Bryce Steele Not Taking True Freshman Season for Granted
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)
Publisher
Bryce Steele didn’t have a senior high school football season. Not at Episcopal in Alexandria, Virginia. And not at Millbrook when he returned back to his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina.
COVID-19 took away the game he loves.
The linebacker hasn’t forgotten that empty feeling. Even almost a full season into his Boston College career.
“Any opportunity I have to just be on the field,” Steele said Monday, “I don't take it for granted at all. I've been using every practice, every play just to get better and prepare for the bowl game.”
Steele, who piled up 20 total tackles in his final four games of the regular season, was a mid-year enrollee at BC in January. He remembers the difficulty of making the jump from high school, both physically and mentally. Except, Steele said that transition was made easier by guys like sixth-year transfer Isaiah Graham-Mobley and redshirt junior Vinny DePalma.
“They kind of took me under their wing like a big brother figure and just showed [me] the ropes of college football,” Steele said. “Ever since the season started, I’ve been studying late night film with them, just going over the playbook.
“Just really trying to pick their brains and learn as much about college football as I possibly can from them.”
The former three-star linebacker threw himself into the process. He made a pair of tackles in the spring game and then continued to develop in fall camp, entering his true freshman season not only on the two-deep but with an “OR” separating him and DePalma at weakside linebacker.
But the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Steele saw limited action throughout the first half of the season, most notably forcing a turnover on downs at Temple. An injury to Graham-Mobley at Louisville, though, called for DePalma and strongside linebacker Kam Arnold to step up down the stretch. It also meant that Steele was going to get more reps.
He made the most of the opportunity.
Steele played 24 snaps at Syracuse, according to Pro Football Focus, and registered seven total tackles. Following that performance, head coach Jeff Hafley heaped praise on the true freshman.
“I was really proud of him,” Hafley said. “He played hard, he played violent, he played the most snaps he’s played all year. He tackled really well. When he tackles, he kind of engulfs people. He’s got really long arms.”
Steele continued to show that fierce play style. Even if he wasn’t the first hat to the ball, Steele didn’t stop until the whistle. Like when he joined defensive end Marcus Valdez to pressure scrambling Georgia Tech quarterback Jordan Yates to force an incompletion and Yellow Jackets field goal. Or, a few weeks later, when made a break to lay out Wake Forest star wide receiver AT Perry before Perry even juked Brandon Sebastian.
Steele also finished with seven total tackles in the Eagles’ blowout defeat to the then-No. 18 Demon Deacons. He said that his nerves calmed and the game slowed down for him as his first year on the Heights wore on. By the regular season’s end, he was able to comfortably “just play my game.”
“He’s done a great job taking the coaching the whole year, and you can see it on the field,” DePalma said. “He’s gotten better, and his play has gotten better throughout the year. So hats off to him.”
Steele has room to grow when it comes to run defending and coverage—he’s allowed six catches for an average of 13.7 yards per reception in 2021, according to PFF—but his versatility makes defensive coordinators salivate.
In the regular season finale against Wake Forest, the hard-hitting linebacker lined up seven times on the defensive line, 28 snaps in the box and even once in the slot.
Steele likes moving around like a chess piece. He said it gives him the chance to see the field from different perspectives and work on a handful of skill sets, whether that be blitz or coverage techniques.
“The more versatile and the more positions I play, the more I have fun,” Steele said.
He reflected Monday on how quickly his true freshman season has flown by. Steele said that he’s “enjoyed every second” of his time at BC and is excited for the future.
Next year, he wants to become a more vocal leader, on and off the field. Oh, and, naturally get “bigger, stronger and faster.”
Valdez, an outgoing fifth-year veteran, doesn’t have any doubts about Steele achieving those things.
“He’s a gifted athlete,” Valdez said after the Wake Forest game. “He’s a great person, and he’s gonna be a great player here one day.
“Watch out for him in a couple years.”
Last edited:
