Tag: Boston College Football

ACC Football Teams Ranked by Returning Production for 2024

A look at each ACC team’s returning production for the upcoming 2024 season.

Forecasting which teams will rise to greatness in college football in any given season can prove challenging. However, a key indicator often lies in the roster’s returning players.

From seasoned fifth-year senior linebackers to up-and-coming junior quarterbacks, the presence of experienced athletes opting to continue with their respective programs can significantly bolster a team’s competitive advantage. This continuity becomes particularly crucial as other teams contend with talent depletion due to NFL draft selections, transfers, or eligibility regulations.

ESPN recently released a list of all 134 FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) teams, with each ACC team naturally being listed. Here is a look at each ACC team’s returning production on offense, defense, and total.

Updated 4/7

Every ACC football team’s ESPN preseason SP+ ranking

The ACC has some strong teams heading into the 2024 season, according to ESPN’s SP+.

The 2024 college football season is months away, but we all know that football remains on the mind throughout the offseason. 

Early rankings have been released all over the place, with ESPN’s Bill Connelly recently releasing the preseason ESPN SP+ rankings ($$$) for the 2024 season. These SP+ rankings consider multiple key factors regarding a football team, including returning production, recent recruiting, and recent history. A strong model; here is a bit more of what Connelly had to say about the rankings. 

“It’s a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. It is a predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football, not a résumé ranking. Along those same lines, these projections aren’t intended to be a guess at what the AP Top 25 will look like at the end of the season. These are simply early offseason power rankings based on the information we have been able to gather to date.”

Straightforward and to the point, these are power rankings based on what we know right now. So, how do Clemson and the rest of the ACC stack up in the first SP+ rankings for 2024? Check it out below.

Updated 2/16

Social media reacts: Boston College hires Bill O’Brien as their new head coach

Bill O’Brien was initially expected to be the Ohio State OC in 2024, but now he is Boston College’s head coach.

The Boston College football program landed a big name as their next head coach as former head coach Jeff Hafley departed for the NFL to become the Green Bay Packers’ new defensive coordinator.

With their vacancy at HC, the Eagles went out and landed Bill O’Brien as their program’s new leader. After just three weeks as Ohio State’s new offensive coordinator, O’Brien was back on the move and joining Boston College.

Things move fast in college football, and this was definitely one of those moments. It further added to one of the craziest off-seasons we’ve seen from the sport. The Boston native returns home.

With news like this comes reactions. Here is a look at how X (formerly known as Twitter) reacted to O’Brien joining Boston College as their HC.

ACC head coach Jeff Hafley heading to the NFL

Boston College is losing their head coach to the NFL.

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. —Boston College football Coach Jeff Hafley announced today that he is stepping down as the Gregory P. Barber ’69 and Family Head Coach to become the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers.

Hafley, who has led the Eagles since 2020 and finished the 2023 season with a record of 7-6 and a Wasabi Fenway Bowl victory over No. 17-ranked SMU, said the decision to leave BC was difficult, but that the opportunity to become defensive coordinator of the Packers was one that he could not pass up.

“I loved my four years at Boston College,” said Hafley.  “This is an exceptional place to coach given the caliber of student-athletes we recruit, the facilities, and the support from the University and BC fans. I will miss the players who gave so much of themselves these past four years, and my wife Gina and I will certainly miss the BC community and the many friends we have made here.”

William V. Campbell Director of Athletics Blake James thanked Hafley for his dedicated service to his players and BC football since being named head coach in December of 2019.

“We are incredibly grateful to Coach Hafley for his service to Boston College and to our student-athletes,” said James.  “He was a true ambassador of our institution, and under his leadership, the Eagles earned three bowl berths, excelled academically, and represented Boston College with class and distinction. We wish him, his wife, Gina, and their daughters, Hope and Leah, all the best in their next steps.”

James said that a national search for a new head coach will begin immediately.

“As a world-class institution with a strong tradition and a commitment to excellence, we are confident that we will find an exceptional new leader for our football program, and we will continue to do everything we can to support our student-athletes.”

– Via Boston College Athletic Communications 

Commanders set to travel and interview Ben Johnson

The Commanders are traveling to Ben Johnson next week.

Tuesday, brought the NFL world the news that the Commanders and Falcons are both planning on going to interview Ben Johnson next week.

Johnson, the Lions offensive coordinator has already interviewed with Washington once. What makes this Pelissero update an attention grabber is the Commanders are traveling to Johnson next week.

This does NOT mean Johnson is the only candidate the Commanders want. New GM Adam Peters no doubt understands he needs to have a couple of backup plans in place so that he can at least get one of his top choices during this hiring cycle.

However, the fact the Commanders are already planning on traveling to Johnson next week may indicate Johnson is their first choice. We will learn more this week and perhaps Peters will also schedule a second or third candidate to be interviewed again next week as well.

What’s more, is the urgency of interviewing Johnson. The Commanders are well aware that Johnson has already interviewed five teams.

Are the Commanders planning on interviewing Ravens DC Mike Macdonald as well next week?

Washington is interviewing Cowboys DC Dan Quinn and Rams DC Raheem Morris again this week. The Commanders interviewed Texans OC Bobby Slowik for a second time on Tuesday.

Johnson began coaching as a Boston College graduate assistant (2009-10) before coaching their tight ends in 2011.

Moving to the Miami Dolphins for six seasons (2013-18), Johnson was an offensive assistant, an assistant to the quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends coaches through 2017. In 2018, at age 32, he became an NFL position coach (wide receivers).

In 2019, Johnson became the offensive quality control coach for the Lions, then transitioned to be the Lions tight ends coach in the 2020-21 seasons. Johnson, now age 37, has been the Lions’ offensive coordinator in the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

ACC Football 2024 Team Recruiting Rankings After Early Signing Day

Here is a full look at how the ACC stands in team recruiting rankings after early signing day.

Early signing day was, as it should be for every college football program nationwide, a very busy day.

High school players across the country signed their national letters of intent and secured the next step in their football careers as they prepare to join their new teams. The ACC had some good success on early signing day, with multiple ACC programs landing in the top 25 of class team rankings following the day. 

So, how does the ACC stack up against each other? That’s what we’re going to take a look at today. Here is a look at every ACC team’s 2024 team recruiting ranking according to 247Sports following early signing day.

Updated 12/25

Someone walking through the Virginia – Boston College announcers’ booth hilariously interrupted the broadcast

The CW Sports team is learning on the fly during unexpected interruptions.

The CW has been getting in on ACC football games this fall, and it looks like the CW Sports broadcasts are still a bit of a work-in-progress.

During the network’s live broadcast of Virginia – Boston College, broadcasters Tom Werme and James Bates got a surprise interruption as someone from their broadcast crew just walked right through one of their live shots from one end of the screen to the other.

The two folks in the booth handled the unexpected guest really well, so kudos to these two for navigating what’s sure to be one of the more awkward encounters in college football broadcasting this weekend.

Hey, we’ve all had moments where we’ve had to pivot in the middle of something to field a surprise, and The CW’s sports team is learning on the job how to make the best broadcasts happen.

Sometimes, that means some poor guy is going to walk right behind your broadcast booth setup as he’s trying to make it from one side to the other.

If you handle it like these two broadcasters did, you’ll be just fine.

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ACC football power rankings after Week 4: Florida State cements place atop the conference, Clemson drops

Here is a look at our ACC power rankings following Week 4 of the 2023 college football season.

The ACC looks very different this season, with Florida State taking down Clemson 31-24 in overtime as they cemented their spot atop the conference. 

As Florida State held onto the top spot in the ACC, Clemson fell further down the rankings as they failed to take advantage of a huge opportunity. The ACC looks stronger than many expected heading into this season, and in a shocking turn, the Tigers are not among the top tier of this conference through four weeks. 

There is a lot of season left for his to change, but right now, the conference looks far different than many would have expected. Here are our ACC football power rankings following Week 4 action.

ACC football power rankings after Week 1

Here is a look at our ACC power rankings following Week 1 of the 2023 college football season.

The 2023 college football season is in full swing, as each ACC team has officially participated in a game this season. 

It was a wild week for the ACC, that saw some great matchups. Florida State proved that they are the real deal in their thrashing of LSU, while Duke upset Clemson in a 28-7 upset that no one saw coming. 

The ACC is back, and it was an exciting week, with each team showing us some of what we can expect this season. With the crazy week of football, we are releasing our first batch of ACC rankings for the 2023 season. Here is how I’m breaking down the ACC after Week 1’s performances.

Updated ACC football projected win totals according to ESPN FPI

Despite all the hype around Florida State, ESPN’s FPI has Clemson as the ACC’s top projected team.

The 2023 college football season will be an intense one for the ACC, with a lot on the line. One of the most significant discussions of this off-season truly has become Clemson or Florida State. The Seminoles have become arguably the most hyped team in college football heading into 2023, with their new addition of former Michigan State wide receiver Keon Coleman adding even more fuel to the fire. 

Despite the hype and most analysts seeing Florida State as the new top team in the ACC, ESPN’s FPI sees things differently. 

According to ESPN, the FPI is a “measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule. Ratings and projections update daily. FPI data from seasons prior to 2019 may not be complete”.

This FPI has Clemson with the highest projected win total in the ACC, ahead of Florida State. Here is a full look at the projected win totals for each ACC team according to ESPN’s FPI.