Hafley to BC

[MF73-Eleazar]

I don't think Hafley will be here for very long.

If he's not here for very long, it will be because he had excellent results that made us all happy.

If he gets us 25 or more wins over 3 yrs, he's gone.

[HJS]

I don't think Hafley will be here for very long.

If he's not here for very long, it will be because he had excellent results that made us all happy.

If he gets us 25 or more wins over 3 yrs, he's gone.

This is a terrible post and you should feel bad about it.

[Logitano]

I was talking to a friend of mine - a local HS FB Coach and I asked what he thought of the Hafley hire. He mentioned that he had heard that Hafley was BC's 3rd choice, and that 2 other coaches were offered the job and turned it down. I haven't really seen anything suggesting this was the case, except for this snippet from footballscoop.com - although it doesn't actually say others were offered the job:


Navy’s Ken Niumatalolo was a strong candidate for the position, but as evidenced by his dalliances with BYU and Arizona, he’s proven famously difficult to pull out of Annapolis. Once Niumatalolo and another candidate removed themselves from the process, BC quickly moved to Hafley.

Anyone hear anything more? Not that it matters at this point, but it would make for some interesting analysis of the who and why.

BC offering two other coaches and being turned down is an outright lie. Sounds like people we are recruiting against putting out misinformation.

Niumatalolo was not ever a strong candidate for the job.

Those that know me will back up that I told them Hafley was our new coach as early as 12/7 and I never wavered.

Did BC meet other people? Yes. Did anyone else get put up for the job? No.

If anything the acceptance of this rumor by a local coach shows how much the locals love to shit on BC.

as usual logi is right

ken n was never a legit candidate and the footballscoop's report was bullshit, bringing his religion into it was a dead give away

logi, didn't see you at the westchester christmas party. maybe the shore road crew maps to the bronx alumni chapter?

Logi was in on Hafley from the beginning and throughout the process (OMG Tim effing Murphy waffling aside).

As a post mortem... Fickell and Hafley were the only 2 consistent names out there from the start. I believe that both wanted the job. I believe that Marty realized early on that he likely could only go after one of the two (as neither would be willing to sit as a backup). Marty chose Hafley. Once Marty chose Hafley, he had to land him. I think that the process from that point on was navigating BC. Marty went through with interviews of with other candidates (the only ones with legs seem to be Bielema, Waldron, Washington, Elko, Lea and DeBoer). I do not believe Monken, Murphy or Ken N were ever involved... I doubt they got anything but possibly a phone call arranged by their agent. To that end, I also think another nonsense (blauds) rumor was that Hafley walked from negotiations because of a lack of commitment from BC. Hafley wanted the job from the jump. There was never a point where BC gave him enough pause to walk from the opportunity. The delay was purely BC folks wanting to Marty to talk to different people... and coordinating an interview with Leahy.

For better or worse, Jarmond identified, went after and landed his first choice... Jeff Hafley. Time will tell if that decision was the best, but the process yielded the exact coach that the AD wanted.

Shouldn’t this be in the BC fan fiction thread?

I don’t think Ficknell wanted this job or would have accepted it. It’s clear he will get a much bigger job whenever he chooses to leave Cincy. Marty said he didn’t want to interview guys who were only interviewing in the hopes of landing something bigger which is exactly how I see Ficknells interest in BC (if there was any). Maybe I’m wrong here... I guesss I will have to wait for Tom dooder to correct me.

Are you ever right?

[HJS]

I was talking to a friend of mine - a local HS FB Coach and I asked what he thought of the Hafley hire. He mentioned that he had heard that Hafley was BC's 3rd choice, and that 2 other coaches were offered the job and turned it down. I haven't really seen anything suggesting this was the case, except for this snippet from footballscoop.com - although it doesn't actually say others were offered the job:

BC offering two other coaches and being turned down is an outright lie. Sounds like people we are recruiting against putting out misinformation.

If anything the acceptance of this rumor by a local coach shows how much the locals love to shit on BC.

Further evidence of local institutions hating BC...

Last month, at a press conference introducing Greg Schiano as its new football coach for the second time, Boston Globe columnist Tara Sullivan (a Rutgers graduate from New Jersey) covered the event.
At Monday's press conference introducing Hafley, NO Globe columnist was present.

https://mavensports.io/college/tmg/mark ... lZk3PC5GPQ

[DomingoOrtiz]

I was talking to a friend of mine - a local HS FB Coach and I asked what he thought of the Hafley hire. He mentioned that he had heard that Hafley was BC's 3rd choice, and that 2 other coaches were offered the job and turned it down. I haven't really seen anything suggesting this was the case, except for this snippet from footballscoop.com - although it doesn't actually say others were offered the job:

BC offering two other coaches and being turned down is an outright lie. Sounds like people we are recruiting against putting out misinformation.

If anything the acceptance of this rumor by a local coach shows how much the locals love to shit on BC.

Further evidence of local institutions hating BC...

Last month, at a press conference introducing Greg Schiano as its new football coach for the second time, Boston Globe columnist Tara Sullivan (a Rutgers graduate from New Jersey) covered the event.
At Monday's press conference introducing Hafley, NO Globe columnist was present.

https://mavensports.io/college/tmg/mark ... lZk3PC5GPQ

Who was the reporter who asked 2 or 3 off mic questions?

[HJS]

Not sure who you are talking about. But, I thought I saw Julian Benbow in one of the clips. But, I’m not entirely sure.

[hansen]

Not sure who you are talking about. But, I thought I saw Julian Benbow in one of the clips. But, I’m not entirely sure.

yeah, mumbles was def there.

[Eaglekeeper]

I expect BC to step up and pay whatever it takes to keep Hafley if he is very successful. They have ten years worth of revenue numbers to compare with 3-5 years of revenues under Hafley. If the revenue numbers are considerably higher it would be a lot more risky not to pay up.

If BC is 10-2 or conference champs, why would they not pay 8 million per year to keep him. Would they really want to risk going back to what we just experienced the last ten years? Your program is only as good as the coach you hire.

Go Eagles!

[ATLeagle]

I was talking to a friend of mine - a local HS FB Coach and I asked what he thought of the Hafley hire. He mentioned that he had heard that Hafley was BC's 3rd choice, and that 2 other coaches were offered the job and turned it down. I haven't really seen anything suggesting this was the case, except for this snippet from footballscoop.com - although it doesn't actually say others were offered the job:

BC offering two other coaches and being turned down is an outright lie. Sounds like people we are recruiting against putting out misinformation.

If anything the acceptance of this rumor by a local coach shows how much the locals love to shit on BC.

Further evidence of local institutions hating BC...

Last month, at a press conference introducing Greg Schiano as its new football coach for the second time, Boston Globe columnist Tara Sullivan (a Rutgers graduate from New Jersey) covered the event.
At Monday's press conference introducing Hafley, NO Globe columnist was present.

https://mavensports.io/college/tmg/mark ... lZk3PC5GPQ

Benbow was there. Did Blauds not recognize him?

[RegalBCeagle]

Can this post be re-named "Hafley will turn out to be a great hire" so it can live gloriously (or infamously) like Notorious' post?

[NotoriousOrange]

Can this post be re-named "Hafley will turn out to be a great hire" so it can live gloriously (or infamously) like Notorious' post?

as a joke I actually started a thread called "Hafley will turn out to be a great hire" (but on 2nd thought it didn't seem like it would amuse anyone but me - so I deleted it)

[eagletx]

Can this post be re-named "Hafley will turn out to be a great hire" so it can live gloriously (or infamously) like Notorious' post?

as a joke I actually started a thread called "Hafley will turn out to be a great hire" (but on 2nd thought it didn't seem like it would amuse anyone but me - so I deleted it)

The ability to ridicule one's self is a demonstration of character. You can always repost your original post on the CSU forum. Seems like they might have some fun with it.

[hansen]

Can this post be re-named "Hafley will turn out to be a great hire" so it can live gloriously (or infamously) like Notorious' post?

as a joke I actually started a thread called "Hafley will turn out to be a great hire" (but on 2nd thought it didn't seem like it would amuse anyone but me - so I deleted it)

The ability to ridicule one's self is a demonstration of character.

this

[DomingoOrtiz]

He will be in the student section tonight.

[RegalBCeagle]

He will be in the student section tonight.

He just spoke.to the crowd after 1st period. Guy is.full of piss and vinegar. Made me want to run through a wall. It was genuine - unlike Daz's shtick. The crowd ate it up. I like this guy.

[MF73-Eleazar]

2:20 vid of the speech in its entirety.
https://twitter.com/DaveScalera/status/ ... 4133761024

[mod6A]

i vote we start "10 and 2" season " early this year.





ps - i also request a emoti of the old logo*




*asking for pre-nerdification alums

[hansen]

i vote we start "10 and 2" season " early this year.





ps - i also request a emoti of the old logo*




*asking for pre-nerdification alums

Yeah, old logo looks damn good on that jersey

[MF73-Eleazar]

Students are pumped:

https://twitter.com/riskallin/status/12 ... 7408497666

[claver2010]

He will be in the student section tonight.

He just spoke.to the crowd after 1st period. Guy is.full of piss and vinegar. Made me want to run through a wall. It was genuine - unlike Daz's shtick. The crowd ate it up. I like this guy.

That was outstanding

Mrs claver said it was like a Baptist homily inside conte

[MF73-Eleazar]

Hafley interview on NESN+

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx4iLLUCa_s

[Eaglekeeper]

Two big takeaways, first he is going to make the opposition defend the entire field and second BC is going to be aggressive on defense. That’s fun football to play and fun for the fans to watch. Let’s hope he lands more and more top recruits!

Go Eagles!

[eagle33]

hafley interviewed by news12 in jersey. i hope schiano has stocked up on antacid.

https://twitter.com/BCFootball/status/1222162570754158592

[claver2010]

hafley really doing the rounds:

https://theathletic.com/1588396/2020/02 ... y-profile/

[BCSUPERFAN22]

hafley really doing the rounds:

https://theathletic.com/1588396/2020/02 ... y-profile/

Can anyone post the text to this ??

[eagletx]

hafley really doing the rounds:

https://theathletic.com/1588396/2020/02 ... y-profile/

Can anyone post the text to this ??

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Five minutes before he can finally set his eyes on his players doing some form of physical activity, Jeff Hafley welcomes a few visitors into his bare-bones office and waxes poetic about the art of sleeping in the same bed on consecutive nights.

This is not a complaint. Far from it. Unlike so many of his ilk, the new Boston College coach values some shut-eye, and some sanity, describing the six-hour nights he has gotten during this last recruiting push ahead of Wednesday’s signing day as extremely low for a guy who lives by the adage of early to bed, early to rise.

Rather, the consistency is symbolic, with this week marking the first real time that the new Eagles boss, his 10 assistant coaches and his 100 or so players are under the same roof for the first time. Two more days, and he’ll be back in Columbus, Ohio, to pick up his wife and two daughters, with their mid-month closing date — and the stability that a new home will bring — on the horizon.

“I don’t think you can lead anybody until you know them, right?” Hafley says, adding, “And that’s why today is so much fun for me. I just feel like rejuvenated just being back here around the players.”

That much is evident on the eve of signing day, as the grunts, hoofs and overall burn of BC’s offensive and defensive linemen permeate throughout the Fish Fieldhouse — the program’s $52.6 million, 19-month-old indoor practice field — during their 6:20 a.m. conditioning session. Hafley chats informally with the strength staff and trainers throughout, before retreating back to his office, jotting down some notes on his iPad and describing this fantasy-like existence for a 40-year-old who is doing the only thing he’s ever wanted to do with his life.

Two nights earlier, he had a front-row seat to heartbreak, the 49ers having invited him and his wife Gina aboard the team bus to Super Bowl LIV. It was in San Francisco where Hafley refined himself for three years as a defensive backs maestro, the culmination of a seven-year NFL run that stretched from tutoring Ronde Barber in Tampa to Richard Sherman in the Bay, earning Hafley one label while unintentionally shedding him of another.

“I was starting to get like, not mad, but guys are talking about, ‘This guy’s a great coach,’ and then people were introducing me constantly as: ‘Hey, this is Jeff Hafley. He’s a great recruiter,’ ” he says. “That started to piss me off. Like, I didn’t get into coaching to be a great recruiter only. I coached because I love football. And that’s fine that people thought I was a great recruiter. I worked hard at recruiting and I did. I worked my ass off. But no one ever talked about me as a coach, ever. And that’s why when the NFL opportunity came, that’s why I really wanted to go.”

Snatching Dion Lewis and Ray Graham, among others, out of New Jersey and into Pittsburgh will do that for a man’s reputation. It is not a coincidence that Hafley was home-bound back to Rutgers to work for Greg Schiano seemingly the moment Dave Wannstedt’s tenure in Western Pennsylvania came to an end. The unspoken stigma, however, surrounded Hafley’s coaching chops.

All of that made for an ironic role reversal by the time former Niners colleague Ryan Day brought him aboard last year to run Ohio State’s defense.

“It was almost like in the office my first few weeks I was this NFL guy,” Hafley says, laughing. “It’s like: ‘Hey, do you know what you’re doing? Do you need help going on the road?’ It’s like, All right guys, here we go. And then I wasn’t in touch with everybody as quickly because I just got there. So we’re getting kids committed, in the back of my mind I was like: Just give me some time. And then when June hit I had like seven kids commit in a row. It was like: All right. NFL guy, huh?”

When BC announced Hafley’s hiring on Dec. 14, four days ahead of the early signing period and two weeks shy of the Buckeyes’ Playoff semifinal against Clemson, the first-time head coach made a point of meeting with as many of the families of the Eagles’ 12 committed players as possible, honoring all of their verbals when ink met paper that Wednesday. Between then and now, he has sat down with every single returning player on the Eagles’ roster, picking each’s brain on all non-football-related matters.

“I think I’m a pretty approachable guy, and whether it’s me talking about their family or just talking about my family, or just being very light, just being myself, I didn’t have an agenda when I brought them in,” he says. “I’m not asking them what their goals are for the season or what they want to accomplish or how much they weigh or how last year went. I really don’t care about any of that right now. I want to be able to get to know them.”

The biggest mistake new coaches make, he says, is filling a class just to fill it, especially at a place as rigorous academically (and strenuous financially) as BC, where the margin for error on misses is slim. With three-star athlete Kam Arnold, three-star safety Jio Holmes and three-star quarterback Matthew Rueve signing on Wednesday, the 15-member class ranks 62nd nationally in the 247Sports Composite. Coaches spent most of the preceding live period on 2021 prospects.

“I try to stay connected with Jeff during this time, and he’s always in a different state or different high school, but you can tell that his energy and focus on recruiting is real,” athletic director Martin Jarmond says. “And it’s cool to see the staff, they’re all energetic, they’re all passionate about recruiting, and recruiting is the lifeblood of what we do. And so even though we have a small class, for me it was good to see just how active they were and how much ground they covered just in a short amount of time.”

Once the linemen finish their workouts Tuesday, Hafley FaceTimes his family, then spends a half-hour upstairs with recruiting coordinator Joe Sullivan watching film of players from across the country, asking Sullivan during each clip package who from the staff has visited the kid, which other schools have offered him and what is the player’s actual height and weight. (Sullivan also serves as director of player personnel, as Hafley has foregone adding a recruiting coordinator title to one of his 10 assistant coaches.)

“This kid is the best on the field,” Hafley says of one player.

“This kid has more juice than everyone,” he says of another.

Says defensive coordinator Tem Lukabu: “When he was really getting his name out there as far as recruiting, he was at Pitt and I was at Rhode Island. And I recruited New Jersey also, so we all knew about him and he killed it because of his relationships and his personality.

“I went back to Rutgers in 2010 and, Who’s this guy that’s killing us in Jersey from Pitt? We’ve got to find a way to get this guy. And that’s the way he made a name for himself. But I think a lot of people didn’t really notice that he’s a good coach, first and foremost, it just happens to be that he knows the people in the area where he was recruiting and they know that he’s a good person, so they trusted him to send good players to him.”

Lukabu coached outside linebackers at Rutgers when Hafley was brought aboard in 2011 following the turnover at Pitt. As Hafley readied for the move, he received an unexpected call that his father, Greg, still in Jersey, had been diagnosed with colon cancer and was given three weeks to live.
Hafley coached in the NFL from 2012-18. ( Isaiah J. Downing / USA Today)

The job at Rutgers proved to be a blessing. Head coach Greg Schiano provided Hafley all of the support he needed to care for his father, who ended up outlasting his doctors’ initial prognosis by nearly nine months. Schiano left for the NFL after the season, bringing Hafley and Lukabu with him to coach the Buccaneers. Jeff and his fellow assistants bonded through that emotionally straining 2011 campaign. It is no coincidence that both of BC’s current coordinators came from that Scarlet Knights staff.

“We all kind of went through it with him,” Lukabu says of Jeff during that time. “We were at the funeral and everything and it was a tough time, but I admired the way that he just fought through it. I always thought it was important for me to check on him every day and night. To me, that’s one of the things that brought us closer, too. At that point, we didn’t really know each other that long, but he wanted us to be around during that time of the funeral, a life-changing thing like that, so that went a long way for me.”

Like every new coach, Hafley was flooded with calls from inquiring assistants upon accepting the BC job, so much so that he almost got away from himself. He had returned from a three-day recruiting trip taxed, having overthought matters after giving his ear to too many people.

Finally, after awaking one morning and asking himself what are you doing, he went back to what he always told himself he’d do in this position.

“That’s where the guys that you see in here — Tem, (offensive coordinator) Frank (Cignetti)—— it was like a no-brainer, and I felt like so relieved once I just started doing that again,” Hafley says. “So that’s what I did. I trusted my gut. And it was good people who I trusted, who I thought would be great around people. My type of guy where I knew that — whether they were in the office for somewhere down the road — I didn’t have to worry about him. And I knew love football, love kids, a lot of guys who had NFL experience that I’ve been around. And I stopped listening to other people and I just trusted myself on that. And I think that if I had done that earlier it would have been much easier.”

Before Hafley introduced BC’s new signees Wednesday, he stepped behind the Conte Forum podium and put on a clinic in ingratiating one’s self to his new constituency, repeatedly thanking the assembled reporters for all of their interest and promising to not hide anything from the public.

“Your reception has been awesome, and just your articles and stuff so far,” he said.

As one reporter muttered under his breath “so far,” Hafley turned to him, smiled and said: “I heard somebody say ‘so far.’ Let’s keep it that way, please.”

He praised the work of his assistants. He touted the character of the kids who signed with BC this cycle despite the coaching change, saying they love the school for the school. He encouraged more questions. He was asked about his participation in ESPN’s coaches’ room for the national title game, and he said learned how good analysts are at their jobs, because the gig wasn’t easy.

If any of that sounds condescending, consider the fact that he has already planned to make the BC locker room open to reporters after every game next season, a protocol that is essentially unheard of in the social media era.

He comes across as younger than he really is, but naturally so. The Montvale native definitely has some Jersey in him, but he’s not too Jersey. As with most new coaches, he has plans for how he wants to rebrand the place, be it through the carpet in his office and or the signage in the Yawkey Athletic Center’s lobby. But he is not here to burn the place down and start from scratch. This is a program, after all, that made a bowl game in six of predecessor Steve Addazio’s seven seasons, including each of the past four. It is not broken, but it is in need of some modernization, both schematically and cosmetically.

“We haven’t broken that six-, seven-win regular-season margin, and that’s something that when (my class) came in, we wanted to do, was bring in a different light upon Boston College’s football program,” fifth-year linebacker Max Richardson said last week. “And that’s something that we feel is unfinished business, and that’s something we feel we can accomplish here.”

Hafley dedicates the mornings to practices and recruiting. The afternoons are for meetings and the like. He is genuinely thrilled to finally have this program, and this personnel, up and running, referring to this week as college-like in its novelty. He says he will cap these days with a beer before going to sleep, waking up the next day and doing it all over again.

Next week will bring more zest, with his family arriving to town, his new home just days away from existence and his team’s Feb. 22 start of spring practice looming ever so close. He has a 4-year-old daughter who likes to say she was born on the Browns (2015), became best friends with Richard Sherman (2018), moved to Columbus and is now zeroing in on her fourth place in four years. His 1-year-old’s story, he insists, is even crazier: three cities since birth.

He plans on keeping that number to three for a long time. The recruiter-who-couldn’t-coach and became the coach-who-couldn’t-recruit has landed at a place where you need to do both well to have a chance, and now the fun begins.

“I’m usually in a good mood,” he says. “I’ll be in an even better mood once they move here.”

[claver2010]

i will say for a college football fan the athletic is 100% worth it. all the writers are there now, they're running discounts all the time and it's only like $3/month

[Onyx Blackman]

If any of that sounds condescending, consider the fact that he has already planned to make the BC locker room open to reporters after every game next season, a protocol that is essentially unheard of in the social media era.

Does this include full shower privileges?

[hansen]

i will say for a college football fan the athletic is 100% worth it. all the writers are there now, they're running discounts all the time and it's only like $3/month

That was the best BC article I’ve read in some time. It’s written with details that even someone who watches all the press conferences etc. still could find new information in. I may have to consider getting a subscription.

[2001Eagle]

The athletic is amazing. totally worth the pennies per day.

The most interesting part of that article is the part about him coming home off a three day trip and coming to a realization that he didn't like the way the assistant hiring process was going. Indicates that there were bigger names in play for the coordinator positions but that Hafley ultimately decided that he was going to go with people who knew well and trusted unconditionally.