'21 Preseason Camp Blog #1

'21 Preseason Camp Blog #1 First official practice of the 2021 season Friday morning

The Boston College football team opened preseason camp for the 2021 season on Friday morning inside Fish Field House. The Eagles welcomed 116 players to preseason camp with the start of the 2021 season just under a month away on Sept. 4 at Alumni Stadium versus Colgate.

The team wore helmets and spiders for the two-hour practice as the team split time inside Fish Field House and outside on the grass practice field.

“I’m just excited to be around the guys,” Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley said after practice. “I feel like we know them a lot better. We know the staff obviously a lot better. There's a lot of excitement, there's a lot of confidence, just excited to go to work.”

Excitement and optimism surrounds the BC program as the Eagles return 20 starters from last season's 6-5 squad that finished sixth in the ACC. The five ACC wins for the Eagles last year were the most since 2009 as the league scrapped divisions for one year and every team played 10 conference games.

BC was picked to finish third in the ACC Preseason poll in the Atlantic Division, behind Clemson and NC State.

Hafley was asked what his message was to the team entering preseason camp.

“My message to the team was all I want every day is everything you got, from the time you wake up in the morning till we finish,” Hafley said. “And we do that we're going to be okay, but it's everything. It's every day doing your best over and over and over. And like I said, if we do that the results will take care of itself.”

News and Notes: BC donned new adidas practice jerseys along with a new, gold helmet at Friday’s practice … the gold helmet is a deeper shade of gold than previous years … junior quarterback Phil Jurkovec was named to the Manning Award Watch List. The award is given annually to the nation’s top quarterback … Alec Lindstrom was named to the Lombardi Award Watch List as well … officials were on hand for the first practice of the season. Among the group was BC Varsity Club Hall of Fame selection John Salmon ’69, who was a football and baseball standout during his career at the Heights. He still ranks second in school history with 17 career interceptions and helped lead the baseball team to the 1966 College World Series … BC alum Gary Dancewicz ’71, who is an ACC official, was also part of the officiating crew on Friday … Dancewicz has officiated more than 20 bowl games along with two College Football Playoff games … BC held in-person media availability for the first time since March of 2020 Friday … the Globe, Herald, Heights, New England Football Journal and WBZ-TV were in attendance … BC resumes preseason camp Saturday morning at 8:15 a.m. inside Fish Field House.

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