Yesterday I laid out the primary recruiter for each Boston College player in the 2022 recruiting cycle. No question, Abdul-Rahim did great work this year but from everything I've heard it sounds like positional recruiting was important this year.
BC's coaches were on the road for about three weeks this year. One of those was just for a couple of days during their bye week in the season and then there were two weeks during the contact period when they were out. During that time it was really positional; guys going to see the players they will have in their own rooms. That was the emphasis and the effort when they were out, to strengthen those bonds.
As you know RJ Maryland did not sign with Boston College. From what I'm hearing it's not like there is one school out there that has come on strong that BC is vying against. Rather, just some pretty common late drama involving a kid who wants to make sure he's making the right choice. Obviously when someone decides not to sign in the early period and everybody else in the class does that's a cause for concern or at least it makes you pay attention. So it's the big story to watch at this point. I've put out some feelers and it sounds like they're just working to resolve it. At this point with it being the dead period there's only so much you can do and it appears it will stretch until February at this point. So January-on should be interesting. No sense in trying to pressure someone into anything now. The hope would just be that his first gut instinct is something he trusts.
A lot of schools are really hammering the transfer portal right now. BC's evaluating everybody who goes in but on the spectrum of how coaches/programs feel about the portal I would confidently place Boston College in the spot where you accept it's a reality but it's not your ordinary preference. It may be great for plugging a hole, for upgrading a position or two, or for reacting to unexpected attrition but it's sort of like in major league baseball where you would love to mostly be in the business of developing your own "homegrown" players over a longer period of time. They're all about guys not being too comfortable and realizing they could be recruited over but the preference is still high school recruiting and that's the kind of program they want to be. Keep in mind that a lot of this is emphasis and culture but everybody has to be open to the portal.
You can now take up to 7 extra guys from the portal so the max of 25 is now up to 32. BC is not going to add roughly a dozen guys from the portal but that's the high end (once you go over 25 you can only add as many as you have lost to the portal; so if you lose two, you can add two extra, etc).
Folks I've spoken with are really pleased with the size that BC was able to recruit up front on the defensive line. They were really targeting those athletic traits that you can develop. At Ohio State, Alabama, etc those guys show up with traits and the body. BC and 99% of other schools have to do development but you've got to have the raw stuff. So they seem to love that their defensive line signees have excellent wing spans, huge hands, etc. Those are things you can't teach.
BC only took one defensive back in Amari Jackson although Sione Hala is a hybrid in that 'medium defense who can play in space and maybe match up with slots or inside receivers. Boston College probably would have taken more DBs they felt passionately about but they've gotten such a good reception from DBs since Hafley's arrived that they want to be picky. I totally buy that. Last year right away it was clear that defensive backs were really responding well to them.
On top of that, Amari Jackson might be the most gifted player in BC's signing class. Josh Heupel's staff at Tennessee made a strong late push. Most of their class was assembled before Tennessee's very promising 2021 season but to hold off an SEC program for a kid from Georgia is no small recruiting victory. You're dealing with all kinds of things as BC when a southern program is trying to peel away a southern kid. That's about relationships and also Hafley's track record with DBs. But I think the biggest thing seems to be Hafley's personal involvement in the recruitment of Jackson and other players as well. Continue to say that Hafley's personal involvement in the recruiting process is rare, at least the extent to which he is involved. He grinds in recruiting the way a young up and coming assistant would when trying to make a name for himself.
BC's coaches were on the road for about three weeks this year. One of those was just for a couple of days during their bye week in the season and then there were two weeks during the contact period when they were out. During that time it was really positional; guys going to see the players they will have in their own rooms. That was the emphasis and the effort when they were out, to strengthen those bonds.
As you know RJ Maryland did not sign with Boston College. From what I'm hearing it's not like there is one school out there that has come on strong that BC is vying against. Rather, just some pretty common late drama involving a kid who wants to make sure he's making the right choice. Obviously when someone decides not to sign in the early period and everybody else in the class does that's a cause for concern or at least it makes you pay attention. So it's the big story to watch at this point. I've put out some feelers and it sounds like they're just working to resolve it. At this point with it being the dead period there's only so much you can do and it appears it will stretch until February at this point. So January-on should be interesting. No sense in trying to pressure someone into anything now. The hope would just be that his first gut instinct is something he trusts.
A lot of schools are really hammering the transfer portal right now. BC's evaluating everybody who goes in but on the spectrum of how coaches/programs feel about the portal I would confidently place Boston College in the spot where you accept it's a reality but it's not your ordinary preference. It may be great for plugging a hole, for upgrading a position or two, or for reacting to unexpected attrition but it's sort of like in major league baseball where you would love to mostly be in the business of developing your own "homegrown" players over a longer period of time. They're all about guys not being too comfortable and realizing they could be recruited over but the preference is still high school recruiting and that's the kind of program they want to be. Keep in mind that a lot of this is emphasis and culture but everybody has to be open to the portal.
You can now take up to 7 extra guys from the portal so the max of 25 is now up to 32. BC is not going to add roughly a dozen guys from the portal but that's the high end (once you go over 25 you can only add as many as you have lost to the portal; so if you lose two, you can add two extra, etc).
Folks I've spoken with are really pleased with the size that BC was able to recruit up front on the defensive line. They were really targeting those athletic traits that you can develop. At Ohio State, Alabama, etc those guys show up with traits and the body. BC and 99% of other schools have to do development but you've got to have the raw stuff. So they seem to love that their defensive line signees have excellent wing spans, huge hands, etc. Those are things you can't teach.
BC only took one defensive back in Amari Jackson although Sione Hala is a hybrid in that 'medium defense who can play in space and maybe match up with slots or inside receivers. Boston College probably would have taken more DBs they felt passionately about but they've gotten such a good reception from DBs since Hafley's arrived that they want to be picky. I totally buy that. Last year right away it was clear that defensive backs were really responding well to them.
On top of that, Amari Jackson might be the most gifted player in BC's signing class. Josh Heupel's staff at Tennessee made a strong late push. Most of their class was assembled before Tennessee's very promising 2021 season but to hold off an SEC program for a kid from Georgia is no small recruiting victory. You're dealing with all kinds of things as BC when a southern program is trying to peel away a southern kid. That's about relationships and also Hafley's track record with DBs. But I think the biggest thing seems to be Hafley's personal involvement in the recruitment of Jackson and other players as well. Continue to say that Hafley's personal involvement in the recruiting process is rare, at least the extent to which he is involved. He grinds in recruiting the way a young up and coming assistant would when trying to make a name for himself.
