Opinion: Boston College Football is Spiraling

Mar 6, 2023 - 4:00 PM

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Last week, Boston College finally announced staffing changes that addressed its holes at both offensive and defensive coordinator.

These changes come after BC parted ways with John McNulty, their offensive coordinator of just one season, who was fired, and Tem Lukabu, their defensive coordinator of three seasons, who left the Heights to take a linebackers coaching job with the Carolina Panthers.

Rod Chudzinski was promoted to associate head coach for offense and offensive development, after serving three seasons as Hafley’s special assistant to the head coach.

Steve Shimko was promoted to offensive coordinator, after serving last season as quarterbacks coach and two seasons as tight ends coach.

Darrell Wyatt was promoted to passing game coordinator, after serving one season as wide receivers coach.

Aazaar Abdul-Rahim was promoted to co-defensive coordinator, after serving two seasons as associate head coach and three seasons as defensive backs coach.

Also promoted to co-defensive coordinator was Sean Duggan, who was BC’s linebackers coach for the past three seasons.

New coaches added to staff this offseason include Matt Applebaum, who returns to BC as offensive line coach after a 1-year stint with the Miami Dolphins, and Paul Rhoads as outside linebackers coach.

The #1 thing that catches the eye? No new blood in the leadership roles. After a season that saw Boston College with the worst rushing attack in all of FBS football and the 2nd-worst overall defense in the ACC, Jeff Hafley decided not to make any outside hires for his coordinator positions and instead he promoted only from within.

So, what’s wrong with Boston College football? Why, after an utterly disappointing season, does the staff remain largely unchanged?

These recent developments lead me to the conclusion that under this regime, a coaching job at BC has become completely undesirable. Tem Lukabu has already jumped ship for a position in the NFL that would’ve been a lateral move from where he was before joining BC. If Lukabu and coaches outside of the program see Hafley as a dead man walking, there’s little reason they would want to hitch themselves to this staff.

Hafley’s performance was so bad last season that it has decimated his ability to recruit coaches from elsewhere and improve the program. If the Eagles are only able to run it back with a staff that got them nowhere in 2022, there is little reason for fans to believe 2023 will be any better.

What does Shimko bring to the offense that wasn’t present last season? His work with the quarterbacks last season was abysmal as BC fans were forced to watch Phil Jurkovec play some of the worst football of his career. Somehow, that resulted in a promotion.

The defense perhaps deserves more leeway, as they had been a very solid unit under Hafley until last season. Their struggles last season also were dependent on the offense’s struggles, as a lack of running game made it impossible for Boston College to win any sort of time-of-possession battle. Constant 3-and-outs on offense meant that the BC defense was on the field for long stretches of time and they were tired out quickly. But it is still discouraging to see the departure of the defensive coordinator with no promising replacement coming in from elsewhere.

All in all, these coaching developments should be very worrisome for Boston College football fans. The program has become completely undesirable and professionals outside of the program do not seem to believe Hafley is on any sort of road to success. In an offseason that required big changes, BC football has not changed nearly enough.