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It has been a whirlwind month and a half of recruiting for Boston College football. Steve Addazio has been everything he and Brad Bates claimed he would be on the recruiting trail, and we as fans have watched our recruiting stats go from "battling with Ohio and Akron" status to "hey we just beat Nebraska and Syracuse for a QB".
To look at how recruiting has changed, you have to look at the philosophy behind the system the school is now using. In years past top recruits were in fact contacted by Frank Spaziani and Co. but the coaching staff failed to cultivate relationships with these kids, and failed miserably at selling Boston College's strengths. What we have seen with Steve Addazio is the complete opposite. Every recruiting article you read, or recruit tweet you see on Twitter usually includes some form of "blown away by Boston College", "loved the school" or "was impressed by the coaching staff". That is a huge paradigm shift, and honestly this is exactly what BC needs.
Boston College has a lot to offer student athletes and the best part is that a talented recruiter like Steve Addazio can tailor the pitch to the given situation. Student wants to play in a competitive conference? Check. Wants to have a great academic experience? Check. Early playing time? Check. Be part of the turnaround of Boston College football? Check. Catholic? Check. The opportunities to sell this program are limited only to Addazio's energy and skills. Heck, Addazio has these recruits buying into his philosophy so hard that he has them selling the program to other recruits.
!! RT @bceagles247: Darius Wade gave some credit to (now fellow) #BCEagles commit Marcus Outlow (@princeoutlow) for his commitment.
— Marcus Outlow (@PrinceOutlow) April 9, 2013
I know this happens a lot at other program, but having recruits rope in other recruits has been something BC has lacked for a long time. And the funny thing is Outlow isn't done. Today he tweeted out that he wants to get 3* ATH Thaddius Smith and 4* RB Johnathan Thomas to join him at BC. If that is the case that would be at least four recruits that Outlow has helped bring to the Heights (Wade, Thomas, Smith and Isaac Yiadim).
The state of BC football recruiting is in great shape. In the span of two months Addazio has made BC an attractive option to standout recruits. Darius Wade is no joke. He has a cannon for an arm, can throw on the run, and his high school stats are insane, he threw 27 TD's and 1 INT as a junior for his team, while going on to win the national title. Wade is a centerpiece of a recruiting class QB, which raises the question. Now that Wade is an Eagle, does that mean 4* QB Will Ulmer is a goner? At this point, it would look like the chances BC would land him would be slim.
And guess what. Just like Outlow, Wade is already trying to help wrangle in yet another high caliber player, his teammate, 4* recruit Chris Godwin. If Wade can bring Godwin to BC, he would immediately become the highest rated committed recruit for 2014. Godwin who is 6-2 and runs a 4.5 40, has offers from Ohio State, Northwestern, Stanford, Penn State and Virginia Tech (among others). This would be the kind of recruit that BC never stood a chance at getting before, the kind that we need to get more accustomed to being on the radar.
Godwin's tapes are below:
247 Sports says that BC will have "6+ recruits" before the end of April. Currently we stand at 4. Could Godwin be on his way? Will we be seeing more local talent like Johnathan Thomas or Lubern Figaro (DB) committing? Get ready folks, there may be some big news coming out of the Heights over the next couple of weeks, Addazio has kept us on our toes so far, it's hard to imagine that will change.