What to make of Early Signing Day

The looming aspect of the coaching search was always the Early Signing Day. This was always going to be a smallish recruiting class (mid teens) but Addazio filled the class with good quality. It was important to hold it together. But like all transition classes, there were a few hiccups. One player, Jah Joyner decommited and signed with Minnesota. Two others OL prospects -- Addison Penn from Texas and Dwayne Allick from Maryland -- are both waiting until Jeff Hafley completes his staff to commit.

As of now there are ten guys signed (nine official with OL prospect Kevin Pyne not counting but he is enrolling in January). Considering it is such a small class, there is no one position of focus nor a major geographical trend. It is just a little bit of everything that should add some depth. The best player and best story is Ozzy Trapilo. Like his father, he was a star at BC High and hopes to be a star at BC.

I am not worried about the small size of this class (nor the potential of guys transferring out of the program). Jeff Hafley is about to get an enormous amount of national publicity. That should help with any kid still looking for a shot and it will help as a sales pitch to players looking to transfer.

BC coaches making lots of offers

With the 2018 Class presumably finished up, Addazio and his staff have used this critical time to make offers to 2019 and 2020 players. Based on their tweets, here are some of the latest targets.

This Rhode Island OLine prospect is getting offers from major programs like Ohio State and Florida. Hopefully BC can leverage our proximity.

Blessed to receive an offer from Boston College‼️ Go Eagles!🦅 pic.twitter.com/YzI7XYAmbi

— Xavier Truss (@xtruss94) January 12, 2018

Florida DB Renardo Green is highly rated but doesn't have a lot of offers yet. Perhaps it is his size. He seemed excited about BC's offer.

Blessed to receive a offer from Boston college @rwb5b @CoachAllam1 @Corey_Bender @OS_Recruiting @osvarsity @DemetricDWarren @Rivals @247fbrecruiting @Andrew_Ivins @CoachAGWaseem @KeiwanRatliff @HamiltonESPN pic.twitter.com/GnGmOuElmD

— Renardo Malcom Green (@nado2times) January 17, 2018

Coach Brian White seems active in Florida, as he also offered DLine prospect Norell Pollard and DB Brandon Hill

Blessed to have received an offer from Boston College 🦅@Corey_Bender @WekivaFootball @rwb5b @coachBwhiteBC pic.twitter.com/xIRuCVU8eh

— Norell Pollard 🤙🏾 (@rell_honcho) January 17, 2018

Very blessed to receive my 5th offer from Boston College 🦅 @Excelspeed12 @Corey_Bender @OS_Recruiting @rwb5b @coachBwhiteBC pic.twitter.com/vlhd2JsVxd

— Brandon Hill (@brandonhill_6) January 17, 2018

Another New England recruit is Avon, CT QB Taisun Phommachanh.

Blessed to receive an offer from Boston College 🦅#Goeagles @EagleInsiders @Day1toD1 pic.twitter.com/XDIDJdMDfo

— Taisun P⚡️🏈 (@tydollaz3) January 15, 2018

Gunnell offered New Jersey prospect Marlyn Johnson.

Blessed to receive an offer from Boston College! 🦅 #GoEagles @BCCoachGunnell @CoachMalleo pic.twitter.com/QgDXCBZz5q

— Marlyn Johnson (@Marlynjohnson21) January 12, 2018

This OLine prospect is in Ohio and has an OSU offer, so it may be an uphill battle.

Thankful to receive an offer from Boston College!! #DecideToFly pic.twitter.com/rOxVSYX5U0

— Ryan Jacoby (@Ryan_Jacoby) January 17, 2018

BC also offered this New York Line prospect.

Honored to have received my 5th offer from Boston College🙏🏽🦅 pic.twitter.com/wxUhjC8qEd

— LII🏴 (@RealBliss52) January 16, 2018

Coach Frye seems to be out in the Midwest making offers.

Thank you to the Boston College Football staff and @CoachJFrye for granting me a scholarship offer #GoEagles🦅 pic.twitter.com/pA4IdsdF5r

— Bryce Kirtz (@kirtz__) January 15, 2018

Lesson from the 2010 New Jersey recruits

NJ.com posted a look back on the state's top recruits from the Class of 2010. The focus of the article was Rutgers, but there is some BC stuff to learn too.

Three of the Top 20 guys enrolled at BC (Shakim Phillips, Steele DiVitto and Jarrett Darmstatter). They were part of Spaz's first full recruiting class. At the time it was encouraging to get three guys out of New Jersey but there was also a "what if" to the Garden State recruiting since we also missed on a few guys at friendly programs (Don Bosco). But with hindsight, it shows this whole group of New Jersey guys was relatively disappointing. Phillips multiple moves kept him from ever reaching the potential of his recruiting ratings. Darmstatter never became a big factor. Of BC's commitments, DiVitto clearly had the best career.

But looking back, not many of the guys in the New Jersey Top 20 exceeded or even met the expectations that came with their rankings. New Jersey is such a critical state for so many programs, so a weak recruiting year can impact teams all over the Northeast.

Overall this is a reminder that recruiting is not always as simple as "get all the best guys" in one area. Successful programs are the ones who are better at identifying talent than the recruiting services. They are also the ones that bring in good class after good class and have multiple regions where they find talent. That way one group that disappoints does not hamper the program long term.

Soccer upsets Notre Dame and other links

The Men's Soccer team got the weekend off to a good start by upsetting Notre Dame Friday night. The Irish were ranked No. 1.

The Heights went deep on Boston's College Athlete Bill. Bates weighed in too. Bates -- as usual -- was careful with his words, but the impression the article gives is that he thinks it is all a mistake. It sounds like bad law that doesn't cover the complexity or the specifics of college athletics. I still feel like this is political grandstanding by local politicians.

This was from earlier in the week, but Deadspin charted college teams' recruiting success vs. their recruiting success. It just happened to focus on the Spaz's years and as we know, both areas suffered from neglect under our old coach. Believe it or not though, even with Spaz's poor recruiting, he underperformed with those players.

Practice Dog Days and other links

These are the toughest practices now. The energy and freshness of opening camp is gone and the games are still far off. This is the chance for players to impress, but BC also risks injury on every play. We won't hear much in the next few weeks either. Addazio wants to control details coming out, so some of the regulars writers and bloggers have been asked to cut back on their specificity (regarding depth, reps, etc.). I know Addazio is not the first coach to do this, but I think he is making a mistake. If your season is so dependent on what a future opponent might gleam from twitter or a practice write up, then you have bigger issues.  A coach should be focused on preparation and execution. Don't waste time with the media.

Last week I speculated on what the new NCAA rules might do to college hockey. Joseph Gravellese took the issue further with a strong post at BCI.

This isn't BC specific, but it is a very good article about college recruiting. The coaches own up to how low their actual hit rates are in scouting. The biggest challenges are maturity and puberty. 

BC needs to make four-year scholarship official

Because of our commitment to graduation rates, BC usually honors scholarships over four years. But with other private schools making it a formal stance, BC should probably follow suit. 

The NCAA rules allow for one year, renewable scholarships. This technically means that any player can be dropped from a team year to year. Now even the coldest and most cynical of coaches and teams (like Saban) don't just cut players who underperform. They usually encourage transferring or find some medical excuse to get them off the team but still receive a free education.  

Making something formal that we already practice doesn't seem like a big leap. BC should do it for the PR advantage and for recruiting purposes. We sell the BC experience and the BC education. Offering a four year scholarship just reinforces that position. 

Another recruit and other links

Florida Athlete Michael Walker committed to Addazio Tuesday. He is under the radar and smallish, but does hold an offer from Arizona.

Tampa Bay cut Emmett Cleary. He still has plenty of time to catch on with another team.

Florida Athlete Michael Walker committed to Addazio Tuesday. He is under the radar and smallish, but does hold an offer from Arizona.

Like many of us, Matt Ryan is also a BC sports fan.

Thatcher Demko posted another update to his blog as he preps for the NHL Draft.

Elijah Robinson commits

Despite flirtation with traditional pocket passers (see Hayden Rettig) Addazio keeps doubling down on dual threat, running QBs. The latest commit is New Jersey product Elijah Robinson. Other programs that offered Robinson include Michigan State, Nebraska and Rutgers. There's a lot to like about Robinson. He's got decent size, he's helps build our New Jersey network, and can play other positions if he cannot get on the field at QB.

I don't know if we will still add other QB to this class. There are other offers out there and plenty of room in the recruiting class. I imagine the urgency will depend a lot on how Wade looks as the potential starter in 2015.

Recruiting roundup

Addazio is not wasting time on 2016 prospects. BC just offered rising Junior Running Back Moe Neal. Neal already has offers from Mississippi State and Syracuse. I expect the North Carolina product to get more ACC attention this fall.  BC also offered 2016 WR Nate Craig.

BC's top QB target for 2015 Hampton McConnell will visit this weekend.

Florida LB Carson Lyndon picked Virginia Tech over BC.

BC lost out on Ohio QB prospect Joe Burrow. He's staying home and headed to Ohio State.

Garden State recruiting and other links

NJ.com is rolling out a series on the best prospects in the state. It might as well serve as a guide for how Addazio plans to build the 2015 recruiting class. Of the eight players featured so far, seven have BC offers. While we certainly won't sign every elite player in New Jersey, Addazio's aggressiveness is encouraging. Get to know the guys in the profiles below.

1. Minkah Fitzpatrick
2. Grant Newsome
4. Juwan Johnson
5. Kareem Ali
6. Steven Gonzalez
7. Brandon Wimbush
8.  Sam Madden

HD wrote about the turnover at QB within the ACC. Tyler Murphy isn't the only former Florida QB looking for a second chance.

Former Eagle Dan Koppen joined a Rhode Island powerhouse as a volunteer assistant coach. Best of luck to him.

Men's Soccer added depth to their coaching staff.

Big hockey commit and other links

Noble and Greenough star Miles Wood committed to BC Wednesday. One of the top uncommitted players available, Wood selected BC over BU and Brown.

The Women's Basketball team didn't last long in the ACC Tournament. Virginia won the opener 74-59. The team finished 12-19 on the season.

Softball split a doubleheader with UCF Wednesday.

BC is battling a bunch of Big Ten schools for WR Juwan Johnson.

BC is one of many schools offering 2016 recruit Brandon McIlwain a shot at QB.

Is the Northeast a better recruiting territory than we realize?

The above map was part of a series posted on Deadspin Monday. It is a per capita display of where college football players come from. If you look at their other maps you will see that the Northeast (for this purpose Washington, D.C. north) produces a lot of college football players. I used the per capita map to show that even though this area is densely populated, it is not a wasteland that some make it out to be. New Jersey remains the focal point of the region.

Obviously parts of New England are barren, but the maps does show that Massachusetts and Connecticut produce relatively in line with other areas that people would assume are better (Western PA, pockets of the Midwest, large swaths of California).

Where players come from doesn't tell the whole story. The type of talent is a factor that the map doesn't cover. Aside from the mythical speed in other areas, I would say that many prospects in New England and the Northeast lack skills and would benefit from better year-round programs and better high school competition. But considering it is only our base and we continue to recruit the Midwest and Southeast, I would say BC is not as disadvantaged geographically as some assume.

VCU thumps Hoops and other links

Basketball employed a 2-3 zone for much of the first half against VCU and it worked. However, in the second half things fell apart. VCU kept breaking down our sets before we could get into the 2-3 and the rebounding was terrible. There is so much wrong right now, I don't know where to start. We've all sat throw disappointing BC teams and seasons, but I can't recall one BC team -- in any sport -- that regressed so much from one season to the next.

Addazio picked up another decommit. NJ Lineman Austin Stevens flipped from Kansas to BC.

The Hockey team crushed Penn State.

With Westbrook going down for a few weeks, Reggie Jackson's productivity and scoring should go up.

UPDATE! Reason No. 374 why I try no to get worked up over recruiting: Landry decommits

UPDATE: Things seemed to have flipped back overnight. Once again recruiting can be very fickle. Let's hope this commitment sticks.

Boston College Football Recruiting: DE Harold Landry Still Committed To Boston College [UPDATE] http://t.co/WnFK2MCjEA

— BC Sports Now (@BCSportsNow) October 17, 2013

I am a Boston College eagle! PERIOD!

— HAROLD LANDRY III (@HAROLDLANDRY2) October 17, 2013

PREVIOUSLY

Pine Forest (NC) DE Harold Landry @HAROLDLANDRY2 has decommited from #BostonCollege and names #Miami #NCState #OhioState as top 3 @rivals
— Deana King (@NCPreps) October 17, 2013

One of BC's top recruits changed his mind and has reopened his recruiting process. This is not good news, but I am not losing any sleep over it. Addazio's approach to recruiting and his history leads me to believe that he will bring in enough talent. Landry -- who's profile has only risen since he verballed to BC -- is just one of many. I expect BC will backfill his spot quickly and should have at least 25 recruits coming in this cycle. Addazio's success will be about the whole class and how our staff develops them once they are on campus.

Negative recruiting will always happen. Kids changing their minds will always happen. It is just a matter of winning more of these issues than you lose.

What are the most important high school programs for BC football?

When Tom Sweeney committed earlier this week, I mentioned that is was nice to keep the Don Bosco connection strong. The idea got me thinking, what are the most important programs to BC's success? The reality is that BC takes kids from all over and has to look beyond friendly programs to find talent. But I do think there are a few high schools that will always be important.

Don Bosco
Don Bosco is a national power, coached by a BC parent and it is a Catholic High School in a densely populated area three and a half hours from campus. Bosco wasn't great at football prior to Toal coaching the team. Since he got the job though, the program has been a nice foundation for BC. The team camps at BC every year so the staff usually has a good feel for the players and their capabilities. When Toal retires, it will be important the BC keeps close ties with his replacement.

St. Xavier (Cincinnati) 
TOB's deserves a lot of credit for opening doors at his Alma Mater. The entire Cincy area has been important to BC for nearly two decades, but St. X has really been our anchor. The large Jesuit school is a perfect place to recruit. We know the kids can handle the academics and play in a very competitive high school league.

Everett
There have been other nice high school programs in Massachusetts, but Everett remains the most consistently good and of late has produced the most BCS talent. The school has a long history of football success, but their coach John DiBiaso is the driving force.

These things also shift and change too. When I was at BC in the 1990s the team was heavy on Xaverian players. Yet we haven't had an impact player from Xaverian since Derrick Knight. Kiwi and Trueblood came from Cathedral High School in Indianapolis but we never capitalized on their success with more players/ We have two incoming recruits from Atlanta's Westminster, but  in my opinion that will be an anomaly. (I think the Atlanta Catholic schools do have promise though.) There are BC coaches sprinkled around some key high school programs that might help, but no one has built a Bosco equivalent yet.

Let me know where else we should have pipelines or programs that I might have missed.

Links from the weekend

BC commitment Darius Wade was part of the Elite 11 QB camp over the weekend. He did enough to impress and will now move onto to the next stage with five others.

BC is a finalist for Cincinnati running back C.J. Hilliard. He's a St. X product, so hopefully the BC connection makes a difference.

Co-ed Sailing finished 5th at Nationals.

Rettig a rarity and other links

Deadspin posted an article on how rare it is for an elite QB recruit to play all four years at the school for which he first signed. The recruiting class they use as a microcosm was 2010. Of the top ten QB recruits, only three -- including Rettig is still playing for his school. What's crazy about Rettig's situation is how chaotic his time at BC has been and yet he still hung around. I hope things turn around for him this year, because the guy has paid his dues.

BC like everyone else has interest in Texas Tight End Koda Martin. BC also offered Ohio running back CJ Hilliard.

Vega wrote a story about Donahue's recruiting class.

Thaddius Smith commits and other links

Pennsylvania athlete Thaddius Smith committed to BC early this Monday afternoon. He is expected to play WR. While his offers are mostly FCS level, I love that Addazio targeted and closed him early.

Although still enrolled at BC, Luke Kuechly is working out in Charlotte the next two weeks.

Donahue is recruiting his former Cornell player Errick Peck hard. He has one year left and can transfer immediately  Although he is only 6'6, he could give us some depth on the front line. I am all in favor of picking up guys for depth who won't impact our long-term scholarship balance. BC is also after some big men for the 2014 recruiting class.

Spaz is spending some time helping Doug Martin at New Mexico State. I would worry about them preparing for BC, but our schemes will be so different from theirs, that it won't be much of an advantage.

Recruiting roundup

I think Massachusetts recruiting will be a big litmus test for Addazio. Spaz couldn't keep homegrown talent interested in BC for a variety of reasons. If Addazio can start keeping local kids, it will be a sign that he's won over local coaches and made players and coaches with options via BC as a destination. One local target is Lubern Figaro. BC was his first offer. Because he just has "interest" from other programs, I would love to see BC lock him up now.

BC has been very active in Georgia (Al Washington doing work!). We have offers to Quarterback Price Wilson and have interest in WR Collin Lisa.

Our pitch is also working with another Georgia prospect Terry Googer.

Here is more on Andrew Ford. While 247 has him as 4 stars, the other services still have not rated him.

'Cuse facilities, Hockey loss, Bollman update and other links

Syracuse announced their plans to build an indoor practice facility. We all owe them a debt of thanks, because now this might finally light a fire under the BC administration for us to build one. If Syracuse can do it, so can we. Raising the money is not an issue. Finding a location is an issue but can be worked around. The issue is if our new AD and the rest of the University are willing to fight for this. I know people don't like the arms race aspect of big time sports, but we will be playing with one hand tied behind our back if we don't keep investing and upgrading our facilities.

The hockey team played its makeup game against UMass-Lowell Tuesday night and lost 4-2.

Remember when Dan Monteroso decommitted to sign with Purdue? At the time he was following former BC coach Jim Bollman. I wonder if Monteroso is second guessing himself now that Bollman is off to Michigan State. Bollman is just another reminder how mercenary the coaching business is and BC as an institution should not forget that. We -- the fans and the school leaders -- always place too much emphasis on a coach's desire to be at BC, when the coaches are just looking for the best job for themselves.

BC target Sam Hubbard is now getting Big Ten interest.

USA Today posted a pretty fair preview of our Spring Football outlook.

Congrats to the BC runners who made the ACC's All Academic team.