What Do Latest Positional Coaching Vacancies Mean for BC?
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)Publisher
Frank Cignetti Jr. was the first domino to fall. The now-former Boston College offensive coordinator was hired away by his hometown school, Pittsburgh.
Then nearly a month passed: Hafley brought on Notre Dame tight ends coach John McNulty to replace Cignetti, and the Eagles appeared to be back in order.
That was, until this past weekend when offensive line coach Matt Applebaum was hired away by the Miami Dolphins. And, two days later, wide receivers coach Joe Dailey was plucked by the Carolina Panthers. Both will coach their same position groups but at the NFL level.
So where does this leave BC?
Something needed to change up front
As Hafley said a few weeks ago while introducing McNulty as BC's new OC, the Eagles needed to make changes offensively this offseason. And, although Hafley was a big backer of Applebaum and BC's offensive line the last few years, there's no denying the Eagles have needed to be better in the trenches. Interestingly enough, BC's most concerning coaching positions—offensive coordinator and offensive line—were both vacated, not by firings but by other teams poaching those assistants away.It could end up working out for all parties involved. Sometimes change is necessary.
While the Eagles' O-Line was certainly talented the last two seasons—at least individually—it had its fair share of struggles as a collective unit.
Tyler Vrabel's shoulder injury ahead of the 2020 season was the catalyst for an offensive line rearrangement that, along with a switch from a man-to-man to a zone blocking scheme, caused serious growing pains. Especially on the ground, where the Eagles ranked 118th nationally that season.
And, while BC improved its run blocking upon returning to its original lineup in 2021, it wasn't great in pass protection. The Eagles allowed more than 100 pressures for the second year in a row and posted a Pro Football Focus pass blocking grade that was 1.8 points lower than the year before and 5.3 points lower than the unit’s 2019 grade.
Applebaum was coaching Addazio's starters, but he deserves some credit
Sure, all five of BC's starting offensive linemen the last two years were Steve Addazio-recruited players. But Applebaum played a part in their development. In 2020, he slid Christian Mahogany in at left guard to replace John Phillips, and now Mahogany is coming off a 2021 campaign, in which he graded out as BC's second-best pass blocker, per PFF. Under Applebaum, Alec Lindstrom also improved, registering career-high pass (84.6) and run (68.4) blocking grades this past season en route to becoming a Rimington Trophy (given to nation's best center) finalist.And let's not forget that Applebaum was Zion Johnson's first offensive line coach—and offensive coordinator—at Davidson. Even though moving Johnson to left tackle wasn't beneficial for Johnson's immediate draft prospects, it paid off in the long run because it made him more versatile.
Versatility is something Applebaum preaches, and it showed up in practice, where he had a bunch of his linemen practicing multiple positions. That's where Johnson got his first center reps, which proved fruitful during Senior Bowl week.
NFL teams poaching Dailey and Applebaum is noteworthy
You don't just get brought onto an NFL staff without reason. The Panthers (Dailey) and Dolphins (Applebaum) liked what they saw from both of these assistants. Individual player development (i.e. the development of guys like Zay Flowers and Zion Johnson) was probably more important to these team's talent evaluators than the position group's holistic performance.Where this comes in handy for BC, however, is in the replacement hiring process. There's an incentive to coach for Hafley. He's got NFL connections. And now that some of his assistants have been hired away by teams at the next level, he can use that in his pitch to acquire young coaching talent that might have an eye for the league.
McNulty is getting a chance to build out part of an offensive staff
It's not always the case that a new OC gets a say in who his offensive line and wide receivers coaches will be. And maybe McNulty won't have final say on these decisions, but it would make sense that he'd be heavily involved in Hafley's search for replacements, given that whoever is hired will be working under him.Of course, it appears as if running backs coach Rich Gunnell and tight ends coach Steve Shimko are staying on, but it seems like McNulty will have a bit more influence staff-wise than expected in his first year on the job.
Finding Dailey's replacement is about the now and the immediate future
Position coaches come and go, for the most part. So, in all likelihood, Dailey's replacement hire won't be in Chestnut Hill for half a decade. That said, finding a coach who's committed to the program's near future and can recruit as such is vital. At the same time, locating a coach who can work well with the likes of Flowers, Jaelen Gill and Jaden Williams is necessary, too.As is connecting with Dailey's recruits, namely Ismael Zamor and four star Joe Griffin.