BC signs 25 recruits to class of ’21
Boston College coach Jeff Hafley got to know the high school players he recruited without actually meeting them.
The COVID-19 pandemic removed the traditional recruitment staples of living room and campus visitations and put time-consuming hard sells on a computer screen.
Hafley introduced the Eagles’ first-ever high-tech recruitment class on Wednesday, a sizable collection of 25 players who signed National Letters of Intent to attend BC.
BC’s class of 2021 was rated in the top 40 of the three major recruitment screeners. BC was ranked 39th by 247 Sports, 38th by ESPN and 34th by Rivals, an amazing accomplishment by a staff that was put together piecemeal last December while Hafley was still at Ohio State.
“I love the kids we brought in, they’re a good group, a special group of people and I’m grateful for them sticking with us without really meeting in person,” said Hafley. “Our first introductions to players were over Zoom and countless hours of that, asking questions and trying to get to know people.
“It was good and bad. It was better than talking on the phone and you get to find out a lot about people when you spend of lot of time with them on Zoom. The time and the effort and the creativity it took to have a fairly successful class in our first year. These kids have been recruited by other staffs for two or three years.”
Hafley built his portfolio as a defensive backfield coach at the college and NFL levels. Working closely with defensive backs coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim, Hafley invested heavily in the secondary.
The breakdown by position lists five defensive backs and three safeties. BC’s only four-star recruits are defensive backs CJ Burton of Richmond, Va., and Bryce Steele of Raleigh, N.C. Hafley got to know both players when he was co-defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach at Ohio State last season.
Burton and Steele represent a coup for BC because they had previously committed to prominent SEC programs. Burton was on the fast track to Florida while Steele was destined for South Carolina.
Burton is a 6-foot, 170pound cover corner who handled multiple assignments at St. Frances Academy in Maryland. Burton was rated the No. 2 cornerback in Maryland and in the top 30 in the country by the three services.
“CJ was a guy I got to know a little bit at Ohio State and coach Aazaar knows him really well,” said Hafley. “He was originally committed to Florida but we just stayed on him, had a great relationship with him and we loved his film.
“Really quick feet, good acceleration, great hips, very instinctual in coverage. He can press, he can play off, play zone and has good ball skills. He’s tough, can play inside, play in the slot and play outside.”
At 6-foot-2, 213 pounds, Steele has the dimensions of a strong safety with outside linebacker potential. Steele was the No. 11-rated player in North Carolina and a top-25 safety nationally by 247
Sports and ESPN. He did not play football his senior year at Millbrook High School due to the pandemic.
“When I was at Ohio State at our summer camp, Bryce showed up and we knew about him,” said Hafley. “I personally clocked him when he ran his 40 and did a double-take because he is such a huge kid.
“We had him do it again and got the same time. We went in, met with his mom and offered him a scholarship, we really liked him a lot. Obviously, I left and he committed to South Carolina but we stayed on the kid and he showed interest late.
“He is a big, long guy who can run and I’m really excited to see what he can do.”
Hafley cast a much broader net than his predecessor Steve Addazio, who primarily mined the Catholic school programs of the Northeast Corridor. Hafley recruited nine players from Sun Belt states, four from Virginia and one from Washington, D.C.
Hafley also tapped the nation’s Heartland, getting three from Illinois and two from Ohio. There are two homegrowns: linebackers Owen McGowan of Canton and Casey Phinney of Marshfield. BC got three from its most reliable source, New Jersey, but oddly none from New York or Pennsylvania. He also got a 6-foot-8, 325-pound offensive lineman from Zrenjanin, Serbia, named Ilija Krajnovic.
“I think the BC brand is very powerful and I think it is underestimated,” said Hafley. “I think the logo carries more weight than people give it credit for and we are not afraid to go out and compete with anybody in any state in the country.”