Critical Season Looms for Frank Spaziani, Boston College (SB Nation Boston)
Will Spaz be simply another in a long line of career assistants who, when given the big job, were simply overwhelmed by the position? A coaches third year is typically where you begin to see the imprint of the new staff. The initial recruiting classes are major contributors, and the team philosophy is fully embedded. Despite the rough schedule, better results should be expected this year.
@JustinTuckNYG91 on Twitter
Kiwi is returning to the big blue. Yes sir
2011 BC football breakdown, Part VIII: Right tackle (Soaring To Glory)
Rich Lapham, last year’s right tackle, has moved on to post-college life (as an undrafted free agent signing by the Buffalo Bills). His old position at Boston College is now open, and there are plenty of offensive tackles around to fill the void.
Herzlich's Twitter Timeline (Giants.com)
Quite literally providing a timeline, Herzlich chronicles his life through tweets, following his roundabout journey with cancer to the NFL while finding time to crack the occasional joke along the way.
Holloway: New Leader (Eagle Action)
When the Boston College players organize workouts during the summer there are many different tasks to get accomplished. One product to come out of the workouts that the team hopes gets accomplished is that new leaders emerge. On the defensive line, Max Holloway---who currently is rocking his best James Harden beard impersonation--- has emerged as a leader for the defensive ends.
Preseason Top 16: #15 Boston College (The College Hockey Blog)
I imagine BC will be ranked higher than this in the major polls, simply because of their name. And they have earned that right: BC is one of the best current programs in the country and one of the better ones all time. But I have some serious doubts about the 2011-12 group assembled. They lose their best player, Cam Atkinson, a two time national champion goalie, and a host of lesser known but very good role players.
THE WORST POSSIBLE LIST OF CANDIDATES WE COULD COMPILE FOR BUTCH DAVIS' REPLACEMENT (Every Day Should Be Saturday)
Dan Henning. Oversaw a sports betting scandal where his Boston College players bet against their own team. If that and a peripatetic 30 year NFL career doesn't inspire, maybe the words "Jake Delhomme's FAILsherpa" will
Opponents / ACC
Big Ten personnel nuggets (ESPN College Football Nation Blog)
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said standout quarterback Dan Persa is 100 percent healed from surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles' tendon. Persa now must work on getting into football shape and shaking off the rust from a long layoff. "It's going to be a little bit different because his body is going to operate a little bit different," Fitzgerald said. "Now it's about adding the strength, getting the conditioning level up, getting back to having fun."
College Football Countdown: No. 19 Virginia Tech (College Gridiron 365 Blog)
As the clear ACC Coastal Division favorite, the Hokies will be back in the conference title game. The only question will be whether they get past Florida State for a second straight time, or if they have to beat someone else.
Villanova Football Picked 7th In 2011 Preseason CAA Poll (The Nova Blog)
While UMass was picked to finish 5th in the CAA this year, and received a first place vote.
Andy Katz: Turgeon Will Play Four Guards "on a Consistent Basis" (Testudo Times)
A four-guard look, ala old-school Villanova, is pretty much the only way Maryland can get five ACC-starter-level players on the floor at the same time. They'll obviously be left with a pretty massive size deficiency, but it's nothing Maryland fans aren't familiar with: remember, this is the team that made the NCAA tournament with a 6-6 center. I'm assuming they'll try to run-and-gun to make up for the overall lack of size, pushing the tempo in an attempt to tire out the bigger players.
2011 SB Nation Preseason ACC Football Poll: Terps Fourth in Atlantic (Testudo Times)
The Terps leapfrog N.C. State, which plummeted from 3rd in the media poll to 5th in the blogger poll. I suppose that's what taking the NC bias out of the equation will do for a poll. And I still think Md. should be above BC, but that's my own bias showing through I suppose.