When Boston College athletic director Gene DeFilippo fired Jeff Jagodzinski after two seasons for lying about his contact with the New York Jets and defiantly interviewing with the NFL team against the school’s wishes, DeFilippo set out to find a replacement willing to making a long-term commitment to the Eagles.

“I want a person who wants to be at Boston College and who wants to stay here a long, long time,” DeFilippo said at the time. “I thought I had that person.”

DeFilippo probably didn’t realize he indeed had that person still working on BC’s football staff: longtime defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani. DeFilippo had made Spaziani the interim coach for the Eagles’ bowl victory over Navy in 2006 after Tom O’Brien’s departure to NC State. Now, after 12 years as a Boston College assistant — the last 10 as defensive coordinator — Spaziani gets the full-time gig. For the first time in his 40-year coaching career other than that one-game stint in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, he’ll occupy the big chair.

“Yeah, the job has obviously changed,” says Spaziani, the Eagles’ third head coach in the last four seasons. “I don’t think I’ve changed, but the job has changed.”

Spaziani, who will leave the coordination of the defense to Bill McGovern, will preside over myriad changes on a team that went 9–5 last season and repeated as Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic Division champion.

Offensively, Spaziani must select a new quarterback from among two inexperienced candidates to operate a new spread offense installed by a new offensive coordinator, Gary Tranquill. The defense returns some talent, but Spaziani must plug a pair of gaping holes left by the departure of mammoth tackles B.J. Raji and Ron Brace and find someone to step in for ACC Defensive Player of the Year Mark Herzlich at linebacker. Following spring practice, Herzlich was diagnosed with a form of cancer known as Ewing's sarcoma. It is unlikely he will ever play football again.

For all the changes the Eagles have undergone and will undergo this season, Spaziani remains a rock-solid constant.

“He’s the guy everybody on the team really wanted,” says junior free safety Wes Davis. “Everybody really respects what he’s done for us and what he’s been doing and the way he talks to us about everybody getting their opportunity. And now this is his.”

Quarterbacks

An already dicey quarterback situation took a turn for the worse after spring practice when Dominique Davis left school. Davis, who started the final three games in 2008, was hardly a proven commodity, but he was by far the most experienced quarterback on the roster. Davis’ departure moves redshirt freshman Justin Tuggle to the top of the depth chart, but junior Codi Boek, who played fullback last season, will also get a long look. In Boek’s favor is that he played in a system that was similar to Tranquill’s spread-type offense when he was in junior college. “Quarterback,” Spaziani says, “is the biggest question on our team right now.”

Running backs

Josh Haden and Montel Harris formed one of the best true freshman running back tandems in the country last season, combining for 1,379 of the Eagles’ 2,000 rushing yards and one-third of the team’s 18 rushing TDs. Harris led the way with 900 yards (a freshman record) and five TDs. Jeff Smith, who was a non-factor (192 yards on 37 carries, two TDs) last fall, could join Harris and Haden as another dual-purpose threat out of the backfield. The fullback position could be a concern if junior James McCluskey does not fully recover from a broken leg he suffered against Notre Dame that prematurely ended his season after eight games.

Receivers

The Eagles’ quarterback will have an array of targets who are capable of stretching defenses. Sure-handed senior Rich Gunnell, who led all Boston College receivers with 49 receptions for 551 yards and four TDs last season, will be joined by a pair of tall receivers in 6'5" senior Justin Jarvis and 6'6" junior Ifeanyi Momah. The Eagles are hoping senior Clarence Megwa can return from a devastating leg fracture, but that remains a question mark. Waiting in the wings are 6'3" sophomore Colin Larmond Jr., who burst on the scene with a 55-yard TD grab in the Eagles’ loss to Vanderbilt in the Music City Bowl, and redshirt freshman Clyde Lee, who has the shimmy and shake to make people miss and the speed to turn short-yardage tosses into long gains. Tight end Ryan Purvis is gone, which means it will be up to 6'3" sophomore Lars Anderson (nine catches, 84 yards) and 6’5” junior Jordon McMichael to step up.

Offensive linemen

Davis knows that if he wins the quarterback job, he’ll need to forge an alliance with left tackle Anthony Castonzo, a 6'7", 287-pound junior. “He’s going to be my new best friend,” Davis says. Castonzo, who switched from the right side to the left last season, anchored a line that allowed only 22 sacks and figures to be among the ACC’s best blocking units this fall. There is plenty of size with 6'6", 290-pound senior left guard Nick Rossi, 6'8", 322-pound junior right tackle Rich Lapham and 6'3", 323-pound junior right guard Thomas Claiborne. Claiborne is a road grader who spent time at center in the spring while senior Matt Tennant healed from Tommy John surgery on his elbow during the offseason — perhaps from all the shotgun snaps he delivered last season. “We’re going to have to put him on a pitch count in the fall,” says Spaziani.

Defensive linemen

With Raji and Brace gone, there will be a pair of huge holes to cover up. Into the void steps Damik Scafe, a 6'3", 293-pound junior built in the run-clogging mold of his departed teammates. He’ll be paired on the interior of the front seven with Kaleb Ramsey (6'3", 256), who will be moving over from the defensive end spot he manned last season as a freshman, and senior Brendan Deska (6'5", 241). Ramsey and Deska will have to make up for a lack of heft with their athleticism. Seniors Austin Giles and Jim Ramella should provide leadership from their bookend spots at left and right end.

Linebackers

With Herzlich no longer in the equation and middle linebacker Mike McLaughlin’s status unknown after suffering a torn Achilles in spring practices, the Eagles’ linebacking corps went from a team strength to a big question mark. Herzlich led the team with 110 tackles (11 for a loss) last season, picked off six passes — tops in the nation among linebackers — and led a squad that ranked fifth in the nation in total defense (268.1 yards per game) and seventh in rushing defense (91.2 yards). Sophomore Dominick LeGrande will get an opportunity to fill Herzlich’s role in preseason camp. Will Thompson, who stepped up in the spring, could be called upon to fill McLaughlin’s spot on a more permanent basis if McLaughlin doesn’t respond in the fall. Redshirt freshman Nick Clancy, who has the lateral speed and agility to cover from sideline to sideline, could also be tested early on.

Defensive backs

With a group that returns nine lettermen overall, the Boston College secondary should be among the finest in the ACC. Senior Roderick Rollins and sophomore Donnie Fletcher, who gained considerable playing time when junior DeLeon Gause went down with a high ankle sprain, are pegged for starting jobs at the corner spots. Hard-hitting safeties Marcellus Bowman and Davis look to reprise their roles on last year’s ball-hawking secondary that led the country with 26 interceptions.

Specialists

Long snapper Jack Geiser has proven to be an unheralded but vital component of the Eagles’ kicking and punting operation. Ryan Quigley hopes to improve on his 39.6-yard punting average as a freshman last season. Fifth-year senior Steve Aponavicius converted 14-of-21 field goal attempts last season, but none from beyond 40 yards — although he’ll always occupy a special spot in Spaziani’s heart after kicking the field goal that made Spaziani, then the team’s interim coach before the hiring of Jagodzinski, a winner over Navy in the 2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl.

This preview appears in the 2009 Athlon Sports Atlantic Coast Magazine. Click here to order yours today.

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