BC Recruiting Current Players to Stay: ‘The Guys Like it Here’
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)
Publisher
Boston College followed a promising 2020 campaign with an injury-riddled season that saw the Eagles dip below .500 in ACC play for the first time since 2016.
Phil Jurkovec could have left for the NFL Draft and tried to stick out in a relatively weak quarterback class. Wide receiver Zay Flowers could have relied on his three years of tape and bet on himself in the pre-draft process. And guys like defensive back Josh DeBerry and offensive guard Christian Mahogany could have turned to the league, too, or maybe even the transfer portal.
Except they didn’t. All of them are coming back for the 2022 season.
“The guys like it here,” second-year Eagles head coach Jeff Hafley told ACC Network’s “Packer and Durham” Tuesday. “I’m really proud to be their head coach, and I’m just excited that they’re choosing to come back. But those recruits, keeping them, they’re the most valuable ones.
“If you put stars on them, shoot, we’ve got one of the best classes coming back in the country.”
Of course, the same was true ahead of this past season. BC returned 81% of its overall production from the year before, including 92% of its offensive output from 2020, which was good for 11th among FBS programs. The injury bug spoiled ACC dark horse expectations.
Jurkovec went down in Week 2 at UMass with a season-threatening fracture to his throwing hand that required surgery. He missed six games, came back to snap the Eagles’ four-game losing streak and lifted them to bowl eligibility yet was far from 100%.
After passing for 2,558 yards and posting a 17:5 touchdown-to-interception ratio in 10 games in 2020, Jurkovec recorded just 914 passing yards and seven passing touchdowns (as well as four interceptions) in five full games this year. His completion percentage plummeted from 61.0% to 54.2%, in large part because of his grip strength, which was around 50% when he returned to the field, according to Hafley.
“We had a ton of conversations,” Hafley said. “[About] how much he means to the program, how much he means to Boston College. But let’s look real hard at it. He’s got a chance to be one of the top picks in the draft next year. And he knows he’s got work to do.
“He wants to get better, and he knows that, to play that position in that league, you better be mentally and physically ready. He wants to come back, and he wants to help us win. He’s not happy with how we finished the season.”
Jurkovec was noticeably off against Florida State and Wake Forest, and he took a beating in both of those games. He completed just 13-of-35 passes across the season-ending losses.
But, even when playing through pain, Jurkovec’s connection with Flowers was evident. After all, the two hooked up for a combined three touchdowns against Georgia Tech and FSU.
“This guy is dynamic,” Hafley said of Flowers. “I think he’ll be one of the best receivers in the country next year. I think he’ll have a chance to win the Biletnikoff. The coolest part about that is one of his main reasons [for returning]. He wants to get his degree. And that’s special when you hear a kid say that.”
Jurkovec and Flowers have unfinished business, and the same is true for DeBerry and Mahogany, Hafley said.
Hafley, who was an NFL assistant for seven years, knows the league well. That comes into play when recruiting high schoolers, something he’s excelled at, especially since returning to the collegiate ranks—he just turned his second straight top-35 recruiting class. But it has also proved helpful for getting current players to stick around.
Last year, most notably, offensive linemen Ben Petrula, Alec Lindstrom and Zion Johnson all signed up for one final season on the Heights.
“Coming from that other league, there’s nothing like college football,” Hafley said. “There’s nothing like living with the guys you’re playing with. Being with them for four years. Enjoying ’em, enjoying the games, enjoying the nights after the games.
“Don’t wish it away because you’ve got plenty of time to go to that league.”
