BC nabs five-star transfer from Florida State
Boston College football coach Jeff Hafley is very selective when shopping his program in the NCAA transfer portal.
Hafley’s ambition is to build the team with academically sound high school athletes and primarily invests his capital on player development in that area.
That concept was celebrated on Wednesday at the Heights when 26 incoming freshmen and four transfers formalized their commitments to BC on National Signing Day.
“We watched the portal very closely and truthfully, are we going to live in the portal?” said Hafley. “No, we want to recruit high school players and develop them and build the culture through them.
“You have got to look at the portal in a lot of different ways and like I said, I’m not opposed to the portal and I’ve proven that. But we want to build this thing and sustain it over a long period of time.
“You want guys that know the culture and know the scheme and have been here, three, four and five years. I want to build this thing the right way and be successful over time. I want to do it by recruiting high school players that fit and develop them.”
But when a player with a remarkable pedigree from an ACC divisional rival appeared on what has become college football’s free-agent marketplace, Hafley moved quickly to supplement the Eagles’ depth chart.
BC brought in 6-foot-1, 223-pound safety Jaiden Lars-Woodbey, a redshirt junior from Florida State with two years of eligibility remaining. Hafley hit a home run last year when he brought in starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec from Notre Dame.
The other transfers include a pair of defensive players from Temple, tackle Kris Banks and linebacker Isaiah Graham-Mobley, and long snapper Gunner Daniel from Wagner.
Lars-Woodbey was a U.S. Army and Under Armour All-American and five-star recruit from St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower Calif., the same parochial preparatory institution that produced Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. Leaving high school, Lars-Woodbey was leaning toward Ohio State before committing to FSU at the 11th hour.
Lars-Woodbey started 12 games for the Seminoles as a true freshman and recorded 58 tackles, 4.5 for a loss, with a sack, eight pass breakups and a forced fumble. He was named a freshman AllAmerican by ESPN and was selected to the All-ACC Academic
Team. Lars-Woodbey started the first four games in 2019 before suffering a season-ending knee injury. He started six games and appeared in eight in 2020.
“We want to be very selective who we bring in from the portal but he was the one guy,” said Hafley. “We watched his tape, studied it hard and we had a bunch of guys on staff who knew him and recruited him at other places.
“The recommendations and what people had to say about him on and off the field were through the roof. That, combined with his film, has us excited. He’s a smart kid and he’s a leader, does things the right way and he’s a really good football player.”
Of the 26 incoming freshmen, a staggering 12 were granted early enrollment and are on campus taking classes and prepping for spring football, which begins on March 20.
Hafley expanded the recruitment map beyond the Atlantic Seaboard, potting athletes from California, Texas, Alabama, Ohio and Illinois. The prized recruit of the bunch is a four-star guard from Norwell named Drew Kendall.
The 6-foot-5, 270-pound Kendall prepped at Noble & Greenough of the Independent School League. Kendall’s father Pete attended BC from 1992-95 and went on to play 13 seasons in the NFL.
“Talk about recruiting local guys and he’s the definition of that,” said Hafley. “He was ranked the No. 1 player in the state of Massachusetts and the top five or six at his position in the country.
“We need to keep the best players in the state home.”