sure what his next move is.
What is it about BC grads and reality TV shows? Mike Mamula will be part of a new Bravo show. It's not part of the "Real Housewives" franchise, but in the same genre. Let's hope he acquits himself well.
Monday, October 20, 2008
BC enters the polls and other links
BC debuted in the AP Poll at 23. They are just on the outside of the Coaches' Poll.
Sad end to Brian Toal's BC career. If he gets healthy by the combine, I still think he could be drafted.
HD is moving us up in her Power Rankings.
Two Atlanta area prospects had different takes on their recruiting visit. Drew Little seemed excited about the experience. Joel Kight seemed to notice the weather.
Georgia LB Jonathan Davis still plans on visiting BC.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Toal rumors not good
I haven't seen anything official, but my sources on this are pretty solid: Toal broke his leg. He is unlikely to return. Ryan played with a fracture in 2006, but a being a pocket passer is very different from playing LB in the ACC. Too bad. He was putting together a nice season.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Dinich and Jags and other links
Dinich posted her first BC piece of the day. In it Jags gets a little defensive about last year's running game.
The Toal story sounds more optimistic in the Herald than it did in the Globe.
BC field hockey player Kathleen Murphy serves as a great example of toughness and heart.
Cool poster and other links
Here is the 2008 Football poster. (Thanks to the Wiz for the tip.)
(click picture to enlarge.)
(click picture to enlarge.)
Toal is getting second opinions on his injury. Not good...but I think Raji's return is much more important. We still have decent depth at LB.
BC is the marquee game on UMass's home basketball schedule.
Recruiting updates: Dillon Romain and Kyle Koehne.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
2008 Position Previews: Linebackers
This is the first part of my position by position breakdown of the 2008 roster.
LINEBACKERS
Once again the strength of the defense will be the linebackers. Despite losing two starters to graduation, the unit should be our deepest and most talented.
Overview
The cliché regarding Spaz’s defenses is that he uses the same scheme regardless of personnel, opponent or game situation. That’s not true. Increasingly he’s used more variety in his front seven packages and sent blitzers from various positions. The old dog has been able to add new tricks due to the talented and diverse group of linebackers. This year is no exception. In fact, BC has one of the most experienced units in college football. Take a look:
Toal – 36 games played, 25 games started
Akins – 39 games played, 5 games started
Herzlich – 27 games played, 16 games started
Francois – 38 games played, 7 started
McLaughlin – 23 games played, 3 started
Those five are just the LBs who have started. We are also adding some younger players into the mix. The depth and talent should allow Spaz to continue to tinker and keep BC competitive as our offense transitions.
The Players
LB – Brian Toal, SR, 6’0, 252lbs
LB – Mark Herzlich, JR, 6’4, 238lbs
LB – Kevin Akins, SR, 6’2, 220lbs
LB – Robert Francois, SR, 6’2, 245lbs
LB – Mike McLaughlin, JR, 6’0, 250lbs
LB – Darius Bagan, SO, 6’2, 233lbs
LB – Dan Williams, FR, 6’2, 224lbs
LB – Will Thompson, FR, 6’1, 233lbs
LB – Mike Morrissey, SO, 6’2, 210lbs
LB – Nick Clancy, FR, 6’2, 215lbs
LB – Alex DiSanzo, FR, 6’2, 220lbs
I am hoping a healthy rejuvenated Toal comes back and has a huge year. When fit and focused he is probably our best linebacker in pass coverage and just as capable as running a QB down. Herzlich is a beast and also very savvy. I expect him to have an all ACC season. Akins struggled early last year but played very well down the stretch. His effectiveness as a late blitzer was somewhat neutered last season…teams just expected and protected against it. This year – with an even better front four – should allow Akins to run at QBs again. Francois is always a steady performer. At this point I don’t expect a leap in his performance, but his consistency will be an asset this season. McLaughlin is a decent tackler. In all his playing time, he has not yet had a game changing moment, but he is a serviceable player. Morrissey got on the field on a regular basis last season. I don’t know where he fits into the mix this year. The real unknowns are Williams, Bagan and Thompson. All were highly touted recruits. Hopefully they will all get regular playing time this season as they will be critical to filling voids in 2009. Clancy and DiSanzo are true freshmen. Because of the depth we don’t need to play them this year. If they are capable, one or both might play this season.
Outlook
Even if you exclude the true freshmen, there is more than enough talent at linebacker this year. It is to the point where guys like Morrissey and McLaughlin might have fewer snaps than they played last year (a good problem to have).
Overlooked in all of this is that LB is one of our best coached positions. Credit goes to Bill McGovern for their performance.
The preseason magazines are filled with the “best this” and the “best that.” You won’t read much nationally about of our guys in the middle. That’s too bad as they will be what holds this team together in 2008.
LINEBACKERS
Once again the strength of the defense will be the linebackers. Despite losing two starters to graduation, the unit should be our deepest and most talented.
Overview
The cliché regarding Spaz’s defenses is that he uses the same scheme regardless of personnel, opponent or game situation. That’s not true. Increasingly he’s used more variety in his front seven packages and sent blitzers from various positions. The old dog has been able to add new tricks due to the talented and diverse group of linebackers. This year is no exception. In fact, BC has one of the most experienced units in college football. Take a look:
Toal – 36 games played, 25 games started
Akins – 39 games played, 5 games started
Herzlich – 27 games played, 16 games started
Francois – 38 games played, 7 started
McLaughlin – 23 games played, 3 started
Those five are just the LBs who have started. We are also adding some younger players into the mix. The depth and talent should allow Spaz to continue to tinker and keep BC competitive as our offense transitions.
The Players
LB – Brian Toal, SR, 6’0, 252lbs
LB – Mark Herzlich, JR, 6’4, 238lbs
LB – Kevin Akins, SR, 6’2, 220lbs
LB – Robert Francois, SR, 6’2, 245lbs
LB – Mike McLaughlin, JR, 6’0, 250lbs
LB – Darius Bagan, SO, 6’2, 233lbs
LB – Dan Williams, FR, 6’2, 224lbs
LB – Will Thompson, FR, 6’1, 233lbs
LB – Mike Morrissey, SO, 6’2, 210lbs
LB – Nick Clancy, FR, 6’2, 215lbs
LB – Alex DiSanzo, FR, 6’2, 220lbs
I am hoping a healthy rejuvenated Toal comes back and has a huge year. When fit and focused he is probably our best linebacker in pass coverage and just as capable as running a QB down. Herzlich is a beast and also very savvy. I expect him to have an all ACC season. Akins struggled early last year but played very well down the stretch. His effectiveness as a late blitzer was somewhat neutered last season…teams just expected and protected against it. This year – with an even better front four – should allow Akins to run at QBs again. Francois is always a steady performer. At this point I don’t expect a leap in his performance, but his consistency will be an asset this season. McLaughlin is a decent tackler. In all his playing time, he has not yet had a game changing moment, but he is a serviceable player. Morrissey got on the field on a regular basis last season. I don’t know where he fits into the mix this year. The real unknowns are Williams, Bagan and Thompson. All were highly touted recruits. Hopefully they will all get regular playing time this season as they will be critical to filling voids in 2009. Clancy and DiSanzo are true freshmen. Because of the depth we don’t need to play them this year. If they are capable, one or both might play this season.
Outlook
Even if you exclude the true freshmen, there is more than enough talent at linebacker this year. It is to the point where guys like Morrissey and McLaughlin might have fewer snaps than they played last year (a good problem to have).
Overlooked in all of this is that LB is one of our best coached positions. Credit goes to Bill McGovern for their performance.
The preseason magazines are filled with the “best this” and the “best that.” You won’t read much nationally about of our guys in the middle. That’s too bad as they will be what holds this team together in 2008.
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