Addazio pregame and other links

Here is Addazio's pregame speech on Saturday. Do things feel a little different to you?

Addazio was happy with Wolford's performance.

If you missed it last week, BC will play Notre Dame in a Frozen Fenway game.

Future Eagle Darius Wade is ready for a big Senior Season.

NFL stuff: the Eagles cut Momah and Cleary will probably go on IR for the Colts.

Men's Soccer tied Quinnipiac. Women's Soccer beat Hofstra in OT.

Freese on Groza list and other links

On a slow news day, Nate Freese making the Groza list makes for headlines. I am glad BC is supporting the effort, but I don't think Nate score enough to win the award.

Story behind D.J. Gillens' switch from BC to Wisconsin shows how fickle the recruiting process can be.

The Flames are patiently waiting for Gaudreau.

I did not realize the Colts paid a premium to sign Emmett Cleary as an undrafted free agent. That doesn't mean he is a lock to make the team though.

For those who missed it, here is CBS's Morning Show's piece on former BC assistant Don Horton. Horton suffers from Parkinson's and his wife has built a business around shirts that he can button via magnets.

Eagles in Atlanta and Indy and other places

As expected, none of BC's current seniors were selected in the NFL Draft. But when you are a potential late-rounder, being an undrafted free agent is not a bad thing. It enables the player to select a team with a favorable roster.

Nick Clany will be joining Matt Ryan with the Atlanta Falcons. I am obviously biased by fandom and geography, but this is a good fit for Nick. The Falcons are very thin on defense and at Linebacker (yet they didn't draft another LB). Clancy will get a chance on special teams and should probably get a very good shot at the practice squad.

Another team that loves BC guys is Indianapolis, so it was not a surprise to see them sign Emmett Cleary. He joins former Eagles Anthony Castanzo and Gosder Cherilus as protection for Andrew Luck. The Colts had a need at OL and only drafted one lineman. I guess that means Cleary's chances to make the team are decent.

Chris Pantale signed with the Jets. I have no idea who is going to be QB there this year nor how they will use him. I hope he gets a fair shot. If he hadn't been injured this season, I think he would have been drafted.

John Wetzel signed with the Raiders. They are another team with a lot of holes, so hopefully he gets a chance.

This is the first time since 2005 that no BC player was selected.

Remembering BC's Mr. Irrelevant

BC won't have a player drafted Thursday night. But with Wetzel, Clancy and Cleary all listed as late-rounders or undrafted free agents, BC may have a Mr. Irrelevant this year. It would not be the first time an Eagle ended up as the last player in the Draft. In 1995 the Carolina Panthers selected Michael Reed with the last overall pick.

Little is expected of Mr. Irrelevant, so Reed turning his tenure into two seasons was viewed as a success. He hardly played, but was able to extend his career after the NFL with two seasons of NFL Europe. After his playing days Reed got into coaching. He was on TOB's staff at NC State and recently joined Clemson.

Reed is making a name for himself now as a recruiter (Dabo praised his work on their 2013 class). I don't think his draft-day notoriety means anything to high schoolers, but his NFL background doesn't hurt. If any of our current eagles ever get selected last overall, I hope they use Reed as an example. He turned his one shot into a career.

Lacrosse update and other links

Since I said on the field success was the key to Men's Lacrosse's future, I wanted to make people aware the team is undefeated. They beat UConn Tuesday and take on Rhode Island on Saturday.

With two of our best NFL Draft prospects both from Illinois, it is only natural that the Bears are paying attention.

Softball lost to Maine.

This is not about BC, but is about how Quinnipiac leveraged hockey to raise the university's profile. There are lessons here for our non- or low-revenue sports.

The pre-Combine consensus on BC's three prospects

The NFL Combine kicks off this week and three BC players have a chance to make a name for themselves. After our disappointing season, I was surprised that our three seniors Emmett Cleary, Chris Pantale and John Wetzel even earned invites. More accomplished BC guys have been snubbed in the past. But even with the Combine opportunity, none of the three Eagles are sure to get drafted. All will need to use this time to change perception or get one or two teams to fall in love with them. Here is what the experts are critiquing prior to their workouts.

Emmett Cleary

WEAKNESSES Must gain additional strength in his lower body in an NFL weight program, usually widens to anchor but can get put on his heels by better power rushes if losing the hand battles. Not the quickest of feet. Height gives him some stiffness running in the open field, also makes him vulnerable to slipping off blocks or overextending after initial contact.

Chris Pantale 

BOTTOM LINE The Eagles’ starting tight end has not accumulated tremendous production throughout his career. While this is definitely in part due to the offense he played in, he does not profile as a great receiver at the next level. However, he should be a solid pass catcher, who also possesses a strong blocking mentality.

John Wetzel

STRENGTHS Tall and thick throughout his frame that gives him great strength as a run-blocker. Explodes from a three-point stance, making him tough for tackles to hold their ground when he crashes the edge and making him capable of taking out linebackers at the second level. Strong punch, consistent in his aiming point. When balanced and patient in pass protection, extends his long arms and move his feet well enough to eclipse small rush ends -- and pulling off a bull rush against him is extremely difficult because of his strong anchor.

Swigert hurt and other links

Bobby Swigert is the latest BC starter to miss the Miami game. According to BC, he will miss multiple games after injuring his knee in the scrimmage.

Steve Donahue talked about his expectations for the Spain trip and how the players have spent their summer. For those who missed it, ESPN ranked our hoops program at 50th overall, all-time.

Here is a video clip of Spaz rewarding the walk-ons with scholarships.

Future Eagle David Coggins is inactive as his high school eligibility comes into question.

HD posted her clip of talking to Emmett Cleary.

I was at BC at the same time as Matt Hasselbeck and even then everyone thought he was a great guy off the field.

The women's soccer team beat UConn.

The men's team won its opener.

Volleyball started strong in our own invitational.

Linemen now "Blue Collar"

The BC linemen have been sporting these blue work shirts around campus. It's a symbol of the guys being "Blue Collar" and getting back to what made BC lines great. Is it gimmicky? Sure, but at this point I am willing to try anything.

(Thanks to Ryan for the pic.)

Tessitore feature and other links

SI.com posted a long feature on BC guy Joe Tessitore. Definitely worth the read. Joe is one of ESPN's rising stars and in my opinion the best college play-by-play guy they have. Of course now that BC has Friday night games in our future, Tess has moved on to ESPN's prime Saturday slots.

The players elected Jim Noel, Kaleb Ramsey, Emmett Cleary and Chris Pantale as team captains. Congrats to all of them.

The ACC is playing checkers with TV deals while the other major conferences play chess. This is pretty damning for any remaining Swofford defenders.

Ron Brace is ready for a big year. So is Luke Kuechly. Meanwhile Alex Albright might play both ways this fall. Mark Herzlich will get his shot at starting too.

CBS outlays pretty realistic best and worst case scenarios. I'll post mine closer to the opener.

Reggie Jackson has a chance to break into the Thunder's regular rotation.

Can BC sell a faceless program?

As the team prepared for the poster photo shoot, I started to think about some of the current challenges BC faces marketing the program. Who will be the focus of the poster? Can a casual BC fan name our best players? With the team coming off its worst season in over a decade, it would be nice to have a focal point. A person who fans could rally around. With Kuechly gone, BC doesn't have that player or coach.

Spaz is not a compelling public speaker. BC uses coordinators in their Youtube videos. No BC player made the ACC's preseason all conference team. They have two likeable but rather unknown Seniors on the cover of the media guide.

Perception matters in college football. Obviously tickets sales are part of that, but lacking a star player hurts when TV networks are selecting our games. Even if some of our players have breakout years, they will have a hard time winning national awards.

BC created some new and unique ticket packages to help attendance for the less attractive games. If we are play well, TV networks might pay attention during the last month of the season. But if the team struggles, it will be hard to sell anything. You can't force players to be great or be dynamic personalities. Even if players aren't well known, I am consistently proud of how they handle themselves. But BC can ask its coach to sell the program. Spaz doesn't and won't. But I hope that when we hire a new coach that sales and marketing aspect are not ignored. Coaching is primary, but representing BC should always be a factor. 

ACC Kickoff, Day 1 -- UPDATE

UPDATE: I took down the video since it was auto playing for people. You can listen to Ramsey and Cleary here.


I hoped that Spaz would address the Penn State situation. Knowing that those types of questions were coming, the ACC coaches released a joint statement on Penn State and Paterno. Someone should still ask Spaz on Monday since he does know Sandusky and played under Paterno.

This is a shot of Kaleb Ramsey talking to the media. And here is all the players together. Cleary also fielded questions, including those about biology and chemistry.

I expect more on Monday when Spaz talks. I also think all the newspaper guys (including Blauds) will write up their interviews from Sunday into Monday posts.

Questions I want asked at the ACC Media Days

The ACC convenes this weekend in Greensboro for the annual ACC Media Days. I am not going. But I do have questions I would ask. 

Questions for Frank Spaziani

-- Is he aware of the "hot seat" talk? Does he feel the pressure. How does he get the team and staff to focus? Is it impacting recruiting?

-- What are his expectations for the season? Does he see the team competing for a division title? 

-- What attracted him to Doug Martin's offense? What are his expectations for the offense? Does he think the increased tempo will impact the defensive side of the ball? 

-- What will Bollman's role be as "running game coordinator"? Is Bollman using different techniques and or approaches to the offensive line play?

-- What traits was he looking for as he hired new coaches to replace the departed? 

-- As a Penn State alum and former player, what are his thoughts on the Freeh report? Are the former players talking among themselves about what they can do to help rebuild the Penn State football reputation? What does he want done with the Paterno statue?

Emmett Cleary

-- When did the staff approach him about moving to the left side? How is he preparing for the new position? 

--Who is leading the OL drills in the offseason? 

-- How are things different with a new position coach? What will fans see?

-- What aspects of his game is he focusing on this year?

-- How is Chase Rettig adjusting to the new offense? 

-- Which offensive player will surprise BC fans this year? Who is going to make a big leap?

-- What are his expectations for the season? How important is it to the Seniors to get back to a winning record and a bowl game?

Kaleb Ramsey

-- How is his health? 

-- What was it like to sit out a season?

-- Earlier in his career there was speculation that he might transfer from BC. How does it feel to be a 5th year senior at BC now?

-- Last year BC played more three man fronts than ever before. Will we see more of that this year?

--  Does the talk of an NFL career add any extra motivation?

We know Blauds and HD will be in Greensboro. Hopefully they or others will slip in one or two of these questions. I don't expect anything particularly revealing, but I would like to hear Spaz talk about the pressure of the season. 

Key Players for 2012: Emmett Cleary

This is a series on the key players for the 2012 season. Big things are expected for some, while others will need to improve over their previous performances. If 2012 is a good year, it will be in part to the key players overachieving.




Senior Offensive Tackle, Emmett Cleary

What he's been: A long-time starter and one of the leaders on offense. Cleary has played on both sides of the line and at both guard and tackle.  When he first arrived, Jags said that he could be the next Costanzo. Tall and lean (for a lineman) Cleary's been a consistent contributor like Costanzo (playing in 36 games and starting 26) yet he's never been the consistently great like Costanzo. How much of Cleary's occasional mistakes or setback are due to talent, coaching or the offense? I think it's been a bit of everything.

What he needs to be: Good isn't good enough anymore. Cleary takes on the big responsibility of left tackle this year. Rettig has been running for his life the past three years. If the offense is ever going to take off, they need to improve pass protection. That will start with Cleary. And in the ACC, he'll be facing some of the top defensive linemen in the country on a weekly basis. Cleary's always been good with speed guys on the edge. He'll also need to improve on run blocking. If Martin uses more stretches and zones like Logan, that will leave Cleary often sealing off edges on run plays.

Why I like his chances to shine: We've seen offensive lineman make huge leaps from season to season before. Part of it is maturing into their bodies and understanding the position. But a lot is coaching. I think Cleary has been underserved in that department. Even if Bollman is not some OL guru, I think Cleary playing in a more pass happy, up tempo offense will play to his strengths. I  think his leadership position and the coaching staff's confidence in him will make him shine at LT. I think he will live up to his potential and have multiple games where he dominates and plays mistake free football. Plus he still has the NFL on his horizon. If he can perform at an elite level, he can jump up from a late round afterthought to a high-round pick.

I think if Cleary stays healthy, he shoot up draft boards. If BC's offense breaks out of its doldrums he'll be named an all conference player.

Optimism from Football Outsiders and other links

I am a sucker for football analytics and I also really respect CBS's Matt Hinton. So when his ACC preview piece on Football Outsiders listed BC with a .500 record and a 3rd place finish in the division, I was pleasantly surprised. FO is betting on our returning players and the positive trends of the last few games of 2011. I still don't know what to think about the upcoming season, but my love for BC and articles like this have me looking on the bright side.

BC is sending Emmett Cleary and Kaleb Ramsey to Greensboro to represent the school during ACC media days. I think this is actually a great sign for BC and for both players. I expected Cleary to have a break out season last year. He was good, but not all conference. Maybe this year is his chance to shine and get on NFL radars. Ramsey has always had the talent. His health and attitude have been bigger issues. If he is healthy and focused this year, he will be a game changer on D.

Here is more on our newest recruit out of Cincinnati Truman Gutapfel.

Chris Pantale is on the Mackey watch list. The award is given annually to the country's best Tight End.

Beaver Country Day big man Jacquil Taylor is generating local interest. BC has yet to offer, but is following him.

BCeagles.com posted a Q&A with Bobby Swiggert yesterday. I found his talk about paring down the offense encouraging. We need to work on execution not diversity of plays.

HD put out this offseason filler piece ranking coaching jobs in the ACC. I don't really care where she perceives us. When the job changes we will be very attractive to the right guy for us.

Rugby player wins Bronze Star and other links

This article doesn't mention BC, but I wanted to link the story about former Eagle David van Dam. (thanks Robert for the link). Too often I focus on what former BC athletes do as professionals in their respective sport. But many others go on to do incredible things beyond the playing field.

KC Caudill started out playing baseball, but as he kept growing, hoops made the most sense.

Mike Mayock keeps predicting that the Philadelphia Eagles will draft Luke Kuechly.

Montel Harris will participate in Spring Ball, but the staff will take it easy on him while he recovers.

Cleary, Swigert and Hughes all made the All ACC academic list.

Providence awarded Will Blackmon with a key to the city.

Ryan Purvis signed with the Giants.

Because I don't get tired of watching the Beanpot highlights.

ACC Honors and other links

As expected, the ACC named Reggie Jackson first team All-ACC. Trapani made the third team. Congrats to both.

I overlooked an important accomplishment over the weekend -- the BC women won the Hockey East! Congrats and now go get the big trophy.

HD has a pretty good take on our 2011 schedule. Obviously the ACC schedule is primary but I think how we perform in the non-conference will really impact perception among the fans and Spaz's progress. We only have on non-conference cupcake this year.

Montel Harris's injury put a damper on the end of his 2010 season. I wonder if it will mute some deserved publicity heading into 2011. Southern Pigskin thinks he is unappreciated.

Pre-snap read is following Emmett Cleary this spring. I actually think Cleary played well for Lapham at RT and wouldn't mind seeing him stay on the right side. Give one of the young guys a chance at LT.

Steve Donahue and Joe Lunardi go way back...not that it matters come Sunday.

I hope Charlie Davies new found maturity speeds his comeback with D.C. United.

Future Eagle Ryan Anderson is developing nicely.