Eagles show their stuff
BC head coach Jeff Hafley has experienced college football pro days from two perspectives.
Hafley was on the college side of the ledger on Friday when BC conducted its annual pro day with an estimated 40 NFL personnel members in attendance at the Fish Field House.
Hafley has participated in pro days from the NFL perspective as a defensive backfield coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers.
Hafley was with the 49ers when he conducted one-on-one workouts with two former BC All-ACC performers, defensive end Harold Landry and cornerback Isaac Yiadom.
“I personally enjoyed doing private workouts but I did go to pro days,” said Hafley. “I love the oneon-one or two-on-one private workouts, but there were times I did go to pro days. It was a great experience.
“We were trying to make that here for all these coaches. I tried to make it as easy as I can for them, the way I would have wanted. I used to jump in and help with the drills when I was at a pro day.”
College pro days have taken on a greater significance since the NFL canceled its scouting combine.
The accomplished athletes that attend the combine are the players that populate the first four rounds of the NFL Draft. The purpose of institutional pro days is to help scouts and position coaches find and test the players that will go in the later rounds or be signed as undrafted rookie free agents.
Because of the pandemic, BC restricted this year’s pro day to just former Eagles with tight end Hunter Long of Exeter, N.H., and linebackers Max Richardson and Isaiah McDuffie the featured players.
Long was an All-ACC first-team selection and a second-team AllAmerican by the Associated Press. Long developed his blocking skills executing former coach Steve Addazio’s 12-personnel power run schemes.
Long saw his receiving numbers jump last season under the direction of first-year offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti and transfer quarterback Phil Jurkovec.
Long led the nation among tight ends for receptions (57) and receiving yards (685) and was eighth with five touchdowns. He finished his BC career with 89 receptions and 1,297 yards. The combination of the two systems helped develop Long into the total package.
“I think it definitely helped and I kind of had the best of both worlds,” said Long. “I was in a run-heavy scheme and seeing a few targets a game to this past year where I was seeing up to 13 or 14 targets per game.”
Richardson joined the list of exceptional middle linebackers at BC in this century like Luke Kuechly, Nick Clancy and Steven Daniels. Richardson was named to the AllACC third team after recording 99 tackles, including eight for a loss. Hafley described Richardson as one of the smartest most football-savvy players he has ever coached.
McDuffie collected second team All-ACC honors finishing fourth in the nation with 107 tackles as a WILL linebacker. McDuffie is from Buffalo and he’s hoping the hometown Bills give him a look. McDuffie played the same position at BC as Bills’ starting outside linebacker Matt Milano, who recently signed a four-year contract extension.