Making sense of Signing Day

Steve Addazio signed his third recruiting class (only his second full class) Wednesday. All the rumored BC verbals came through leaving little surprise or drama to the day. Although it was another large class and filled plenty of needs, the group of players was not highly regarded by the various recruiting services. Here are the rankings:

Rivals: 46th nationally | 10th in the ACC
Scout: 57th nationally | 11th in the ACC
247: 57th nationally | 12th in the ACC
ESPN: Not ranked and outside the Top 40

I have never really cared about the rankings, so I am not going to start now. What I care more about is BC's ability to identify the players they want and then close on them. Addazio is great at that. Most of these guys camped at BC before verballing and we didn't have any stragglers or guys who flipped away from BC.

Addazio spent a good chunk of his press conference emphasizing geography. He's spent two years building a class within five hours of campus and focused on recruits within three hours of campus. This left former BC strongholds in the Midwest relatively under recruited this year. Once again, I don't care where the recruits come from as long as they produce. TOB liked to hit Cincinnati and it paid dividends for a decade. Addazio made his career at other schools picking off New England, so it only makes sense that he thinks he can build a BC class here. For years BC coaches slagged off Massachusetts football for lacking depth and top end talent. Addazio doesn't share that belief and he's betting his future on it.

The other news of the day was the arrival of 5th year transfer Evan Kelly. 5th years are always welcome and I expect another one or two over the summer.

With this class, the roster is now Addazio's. It's young and raw, but it is all his. If he is going to be a great coach, he will need these kids to be great and out perform their rankings. I think they can, but only time will tell.

I will have more on the recruits in the coming days.

BC steps up Signing Day coverage

Wednesday is nation Letter of Intent day a.k.a. Signing Day in college football. Traditionally at BC that has meant a press release with player bios and a short press conference at the end of the day. While that probably seemed fine and appropriate to most of us, it wasn't what the big boys of college football were doing. This year the school is taking it up a notch and hosting a live show online starting at 7:30 a.m. ET. Meter and Cronan will host and break news while Mutryn and Jamie Parker field questions and interview coaches.

These sorts of events may seem a little much, but there is a plan to it all. A small minority of BC fans follow recruiting closely. Events like this appease them, but they also start to fan the flames for other BC fans who traditionally don't pay attention to recruiting. By making a big deal out of it all, the hope is that it becomes a bigger deal and that passion translates into better support and that translates into better recruiting. I don't know if it will work but it is nice to see BC trying something new and stepping out of the Dark Ages with regards to marketing recruiting. Watch the show Wednesday morning and enjoy.

Post press conference Signing Day thoughts

Looking at a recruiting class on paper is one thing. Hearing Addazio talk about how he built the group and his thoughts and expectations for players is much more enlightening. The coached addressed the media this afternoon. Here on my thoughts on his thoughts...

1. Build a Wall. That's every coaches' mantra and Addazio appears to be doing it. It is a smart move, supported by most recruiting data. Regardless of facilities, TV, and even education, geography remains the biggest factor in recruiting. A five hour radius tends to be every program's baseline. BC's radius means we need to get the best players out of New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. So far, so good.

2. Playing true freshmen. I want Addazio to redshirt players. He clearly wants to play them right away. Regardless of whether or not we are sacrificing long-term stability, seeing new players on the field next year should be exciting. It also becomes a good selling point to future recruits.

3. QBs. We new about Wade's promise and Murphy's experience. But we had not heard Addazio talk about Troy Flutie until today. Based on the comments, Flutie will get a chance to play.

4. Where is Ohio? For many years the Buckeye State served as the backbone of our recruiting. This year we signed one player from Ohio. Considering we brought in 30 recruits, that is a huge drop off. Maybe Addazio doesn't want to spread his staff too thin. Maybe he just didn't like many Ohio kids this year. Or maybe he didn't want to go head to head with his friend at Ohio State. If we are not a factor in Ohio next year, you will know there has been a purposeful change.

5. Staying big. For the first time Addazio mentioned the future style of play. He admitted that there will be more spread elements this upcoming season but said BC will still impose a bruising style with a run focus.

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.