BC Interruption, a Boston College Eagles community

An official crowd of 7,427 began filing late Saturday afternoon into the beautiful new Clipper Magazine Stadium, home of the independent minor-league Lancaster Barnstormers, and the first event on the agenda was a home run contest between four guys from Team NFL and four Eagles. In the championship round, Giants tight end Ryan Purvis -- who played scholastic football a mile away at Lancaster Catholic -- topped Jamar Chaney, nine dingers to six.

Brian in Pittsburgh, Pa., writes: Heather - Is Coach Spaz on the hot seat this season for BC? Is an 8 win season a reasonable expectation for this squad?

HD: Yes, he is. No, it isn't.

However, whether it was sustainable or not, there is no doubt that the program continues to take steps in the wrong direction under Spaziani. The team has gone from eight wins in his first year to seven wins in 2010 to just a 4-8 mark last season, and maybe worst of all, have lost their identity. For a team that has produced elite quarterbacks like Matt Ryan and the Hasselbeck brothers over the years, Boston College finished 100th in passing offense last year, and 112th nationally in scoring at just 18.2 points per game. Understand that it’s one thing to be bad. It’s quite another to be boring. And right now, Boston College is both.

As of now, there’s no reason to think that Army’s front will stop the F.B.S. opponents on this schedule with any consistency. And the schedule will test Army’s depth all along the defense – and on offense – from Sept. 15 through Nov. 17, allowing no time for air. Can the Cadets seal up their holes and survive this gauntlet? I’m not convinced they can. While this a better team than last year’s version, I’m not confident enough in the Cadets to project a return to bowl play.

The New England Patriots are bringing back center Dan Koppen, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Koppen, 32, ended the 2011 season on injured reserve for the Patriots. It's reported to be a two-year deal worth $6 million.

Running back Montel Harris, the ACC's 2011 preseason player of the year, missed all but two games last season with a knee injury. BC suffered along with him, finishing 82nd nationally in rushing en route to a miserable 4-8 season. Harris returned for the Eagles' first practice Feb. 18, but immediately re-aggravated the injury and will miss the rest of spring. It's possible the school's all-time leading rusher (3,735 yards) will return to form come August, but it would behoove BC to develop Plan B in the meantime. Juniors Rolandan Finch and Andre Williams got the majority of carries last season, but sophomore Tahj Kimble could become a bigger part of the rotation. None averaged more than 4.5 yards per carry last year.

Spaziani’s win total has been on a steady decline over the last three years, and the Eagles got off to a miserable 1-6 start in 2011. An injury to running back Montel Harris hampered the offense, but the team also didn’t get much improvement from quarterback Chase Rettig. The Eagles return 16 starters for 2012 and finished last season by winning three out of the final five games. With the ACC moving to 14 teams, Boston College can’t afford to watch the program slip too far.

Sources tell me that Rutgers running backs coach Ben Sirmans could end with the St. Louis Rams running backs job.

Bicknell, 49, has been the Giants' assistant offensive line coach under Pat Flaherty for the past three seasons. Previously, he was an assistant and head coach for three college programs. He served as a graduate assistant at Boston College in 1986 for his father Jack Sr., the Eagles' head coach from 1981-90, and returned to the program as offensive line coach from 2007-08. Jack Jr., whose brother Bob is the Bills' tight ends coach, was the head coach at Louisiana Tech from 1999-2006.

Jagodzinski recorded a solid 20-8 record during two seasons as Boston College’s head coach (2007-08). He was fired after interviewing for the vacant Jets head coaching position and has spent time with the Buccaneers and worked as the head coach of the UFL’s Omaha Nighthawks in 2010. A significant concern if Jagodzinski is to land another head coaching job: He was not regarded as a strong recruiter during his time with Boston College.