It has been three months since BC played had their game against Boise State in the First Responders Bowl cancelled. With winter still bearing down, the Eagles football opened their spring practices on Saturday, in comfort of the Fish Indoor Practice Facility. Just like every spring, there will be plenty of questions surrounding this program, and there will be particular storylines to watch out for. Here are some of the biggest moving forward.
New Coaches
Coaching changes are a natural part of college football, and BC saw a lot of changes this offseason. Bill Sheridan has taken over the defense, with Mike Bajakian taking the reigns on the offense as Scot Loeffler moved on to become the head coach of Bowling Green. On top of that there have been some significant changes in position coaches as Jim Reid is now the defensive end coach, Eric Lewis is the defensive back coach, and the Eagles have a new strength and conditioning coach on top of all of that. Of course Steve Addazio has made it clear that the program is his, but it is always worth watching to see what wrinkles these new coaches will put on the program. How will Bajakian approach working with this offense, especially helping Anthony Brown with his maturation. Sheridan has said that he wants to improve third down on defense, what will he adjust to do that? These are all storylines to watch this spring.
Offensive Line Changes
One of the biggest question marks for the Eagles heading into 2019 has to be the offensive line. Aaron Monteiro, Jon Baker, Sam Schmal, and Chris Lindstrom have all graduated, but head coach Steve Addazio believes he has the guys to plug in and hopefully not skip too much of a beat. Alec Lindstrom projects to be the new center, Ben Petrula should stick at left tackle and look for Finn Dirstine to jump into the mix as well. While there could be a graduate transfer coming in (Hayden Mahoney of the University of Miami), there will be at least two slots up for grabs. With that much change it will take time for the unit to gel, can they get some valuable reps this spring to start that process? Also, can Addazio and his coaching staff fix some of the mental errors that plagued the unit last season?
Secondary Depth
Next to the offensive line, the secondary has taken the biggest hit from graduation. Lukas Denis, Will Harris, and Hamp Cheevers are all heading to the NFL. Brandon Sebastian came on late last season, and he will be most likely the most experienced DB left on the team. Mike Palmer probably will slot in at safety with Mehdi El-Attrach filling another slot. Nolan Borgersen and Jason Maitre are two names to watch for this spring. Especially with position coach Anthony Campanile heading to Michigan, this is going to be a position of big concern going into 2019.
Wide Outs
BC lost some solid WRs this offseason with Jeff Smith and Michael Walker graduating. Kobay White will be the deep threat going into next season, but who will be that speed wide out that fills the Jeff Smith role? Will that be Ben Glines or Travis Levy? Or will it be someone else on the depth chart. Noah Jordan-Williams and CJ Lewis are logical names to step up as well, and Ethon Williams a true freshman is on campus as well. He could be someone who leaps up the depth chart pretty quickly.
Sam Johnson
It has been a while since BC has had a QB recruit as heralded as the 4* Johnson. He is grey shirting and on campus practicing already. While it appears that Anthony Brown has the starting job pretty much locked, Addazio has talked about it being an open competition. And Addazio has pulled the trigger on starting a younger player before, most recently starting Brown over Darius Wade. If Johnson comes out and shows he is electric, could he give Brown a run for his money? And what about Matt Valecce, someone who could bring a more pro style to the offense. Quarterback battles are always interesting to watch, and this could be a good one heading into the summer.