Boston College Football Opens Up Spring Practice

The Steve Addazio era is officially underway at Boston College. Yesterday, despite the snow, the Eagles practiced under the bubble at Alumni Stadium. By rule the practice had to be non contact, and pictures emerged from Heights Sports that helped clue us into what was going on. There were no green shirts at the practice, and Louis Addazio was the only early enrollee. Matt Patchan is most likely still at Florida finishing his degree so he can graduate on time.

As expected Addazio was positive about his first practice with the team:

"I thought the kids today worked real hard. I thought they had great attitude, great effort," Addazio said. "You can tell they're straining to do the right thing. We've got a long way to go. But if you have great effort and you're willing to fight through each day, it'll get better. Like I said to them at the end of practice, `where we are today and where we'll be at the end of spring will be two different things.'"

Also Coach Addazio was non committal about naming a starter at any position.

"It's all open ... It really is open. As great as it is to be out here today and make some comments about what happened here today, this isn't really football today. There aren't pads; there's nothing. Saturday will be our first football practice. Traditionally, that's pretty sloppy, especially offensively. But it sets the stage for next week. That's where you really start to see guys that are emerging and start to figure this thing out."

One of the biggest question marks so far has to be Addazio's hesitation to name Chase Rettig his starting quarterback. The senior quarterback started off his final spring practice by making a good impression on his new coach.

"It's great when you have a guy that has a great mindset and he does. I like his demeanor right now. He's all about being a leader for the team and he's all about getting better every day. I don't see a lot of egos out here. I don't see any of that and that's really good. That's important. A lot of quarterbacks are getting reps, but Chase I came out here on day one and threw the ball pretty well and he's got amazingly a pretty good grasp of what we're trying to get done - for day one. I was pleased with that and as a whole I like some of the leaders on the team. I'm encouraged with who we are from an attitude stand point."

Some other roster notes:.

-- There has been some shakeup in the quarterback depth chart. Dave Shinskie and Shane Cranmore are both no longer listed on the roster, while Mike Marscovetra is still on the team and practiced yesterday.
-- Al Louis Jean has returned to the field after recovering from his foot injury from last season.
-- Ameer Richardson is no longer with the team. Nothing has been announced by the school regarding this.
-- David Dudeck is still getting snaps at running back even though he is is listed as a safety on the roster list.

In terms of depth chart news The Heights had some insights including:

-- First-team defensive line reps were given to Kasim Edebali, Kaleb Ramsey, Connor Wujciak and Mehdi Abdesmad.
-- Tim Joy, Steele Divitto and Kevin Pierre-Louis were first team at linebacker.
-- The secondary first teamers were Sean Sylvia, Spencer Rositano, C.J. Jones, Al Louis Jean.
-- Alex Amidon and Johnathan Coleman were the primary receivers, with Harrison Jackson and Spiffy Evans getting the second team reps.