What to make of the Spring Game

BC held its annual Jay McGillis Spring Game Saturday. I think we all know we can't read much if anything into the game. Throw in the Offense vs Defense, injury holdouts, and no tackling format and the value becomes even more questionable. So it begs the question, why doesn't BC do more to turn it into a truly unique event? Here are just a few ideas:

Instead of playing in a nearly empty Alumni, why not move it into the Field House. Fans can feel closer. Recruits will see our best facility and it will feel more intimate. 

Allow select fans to call plays or be in the huddle or on a head set. 

Create fan experiences/contests for breaks in the action (field goal attempts, races, throwing into a hole, etc).

I understand this is a nice day for the fans and kids who do attend, but at what point does BC try to make it a bigger event? That's not going to happen with the current style of football or the unique game set up. It will have to be by making the game more desirable to fans and a clearly separate experience from the typical Alumni game. 

As for Saturday's actual game, the highlights are above.

Denis named McGillis Recipient

Aside from the actual game and festivities, the Spring Game is also the time in which BC and the McGillis family selects the McGillis scholar for the following year. This year it will be Lukas Denis.

The acknowledgement is given to the senior defensive back who most exemplifies Jay McGillis' spirit and dedication. It also usually goes to the best Senior DB. Giving it to Denis is another sign that the staff has faith in his playing ability and his leadership qualities. If you look at the list of past winners, you see pretty much model players. It is good to know Denis is getting that sort of trust from his coaches.

If you look at the history, the winner usually has a good season. Let's hope that tradition holds true for Denis. 

Spring Game highlights

Here are some highlights from the annual Spring Game. I had kids sports on Saturday, so I haven't watched the game yet. I will watch it later this weekend and give my full thoughts.

Reminder: the Spring Game is also about recruiting

While Saturday's Spring Game will give us a nice glimpse into what the Football team has been doing the past four weeks, fans often forget it is not just about players on the roster. The game -- and the weekend -- is one of the critical for BC Football recruiting.

The Spring Game remains a big deal in recruiting because it is a chance for the recruited players to experience a big event on campus AND have the focus of the football staff. As exciting as a real game can be, Addazio and his staff can't spend all their time and energy on recruits during a typical game day. During the Spring Game, that is not an issue. Players can be close to the action. Assistants can run over and talk during the game. The lack of real stakes, turns the whole thing into a show.

BC's newest verbal Steve Lubischer will be at the game. So will 2020 target Jalen Berger. There will be more and hopefully they all have a good time.

Reading into Fadule playing RB

Last week BC tried Senior John Fadule at Running Back. It is Spring ball so these sorts of experiments happen each year. Much of it never really impacts anything. However, I think we should take the Fadule move as a good sign. It means the young QBs are coming along.

Even though he didn't play the past two years, Fadule has experience at QB. He was an insurance policy and third stringer. If Perry and McDonald passed him on the roster -- with all presumably behind Brown -- then BC's depth chart is better than it has been in years. All the QBs are young, with good arms and now getting lots of reps. Ideally Brown would be practicing too, but his experience as a starter should also pay dividends soon.

Beyond being a sign, Fadule might help the offense a bit. He is athletic and a good runner. A few packages with him could also add the element of tricks with him throwing.

The season was never going to turn on the play of John Fadule at QB. With BC experimenting, we know that the program has more depth at QB than any other time of his BC tenure. That's another reason to be excited about the Spring and the upcoming Fall season.

Revisiting the Spring Game

Did you watch the Spring Game? Well these guys on Youtube have done us all a favor of cutting it down to 34 minutes with just action. Seeing it again is a reminder that our QB situation will probably be better than expected. Wade looked decisive in his snaps and made some good passes. Brown was less poised in the pocket but did show a good arm and good escapability. This was all against a talented ACC D  (BC's own). 

But as of Monday, the Spring Game starts to matter less and less. It will be up to one of the QBs to stand out and earn the starting spot.

Wade looks good in Spring Game

This season is suppped to be about Patrick Towles. He was going to lead the team back to the postseason and help establish our passing game. Yet during Saturday's Spring Game, the QB who stood out was Darius Wade.

Technically the Maroon squad beat the White. Because it is Addazio in charge, the score ended up 6-2. QB of the future Anthony Brown looked pretty god, but also threw a pick. John Fadule also played.

I'll have more thoughts on the game in the coming week. For now, just be glad that our QB controversy has changed. Now we have too many QBs...which is a nice problem to have.

Patriots looking at Daniels and other links

The Patriots need Linebackers and Steven Daniels fits the bill. They looked at him PreDraft and this writer thinks they might be able to get him in late rounds.

This Syracuse blog ranked all the ACC Basketball jobs. I was actually surprised that they didn't put BC at the bottom. I think after Duke and North Carolina all the other jobs are somewhat interchangeable. Some have more tradition and fewer restrictions (Louisville, Syracuse), but the right coach can win and elevate any of the programs. Just look at what Larranaga did in Miami.

Here are the rosters for the Spring Game.

Spring Game's new look

At some schools the Spring Game is a big event. At BC, it has been a bit of a cluster of late. Injuries, weather and the unfortunate events of the Marathon Bombing have all created issues with the annual Jay McGillis Memorial Game. This year, Addazio has the roster he wants and the format he wants. It is going to be a true split squad scrimmage.  

What I like about the split squad and not just first team vs second team or offense vs defense, is that we get a sense of depth and systems. The sly thing about split squad is that it also keeps Wade and Towles happy and engaged. Neither will be declared the "starter" of the first team. I also like the idea of both guys getting thrown in with random teammates. We need next year's QB to be a gamer who can adapt to any situation. 

Regardless of how these tweaks to the game translate to the field, I am glad we get to see the new offense, new QBs and new defense. 

Isn't it supposed to be Spring?

It is only fitting that following a winter that no one in Boston will forget, the first Boston College "open scrimmage" was filled with snow. The team started things early just to avoid the worst part of the scheduled storm. With the bubble down, the forecast becomes a much more important part of the planning process.

According to Adam Kurkjian, all three QBs looked green. But how much of that was jitters, the conditions or just young QBs getting the kinks out?

Based on some of the pictures, it seems like the weather kept most of the fans away from the new event.

Football Spring Scrimmage pic.twitter.com/TyWeoxybJ8
— WZBC Sports (@WZBCSPORTS) March 28, 2015

You cannot read too much into any of this. Even just measuring the Marketing aspect, I don't know if you can really compare this to a traditional Spring Game, since the schedule got tweaked and the weather was so bad. Let's hope it helped recruiting. I don't know if this will make Bates rethink future Spring Games, but it did help Addazio's argument for an indoor practice facility.

Why the Spring Game will always be a problem

BC cancelled their annual Spring Game. While they buried it in the announcement of their open scrimmage, the traditional Jay McGillis Spring Game will not take place in 2015. This is the second time in three years the game has been called off (the 2013 game was cancelled in the wake of Marathon bombing). At this point I don't know if it ever will or should held again.

Ideally the Spring Game is a capstone to spring practices and a fun day for fans and recruits. For a variety of reasons the BC Spring Game never draws a crowd and never generates much excitement with recruits. For a school like BC it makes sense to have a smaller, more intimate event -- like the open practice -- that allows Addazio to show off his team to the constitutes that matter and not explain away an empty stadium.

As much as I want the Spring Game to become a real event, I don't know if it ever can at BC. We have a few inherent challenges that will always create problems.

-- The University Schedule
BC has an early Spring Break and an extended long weekend at Easter. On some years Easter is quickly followed by Patriots' Day. Those breaks disrupt the flow of practices. Programs are only allowed a certain number of practices. With two long breaks annually (and a third thrown in most years), coaches have to decide to start practice early or late. If you start early the Spring Game is cold. If you start late, you get better weather for the Spring Game but kill practice momentum due to breaks at Easter and Patriots' Day.

-- The Weather
We've had some nice spring game days in the past few years, but the weather remains a crap shoot. BC can never really plan on a great spring day and the fans are always going to wait to see the weather before they turn out in droves.

-- The roster limitations
We are always going to lack an army of walk-ons who fill out spring games across the country. Throw in the inevitable injuries and each spring BC doesn't have enough players to field two 'teams'. That leads to convoluted offense vs defense formats that the fans cannot really understand.

BC is not the first school to cancel their Spring Game. I don't know if this will be permanent. If no one misses it and recruits like the new concept, then I have no problem trading out the Spring Game for an annual open practice. Sometimes new traditions are better than old ones.

Spring Football news and other links

The Heights and Eagle Action both posted updates on Spring Practices. It sounds like Murphy has a slight edge at QB and Addazio is managing around injuries.

BC also announced the schedule for the Spring Game.

Baseball moved its home opener.

PA Oline prospect Hayden Mahoney recently visited BC and picked up an offer.

BC also has interest in Indiana Line prospect Jared Thomas.

Addazio lands two recruits in void of the Spring Game

The Spring Game cancellation didn't mean much from a football standpoint. Essentially it is just one less practice. The bigger loss was from a Marketing standpoint. BC invested a lot of effort and money into making it an event for fans and recruits. The fans -- especially BC ones -- understood the cancellation. The question was would recruits? Based on Steve Addazio's Saturday, it seemed like they did.

BC received verbals from Massachusetts Linebacker Kevin Cohee and Massachusetts OLineman Jon Baker. Aside from the continued recruiting momentum, what I most appreciate about Addazio getting these two is the local connection. Through our coaching changes, BC has lost out on local talent and has been seen as a secondary program. Addazio is clearly changing that.

I know there were many recruits who traveled up to BC Friday for the Spring Game. While they didn't get to see our program, they did get a memorable weekend. How could you be on campus for those celebrations and not think BC would be a good place to play? We will never know exactly if or how Addazio incorporated the Boston Strong movement into his pitch, but I am thankful he stayed focused and made the most of the situation.

Spring Game Cancelled

Per BC's press release:


“After consulting with campus, city and law enforcement officials, including the Boston College Police Department, we have decided to cancel all home athletics events scheduled for Saturday, including the spring football game," Director of Athletics Brad Bates said. "Our first priority is ensuring the safety of our student-athletes, coaches and spectators. Our local law enforcement community has done a phenomenal job this past week, and we do not want our events to serve as a distraction.

“Furthermore, now is a time for reflection to honor those who have been tragically killed and injured this past week and to allow our community to heal. The entire Boston College family stands with those who have been affected by this week's events. Together we will persevere and emerge stronger and more unified than ever.”

What to look for during the Spring Game

I've been as guilty as the next fan of reading too much into the Spring Game. This year I can justify obsessing of the minutia! For the first time in 16 years we will have completely new schemes on both offense and defense. I don't think Addazio will play all his cards nor will the team be a well-oiled machine, but here are some things that I will be focusing on during the annual Spring Game.

Blitz!
Don Brown signature is blitzing. This probably more than anything else will be the biggest culture change for BC fans. Gone are the days of bend but don't break. What I want to see during the game is where the pressure comes from. Will it be LBs or Safeties or corners? I also wonder how much we will drop DLineman into coverage and offset it with a oncoming LB or DB.

Tempo
We know the QBs will run this year. The scrimmages reaffirmed it. What we don't know is how fast the offense is going to run. Temple did not use the no huddle exclusively like Oregon, but they did play relatively fast. Certainly faster than BC under Spaz. I don't think we will mimic Oregon yet, but the Spring Game might be a good time to test a hurry up offense under game conditions. The guys are still learning the offense, so asking them to play fast can get sloppy. But Rettig has been so good as picking up new offenses, that this should be a relatively smooth transition.

Fan Support
Despite various Marketing efforts over the years, we never pack the house during the Spring Game. The tailgating and later (warmer date) helps this year, but I didn't expect a big turnout. That sort of changed with the Marathon Bombing. I cannot gauge the mood of the fans on campus right now, but based on the other events around Boston, I think people want to be out and want to be part of a crowd. Think of all those students who wanted to run the "Last 5" this Friday night. Will their energy be redirected at the Spring Game? Who knows, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Old Guys
As a new twist this year, there will be an Alumni Flag Football game too. I don't know whose idea the Alumni game was, but it is a good way to rebuild relations with the football Alumni, many of whom felt under appreciated and ignored by previous department leadership.

Can Tailgating give the Spring Game the attendance boost it needs?

Select Flynn Fund members will be allowed to tailgate on the surface lots next Saturday during the Spring Game. At other schools that is not a big deal. For BC to actively market tailgating to their most loyal customers is a sign of change.

This is a great opportunity for BC fans, but also comes with a responsibility. If we want to see the tailgating rules and environment change during Football season, we need to take advantage of these types of commitments from BC. Fans need to turn out next week, tailgate and be as cooperative with BC with regards to clean up and getting into the game.

The game might be exciting too. Based on the second scrimmage, it sounds like the team is improving. Addazio is also trying to create some incentives for the players, so that the game has a little more meaning.

If Addazio can split BC into 2 teams, he said he wants to have a victory meal (prime rib) and a loser meal (hot dogs and beans) to have fun.
— Greg Joyce (@GJoyce9) April 13, 2013

I always try to use the Spring Game as a looking glass into the team's future. Maybe this year it is a glimpse of the changing Athletic Department.

Thoughts on Spring Practice

BC opened its Spring Practice season Tuesday. The Heights provided coverage too. But not much is going to come out of the first practice. Addazio said as much himself. The roster is the roster. There is no influx of talent. So it is all about making the talent we have better and changing the culture around the program.

We won't know much until the Spring Game but the secondhand stuff I am hearing about Addazio is positive. He's saying the right things to the players. He's leaning on the Seniors and getting them to buy in. Some coaches might cast Spaz guys aside and focus on his own players. The fact that Addazio is not speaks to his need to win right away and his willingness to work with the pieces he has.

Unlike past seasons, I think this Spring Game will be very telling. I know Rettig will start and get most of the snaps, but will we pass the ball much and what will our tempo be?  I also want to see how aggressive we are on defense. Long-term I am not worried about Don Brown's schemes or play calling. But short term there could be some growing pains.

If you think skepticism is natural among the fanbase, think of what it is like for these jaded players. Even if we don't come out as a crisp football team, Addazio's final goal should be to have every remaining players buy in.

(It is nice to have hope again, isn't it?)

Should BC football barnstorm in the Spring?

Many ACC bloggers (BCI & TN) are talking about the doom and gloom that followed Miami's second scrimmage. Overlooked in the Cane talk was that the scrimmage was held in Fort Myers. They used one of their precious Spring practices to reach fans and more importantly recruits two and half hours away from their campus. Now this wasn't all forward thinking from Al Golden and Company. They couldn't use their own stadium because of Wrestlemania. But still you have to admire their ability to turn lemons into lemonade. Even in the best of years, BC Football's springs are dull. Holding a scrimmage outside of Alumni might be a nice change of pace and a chance to reach our fans and recruits outside of Boston.

Because this is still BC, we would have to do it with a tight budget and no more than a bus ride away. It would also have to be accessable to enough fans and media to make it worthwhile. I recommend the following:

1. Don Bosco Prep. The BC-connections to Bosco are well known. Holding a scrimmage there would only strengthen those ties. We know they have facilities capable of hosting one practice. The campus is in Ramsey, New Jersey and relatively accessible by car for most of our Alumni in the Tri-State area.

2. Timex Performance Center. The New York Giants' practice facility could certain handle one measly BC scrimmage. It is located in the Meadowlands complex, so location and transportation is not an issue. The rub with an NFL franchise certainly wouldn't hurt our perception with recruits. What would be an issue is letting fans all over the complex. As much as the Giants love BC, I don't know if they want to let a few thousand random BC fans onto their complex.

3. Randall's Island. This complex in the middle of the East River is probably the biggest stretch. There are hundreds of New York City groups lined up to use the property at different times. It's location would probably curb some fans from attending and wouldn't draw much media interest. However, I still think it would be cool. And I think our city based fans would turn out for at least one event.

Those are my thoughts. Where would you like to see BC practice?

Spring Game: a day of missed opportunities

We've learned not to read too much into the Spring Game. However, there are themes to the most public football event of the spring. This year I sensed an overriding feeling of missed opportunities. It started with the lousy weather and continued to the QBs making mistakes despite a depleted secondary.

The weather couldn't be helped. Moving the schedule forward necessitated the Spring Game in March. In Boston that's always dicey. Because of the unpredictable weather BC cancelled "Family Fun Day" and had smallish crowds. I hope we return to our normal Spring schedule next year. It might not make an impact on the field, but I think ending the Spring on a nice day creates a sense of optimism among the fans.

For those of us who watched online, the day started ignominiously. The feed was timing out and we couldn't see the first 20 minutes. Later the game came in.

As for seeing Doug Martin's new stlye, it wasn't drastic change. The formations were all pretty standard. The play was inconsistent and all the QB struggled at times. I don't know if that's attributed to the new scheme, the weather or talent issues. Rettig's rough numbers left some people wondering about the QB position battle. Spaz quelled that after the game by reinforcing that Rettig will be the starter next year. I remain in the Rettig fan club. This was just a glorified scrimmage. We've seen Chase execute against ACC defenses. How he does in an empty Alumni in March means very little.

There's nothing to read into the defense. Injuries and roster depth forced Spaz to put all sorts of raw or random guys on the field as the game progressed.

The Heights took lots of pictures. Check out their shots. You'll notice lots of empty seats.

Ultimately the Spring Game is about getting ready for next year. I hope BC's marketing arm use next year's Spring Game to see how they can grow the fanbase. Leaving the game to die in March doesn't do much for anyone.

Steve Donahue talks about the future and other links

Steve Donahue spoke with Tim Brando about this season. He recognizes that we still have at least another year of maturing before we improve.

As BCI noted, the weather is supposed to be bad during the Spring Game. But it is our last chance to watch BC football for months.

Chris Kreider will have to make a decision regarding his future with BC or the Rangers shortly after the Frozen Four ends.

ESPNBoston took a look at what makes BC Hockey so good.

Fox Sports didn't think much of our 2012 basketball team.

Spaz has already offered Virginia sophomore prospect Mustaqeem Williams.