The ACC Football Roundtable is back. This time around, the Georgia Tech blog From the Rumble Seat is hosting. Their questions focus on National Signing Day, the ACC's haul of recruits and BC's recruiting class.

Onward.

Who is your prized prospect?

In my opinion, on offense BC's prized recruit this year is Shakim Phillips. While only a 3* Scout/4* Rivals recruit, the 6'2", 198 pound receiver can make an immediate impact in the Eagles passing game next season. BC loses WRs Rich Gunnell, Justin Jarvis and Clarence Megwa to graduation. Spaz and the coaching staff will look to Colin Larmond Jr., Ifeani Momah, Clyde Lee and Phillips to fill the shoes of Gunnell and Jarvis. BC traditionally hasn't gone out and landed the 4* and 5* wide receiver, so for the Eagles to land at 4* at wide out is very welcome (setting aside for the moment the debate about the validity of recruiting rankings). 

On defense, it is probably linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis. The 6'1", 205 lb. Pierre-Louis is a January enrollee and will look to make an impact at LB for the Eagles defense. With the surprising success of Luke Kuechly last year, and the return of Mark Herzlich, the linebacker position looks to continue to be a strength of this Eagles team. 

How does your fan base react to recruiting? Or do they just want to see results no matter the star count?

Far be it for me to comment on this one, as I don't get too heavily involved in recruiting, but I would say the reaction is mixed. The pay sites certainly keep the rabid recruiting fans up to date on the latest signees, but the subject is largely ignored in other parts of the internet (including the school's website, who apparently is the only ACC school without a Signing Day page).

Overall, I would say BC fans first and foremost want to continue to see results on the field. Star count takes a backseat to results. Then looking back, we can all laugh when unheralded BC guys take it to other teams' 4* and 5* guys. See: when 2* BJ Raji blows up 4* Eric Olsen.

Who is the next Calvin Johnson or Philip Rivers in this year's crop of ACC recruits?

Philip Rivers? I think you meant Matt Ryan.

I won't pretend to have paid close attention to the other ACC school's recruiting classes. So I just had a brief look at the ESPNU Top 150 list and noticed the top offensive player signed by an ACC program is a RB recruit for Miami named Storm Johnson. Aside from already having a ridiculously good running back name - Storm on the Hurricanes ... "Can't Stop the Storm!" ... seriously, you can't make this stuff up - the kid has moves and could be a force in a Mark Whipple-led offense. Let's just say I'm glad BC only draws Miami twice in the regular season over the next five years.

Really though, who knows who's going to pan out at this stage of the game. How many people saw Matt Ryan coming?

Have any recent coaching changes affected your team's recruiting class (e.g. Lane Kiffin to USC)?

Nope. As far as I can tell. Not this year anyway. The past couple of years have been fairly tumultuous though, going from Tom O'Brien to Jeff Jagodzinski to Frank Spaziani in a span of 3 years. Some think this year's class is a bit of a disappointment, but there are enough guys in the class (Shakim Phillips, Chase Rettig, Steele Divitto, Seth Betancourt, and Kevin Pierre-Louis) that leave me optimistic about the future of BC football.

Who do you all think have assembled the strongest recruiting class, taking into account not just rankings but the needs each one has filled?

Florida State. Rankings aside, FSU seems to have assembled the most talented group of recruits in the ACC this year. It was bound to happen once Bobby Bowden was shoved out the door. Jimbo has recruited well and benefited from recruits new sense of coaching staff stability in Tallahassee.

This is really nothing new though. Florida State has always recruited well. Now Fisher has to prove he can win with superior talent.

How do you all see ACC schools competing with schools in the SEC and Big 12 for recruits?

Coming from the northernmost ACC school, Boston College rarely competes head-to-head with SEC and Big 12 schools for recruits. You'll most likely see BC in the mix for recruits with one of three groups of schools: 1) Big East (Rutgers, Syracuse, Pittsburgh), 2) Big Ten (Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State) and 3) schools with strong academic reputations (Northwestern, Stanford, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt).

Increasingly you'll see BC recruiting against ACC schools like Maryland, Duke, and Vanderbilt. Rarely will BC win against Florida State, Clemson and Miami. BC has started to tap into the south Florida recruiting pipeline, picking up the occasional recruit that is passed over by Florida's Big 3.