Jags Holds First Signing Day Presser

Boston College head coach Jeff Jagodzinski and recruiting coordinator Mike Siravo held a press conference Wednesday afternoon to announce their 2007 signing class.

Jagodzinski stressed pride in his staff’s ability to sign players from all around the country that fit the mold of what he thought a BC player was.

“I think we have gotten 18 quality, quality young men from across the country,” Jogodzinski said in front of dozens of reporters and cameras in the Conte Forum media suite. “We’ve signed 18 different players from nine different states and when I had my initial press conference I said that I wanted to get BC type guys and those guys are going to be quality, they’re going to have integrity, they’re going to be smart, and they’re going to be tough. And I think we have gotten 18 players that fit that mold.”

Speaking with a recognizable Milwaukee accent, Jagodzinski freely answered questions about the recruiting process he has undertaken since being named BC’s head coach in late December. Among the issues he addressed was the new attention paid to mobile quarterbacks. Under Jagodzinski, BC inked two quick signal callers, Chris Johnson and Dominique Davis.

“When we had a mobile quarterback here before, a real mobile guy,” he said, “the guy’s name was Doug Flutie, and he was pretty darn good. Actually I just walked by a trophy he got a few years back. So we feel that having a mobile quarterback will give us a chance to make plays when plays aren’t there or when a play breaks down. And it’s been proven over and over and over again that defenses, especially in the back end, can’t hold up that long. So when a play breaks down, we have a playmaker to create something when something’s not there. And we think that the two guys we got will be able to do that.”

Jagodzinski spoke at length about BC’s selling point as a school rooted strongly in academics.

“One of the things that the parents really stressed to us was the graduation rate,” he said. “It’s 100%. I told them that at the first team meeting, you guys are going to look around and everyone in that room is going to have a degree. You can’t say that at any other place in the country.”

The signing of Mansfield, Mass resident Corey Eason, Jagodzinski said, was a good indicator of his staff’s devotion to reeling in local prospects. If they can play, they fit the mold, and they’re from New England, Jagodzinski said they won’t get away.

“One of the things that I had mentioned to [athletic director] Gene DeFilippo and [BC president] Fr. Leahy is that I want to put a fence around New England and not let any kid that is a BC type guy that can play in the ACC out of that fence,” he said. “When a local guy comes and plays, he has his mom and dad in the stands, he has his friends in the stands, and those kids play harder, they really do. But there should not be a kid in New England that is a Division I player that we should let out of here.”

Having taken over in December, Jagodzinski had to jump right into the fold. One of his first jobs as a recruiter was to address the players who had already committed. He and his staff had to “recommit” themselves to the players and were proud of the fact that they were able to retain almost every carry-over recruit who had given their word.

One prospect who decommitted from BC was Devon Ramsay, a New Jersey recruit who wanted to play tailback but was told by Jagodzinksi he would probably play elsewhere, maybe even on the defensive line.

“When you look at players for recruiting, the draft is a lot like recruiting,” Jagodzinksi said in response. “You target for a specific type of player that you want, that fills your need and you go out and recruit him. The kind of guys we get, somebody might not think that he’s the type of player that they would want. And the type of player they want, we might not want him. We have specific criteria that we’re looking for the type of player that we want.”

With a new staff comes new recruiters and, consequently, new recruits. With the additions of Jim Turner from the University of Delaware and Don Yanowsky from East Carolina, BC was able to broaden its range to different regions of the country while maintaining its tradition. Turner was instrumental in convincing Brad Newman, a late fullback addition from New Jersey who had committed to Delaware, to change his mind and play for the Eagles.

“It was really big,” Jagodzinski said. “Those two guys, Jimmy Turner, who is a former captain here, played fullback here, he understands what the culture is here. He was a very big plus for us because he knew where the players were and some of the players that fit us. [Mark] Spinney was one of them. We felt that after watching film on him that we had to have him in the fold. I believe he was committed some place else [Syracuse] and he ended up coming to BC.”