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SB Nation college football writer Bud Elliott sat down and chatted with Boston College senior offensive lineman Emmett Cleary. Cleary had a lot of things to say about the new offense, and new offensive coordinator Doug Martin. First Cleary talked about last year's disappointing season.
"It was a disaster. Nobody comes to Boston College to go 4-8. It's not an excuse, but we had a lot of bad breaks, a lot of injuries and not a lot of healthy veterans. And 4-8 is what happens when you don't play well and have those limitations," Cleary said.
I hear what Cleary is saying, but that sounds a lot like some of the excuses that Spaziani made last year. They did have injuries, but so did a lot of teams, and they had plenty of veterans, so it's hard to buy that excuse. Then Cleary talks about the decline of the program and the state of the Class of 2013:
When you get down to it, it's just players not making plays. That's been the constant factor," he said when asked if he could point to one specific reason for the three-year slide. "Another part of it is with my class, we signed 34 guys, and we only have eight or nine left. We don't have a whole lot up top. And we've just had two down years.
Cleary goes on to gush about his teammates on offense, even going so far as to say that Chris Pantale is the best tight end in the ACC. The really interesting part if the interview is when Cleary talks about the new offensive system implemented by Doug Martin.
"It's more spread than it's been," Cleary said. "Last year you saw a lot of double tight ends. This year it will be a little more open. That said, we still run a lot of the same things. We just run them from different formations. The greatest difference will be that we're going to push. We're going to force you to defend everything. We have guys at every spot who can make plays. If you're sitting in the box, we're going over the top. If you're too wide we'll go up the gut. If will look a little different, but the main difference will be that we have the personnel to make it work a lot better."
I don't know about you, but I see "run a lot of the same plays" and red flags fly up all over the place. I understand execution is a major concern, but I hope BC is more aggressive, and what Cleary isn't implying is a faster version of last years ineffective offense. Make sure you read the entire interview and leave your impressions below in the comments.