ACC Kickoff Transcript | Boston College
Boston College took the stage on Tuesday at the ACC Kickoff in Charlotte as Jeff Hafley, Phil Jurkovec, Zay Flowers and Josh DeBerry spoke to the media.
HEAD COACH JEFF HAFLEY
Q. We know that this is the last season in the ACC of divisions, and then we'll switch to that 3-5-5 model. Having those permanent opponents, just what that means for you? I know historically, going back to the old Big East it makes a lot of sense what Boston College has now with Miami, Pitt, and Syracuse. So speak to that last year of divisions and then looking forward to what the 3-5-5 will do for Boston College.
JEFF HAFLEY: First, I'm excited for this year. I think the Atlantic is going to be as good as it's been in a really long time. Very competitive. Very well-coached. Good quarterbacks. I'm excited about that.
I'm excited about the division change. Get a chance to play some different teams. You get a chance to play Pittsburgh, who we're all the way up here, and we're constantly playing teams not around us, but to play Pitt every year when we were playing them once every six years.
Same thing with Syracuse. We're playing them because they're in our division, but we should be playing Syracuse. To get a chance to go to Miami, we have some kids like Zay. Zay, have you even played at Miami in that stadium, right? You get a chance to get down south a little bit and play a team that will be on the rise and compete down there. I'm excited.
I'm not one big on why are we -- let's just go play football. Whoever they put on our schedule, let's play. If we get to mix it up and play some different teams, even better. Right? Let's bring Miami on a night game. Hopefully late in December when it's cold. Let's bring them to Boston and get our fans a chance to see some other schools.
I'm all for the change. I'm really excited about it. We have to play this year first.
Q. For as long as I can remember, I've looked at Boston College rosters and seen big, experienced offensive lines. This year you look at the roster, just two returning starters, and one is Joey, your tight end. Are you at a point where you could reload in the offensive line or realistically is there going to be a little bit of a learning curve replacing those four really experienced guys that left?
JEFF HAFLEY: Well, one, they're still going to be big. We have some big guys up front, but there will definitely be some inexperience. We lose all our starters. It's unfortunate. Christian Mahogany, our right guard, who we believe could have been the first guard picked and a first round pick if he played up to what we thought he could, tore his ACL. He is doing well, and we'll be excited to have him back. But we'll be young.
We got a bunch of guys competing for jobs that have a chip on her shoulder, have learned from some really good players like Zion Johnson and those guys. I think they're going to play with an edge. Are they going to have some growing pains? Yeah, they probably will.
We won't make that an excuse. We have to coach them well. We have to figure out quickly what they do well and let them do it and let them play fast and physical. I'm excited about that group.
Then I'm really excited about the future of that group because next year at this time we're going to have a really experienced line. Hopefully Christian Mahogany is back feeling great. I'm excited to see what the offensive line can do.
THE MODERATOR: From the podium, while B.C. outscored its opponents in the fourth quarter last year, it seemed too much of a hole of dug in the third quarter throughout the season? How do you correct that moving forward?
JEFF HAFLEY: That's a good question. That's one thing we looked at a little bit. We've got to come out at halftime and figure things out a little bit quicker. We have to find a way to get our guys out of the locker room quicker, more ready to play.
I'm not going to make that bigger than it is, to be very honest with you. Hopefully that answers your question.
THE MODERATOR: It does, and I thank you.
Q. Having the new offensive coordinator, John McNulty, just what you can say about what he brings and what you saw in him and his vision for the offense that made sense for what you want to do at BC?
JEFF HAFLEY: John and I were together when I was with the Bucs. John was the quarterback coach, I was the DB coach. I know what type of person he is, what type of man he is, and that's really important to me.
I've also coached against him when I was at Pitt, and he was in the Big East at the same time. What was important for me is what I have learned as a head coach is I have a vision of what I want the offense to look like. I feel like in my first two years, to be very honest with you, I focused too much on the defense. I think I failed as a head coach to make sure that my vision on what I want the offense to look like stays that way.
I interviewed a lot of guys, and John's vision and my vision, they really matched up. Without getting into too much detail of what it's going to look like, there will be some similarities of what we did in the past, but then we have to find out what guys like this can do very well, and we have to get guys like Zay the ball.
We have to make sure that Phil is protected. We have to make sure that Phil is doing what he does best.
I'm really excited about John being here and seeing where we can take the offense. Again, do I think we played well enough on offense last year? We don't. That's my fault. I need to do a better job as head coach and making sure my vision stays intact throughout the year.
Q. Coach Clawson said this morning he doesn't ever remember a time when every single team in the division returned its quarterback. I want to ask you about your guy. Of course, you lost Phil very early to an injury last year. What does he bring? What mix him special? Let's expand to include Zay. What about the two of them really stretch a defense?
JEFF HAFLEY: Let's talk about Phil first, and I've gotten a lot of questions on Phil today, which he deserves to be asked a lot of questions for. He is a great player and a great person.
Last year at this time everybody was talking about Phil in year two and all the things that he can accomplish. Being one of the top guys in college football, one of the top players in the country.
Phil played one game healthy, one, against Colgate. He didn't have to do too much. No disrespect to Colgate, but the game got out of hand, and we didn't throw it around like we were throwing it 50 times a game like his first year when we lit it up. Phil goes down with a freak hand injury, falling on the sideline in Week 2, and I was told Phil was out for the year. Everybody understands what type of person he is, what type of quarterback he is.
He got cleared by the doctor to play physically. Now, that didn't mean he was ready to play. I was told he had 50% grip strength in his throwing hand, and we're getting ready to play a night game on a short week against Virginia Tech, and he comes in my office and he tells me he wants to play.
That says a lot about Phil because there's a lot of guys that, one, wouldn't want that tape to get out. Right? He is this hyped-up guy, can barely grip a ball and throw it down the field. Two, he hasn't practiced. He comes back, and he puts the team before himself with 50% grip strength, barely practicing. We beat Virginia Tech in our Red Bandana game, and then Georgia Tech, and he had 500 yards by himself and five touchdowns.
Then he gets beat up in our Florida State. Not a little bit. We didn't protect him very well. Then he has the flu going into the Wake Forest game. Doesn't practice but still plays. If I'm an NFL GM or coach and have been in those meetings, that tells you everything you need to know about Phil. You can turn on the tape and watch him play, but kids aren't built like that anymore.
He is tough. He cares about his team. When he gets out on the field, there's nothing that phases him.
Zay, everybody saw the story of Zay. Zay is another story of what's right in college football right now. Everybody wants to talk about all these things that are wrong: NIL, transfer portal, conference realignment. We need good stories, stories like Phil, like I just told you. Stories like Zay who had the opportunity to go get a ton of money to leave, as he is getting phone calls from other schools, but instead calls me and decides to stay because he cares about his team, because he cares about a real degree and because he wants to finish what he started.
We need to get this guy the ball more. I told him, he is not going to be able to go out after games this year he is going to be so damn tired. He is going to catch punts and return punts and touch the ball over and over again. That's my job as a head coach.
I get passionate when I talk about those two guys because they are different, and there's not enough of that right now in college football.
Q. The first couple of years have been a little difficult. How much pressure are you putting on yourself this season and what have you seen from this team that gets you excited about this year?
JEFF HAFLEY: I would say the first two years have been awesome. First year we're dealing with COVID. We were picked last in the conference. We win more games in the ACC than they had since 2009. Last year we started off 4-0, beat an SEC team at home for the first time in forever. Everybody rushes. The place is going crazy.
Then we're hit with adversity. We lose four in a row. No one thought we were going to a bowl game, but instead, we win the next two games. To me those are all learning experiences that you can only get by actually going out there and coaching and putting it out there on the line.
Those two wins and going through that adversity, they made me a better coach, and they made us a better team. I don't feel any pressure. I go out, and I tell them the same thing. They shouldn't feel pressure on game day. The pressure is during the week. How hard am I going to work to prepare myself so when I get on the field Saturday to coach, I'm fearless. I get into a special place where nothing is going to faze me, and nothing is going to faze them no matter what happens because I know that we put in the work.
That's where the pressure comes from. It comes from within because we want to win as a team, and we want to win together. I can't wait for this year. I have a couple more days on vacation, and then I'm ready to roll.
THE MODERATOR: As a follow-up to that on the podium, are you finding that you're in some type of normal rhythm given all that has happened over the last couple of years? Are you finally settling in?
JEFF HAFLEY: Yeah. You know, this year was a little strange for me because it came time to May, in my first real May, and all the coaches were going on the road. I was, like, what am I going to do? I'm not allowed to go out recruiting. This was my first real offseason. It was my first real June where we could have camps and visitors.
Yeah, I feel like it is a little bit normal. There's no more cardboard cut-outs. I actually saw fans when I ran out this year.
I'm excited. Hopefully it stays that way.
THE MODERATOR: Was that excitement, any of that, dampened knowing your final game of the season was a 31-point loss? Is that a pall over the program during the offseason?
JEFF HAFLEY: No. I'm never going to judge a season on one game, just like I'm never going to judge a game on one play. You look at the body of work. 6-6 is not good enough. We know that. We know we can be better. I know I can be better because it definitely all starts with me. We use that as motivation. We learn from it. We're going to play with a little bit more edge to us this year. I'm going to do a better job coaching the team.
Q. I care about what you are doing at Boston College, obviously. So when you look back on that a couple of years ago, what brought you there? What was it about this job, this opportunity, this school that made you feel like that was the right fit for you to be a leader at this time?
JEFF HAFLEY: That is a good question. I just left the 49ers and went to Ohio State, and I thought I would be there for a while. We had a really good year. Played good defense. Then I had a couple of opportunities.
One was location. I wanted my family to live in a great place. Boston is a great place. My family is very important to me. Great school system.
Academics. I spent a lot of time in the NFL. A lot of guys don't make it, and a lot of guys two, three years, they're not in the NFL. They don't have a good degree, and they never had internships and never had jobs. I want to change lives. Whether or not these guys wind up playing in the NFL with the degrees they get and the internships we give them, I'm going to change their life because they're going to have a great job.
I wanted to go somewhere where I didn't have to cheat, I didn't have to cut corners, I didn't have to sleep by my phone and get phone calls in the middle of the night. I wanted to be around good people.
When I researched BC -- I knew about BC. I grew up in New Jersey. I felt like we could do better and recruit better and play better. That's no disrespect to anybody that coached before because they did a good job, but I came because I thought we could elevate it doing the right way with really good people. You win with good people, and that was so important to me to do things the right way.
Then meeting Father Leahy, and guys like Father Jack and at the time the AD, it was a perfect fit for me and my family.
I had the opportunity after both years people called, and people asked me all the time, I've only been here for every for two years. You're not -- what do you mean I'm not going to stay? We have great kids. We have an unbelievable school and unbelievable leadership. Our staff has been awesome. We've recruited well. It is an awesome place. We're going to win, but we're going to do it the right way.
Hopefully that answers your question. I probably ranted a little bit on that one. Thanks for asking the three questions too.
DEFENSIVE BACK JOSH DeBERRY
Q. A lot of time at nickelback last year. How do you think your game translates to the professional level?
JOSH DeBERRY: I seen a lot of time at nickel. I'm trying to get a little more corner and nickel this year to show that I can do a little bit of both.
I feel like my game translates. I can play whatever. I can come up in the run. I can guard the slot on the outside. Just doing whatever this team needs for me to win is what I'm down to do.
THE MODERATOR: From the podium here, what's the difference between Josh DeBerry, the freshman, and now Josh DeBerry, the senior?
JOSH DeBERRY: The biggest thing I've been working on is my leadership. Being more of a vocal leader in terms of not just being the guy that people look at as being the guy that can get on somebody, that can lock somebody up, doing it both on and off the field in terms of workouts and camp and then leading up to the season.
Just mainly working on my leadership and feel like I grew a lot in that aspect from freshman year.
Q. You guys led the ACC last year in pass defense, but you are only 13th in interceptions and return yards. Your entire secondary is back. Can you guys get more mileage out of those picks?
JOSH DeBERRY: Most definitely. We're going to get a lot more mileage this year. We're looking to put some points on the board in terms of a couple of pick sixes, some for myself, some from the other guys. We can get most definitely get a little more mileage on returns on those picks.
Q. We talk a lot about Phil and Zay and the offense, but Boston College's defense doesn't normally get that kind of shine. How do you feel like the defense has done in this offseason to match the energy of the offense going into this year?
JOSH DeBERRY: It's very competitive in terms of our workouts with the offense versus the defense. We're used to not getting a lot of the shine, as defense tends not to in football. We've used that as nothing but fuel. We're looking to be the best defense in the conference in the country this year in terms of every aspect, not just passing defense. We're looking to be the best in sacks and all that other stuff. We've been using that as fuel. We have a lot of guys coming in, leadership stepping up. We're using that as fuel and looking to go straight up from there.
Q. Just what can you say about what it is at Boston College? Like you said pass defense has been very successful. You hear Coach talk about putting it on himself. When you have a leader like that that takes the responsibility, what does that mean to you as player, and how does that kind of define what the Eagles are?
JOSH DeBERRY: I feel like Coach Haf defines what we are. He is a great leader on and off the field. That helps us be better, and it helps guys buy in. You have Phil and Zay coming back for another year even though they don't have to. That's the type of team we have. That's what type of head coach we have. That's Coach Haf for you. We're bought in. I'm bought in, and I'm bought into everything he has to offer. That just shows how great of a coach and leader he is.
Q. Your defense is ranked towards the bottom of the ACC in pressure rate the last two years. Are you doing things this off-season to get better with that, or is the approach to play more conservative and let the offense dictate what you do as a defense?
JOSH DeBERRY: We definitely are more in terms of looking at the D-line and their leadership. You got guys like Marcus Valdez. He has been there a long time. He stepped up as a leader. You have guys like Shitta Sillah and guys like "Booze" coming back. We have a lot of firepower coming back. They've used that as nothing but fuel. They want to get it more than anybody else. We definitely use that as fuel. That's been good for us this year.
WIDE RECEIVER ZAY FLOWERS
THE MODERATOR: I'll ask it from the podium. You all seem to have a smile. Why is that? Where do you get that from?
ZAY FLOWERS: I think I get it from my family, my brothers and sisters. We all just enjoy and kept a smile on my face about everything we did.
Q. You made that decision to come back, and like you heard your coach say, you didn't have to do it. You just heard one of your teammates do that. Why come back to Boston College, and what is it about 2022 that you wanted to once again line up with the same guys?
ZAY FLOWERS: It was a couple of things. Me and Phil I felt like we didn't finish what we started. I wanted to get my degree. My dad wanted me to get my degree. I felt like that was a big part.
I just felt like I owed it to the program to come back and try to give the program something that we didn't have in a long time.
Q. In 2020 your team had a really good tight end, Hunter Long who helped this offense explode. You have a question mark in that position. You have a transfer from Notre Dame. What's the difference from having a prolific tight end and how does it help this offense when you have that presence and take the load off of you?
ZAY FLOWERS: Me and Hunter, it made it easier for me to get open and run routes. This year I feel like George Takacs, who is the new tight end, I feel like he will do a great job of getting open. He is fast. He is athletic. I believe in George the same way I believed in Hunter.
Q. Coach has touched on kind of upgrading on the offensive side, you know, coaching-wise. What do you know that Coach expects from you and how are you looking to kind of improve on that on your side of the ball?
ZAY FLOWERS: I think Coach expects me to become more of a leader and lead the wide-out group because we have a young wide-out group. I think I'm the oldest in the group. Just lead by example, and I feel like everybody will follow along.
Q. Coach talked about we've got to get the ball to Zay more. What's your excitement level about that statement. And, part two, Phil has the ability to extend plays. You have the ability to improvise on routes. Talk about the potential dynamism of that combination.
ZAY FLOWERS: We both have the ability to make big plays happen at any time. Phil can run the ball. He can throw the ball.
I feel like the more I touch the ball, the more things happen. Like, better things happen for our team. So me getting the ball, I feel like it will be a good thing and open up everybody else. It will open up the run game. It will open up Jaiden, Jalen. It will open up everybody, I feel like.
THE MODERATOR: From the podium, you mentioned earlier that you seem to get your smile from your family, your brothers and sisters. You're the 11th of 14 kids. Was it hard to find your identity?
ZAY FLOWERS: No, because none of us are shy. All of us just did what we did and just have fun.
THE MODERATOR: You're the oldest of your unit now on the field. You're the oldest in football, but still you're the youngest in your family. Is there any weird conflict there for you? Have you learned one from the other or learned from the other?
ZAY FLOWERS: Being the oldest on the receiver room just comes with leadership, and everybody looks up to you, especially when you are one of the best players. Everybody looks up to you for leadership and what to do, and you have to lead that group.
Q. Zay, for Boston College fans, when it's all said and done, what do you want them to think of when they hear or remember your name?
ZAY FLOWERS: That I was a BC man. I was loyal to the program, and I did everything I could to help the program prevail and reach a spot that it couldn't back when it was hard. I don't know. That's all I got.
Q. One of the great traditions thaw all have came out of tragedy, the Red Bandana game. Coach may be rocking a -- I'm 60 now, Coach. I can't see that far. What does that Red Bandana game mean to the program. Clemson will get another taste of it when they come there in October.
ZAY FLOWERS: Welles, he was the guy that was in the building, he sacrificed his life to save others. I feel like we all sacrifice something playing college football and leaving our families to go play football. That dedication of what we do and Welles was a fireman, and he always wanted to be a fireman. He played sports at BC. He had a chance to go save others, and that's what he did. I'm happy to represent him with my guys and just go out there and play.
QUARTERBACK PHIL JURKOVEC
Q. You got massive praise there from Coach about your work ethic after playing just one game healthy. Tell me about what road has been like for rehab and what your mentality is coming into the season?
PHIL JURKOVEC: This offseason has been great. I'm fully healthy, so I'm all good to go, but it was a little bit tough there last season at the end. Coach touched on it. Not being fully healthy and trying to grit my way through it.
I think I learned a lot during that time, and I tried to make the most of it, but overcoming that adversity has strengthened me.
Q. Kind of talked about it a little bit earlier, but what's your confidence level in the front five to protect you a little bit better this year?
PHIL JURKOVEC: I'm fully confident in them. It's not ideal, but they've got a legacy to carry. They understand the great O-line play that has come from BC, and they were all recruited to play here.
So these guys are ready. I think they're all ready to step up, and I'm excited for them. It will be fun bringing along these new offensive linemen showing them the ins and outs of the game, like, when we're actually on the field playing. I'm really excited, and I hope that we have a great camp.
Q. I know you already played against them back in 2020, but do you have the Notre Dame game circled on the schedule a little bit just because of you had gone there for two years?
PHIL JURKOVEC: Definitely. Excited for that one. I haven't been back since the transfer, so that's going to be a special one.
Q. You're exceptional at extending plays, and this year you may have to extend plays a little more often as your offensive line learns the tradition you talked about. Where did that come from, and when you are extending a play, what is your first priority in addition to finding Zay?
PHIL JURKOVEC: I would say it comes from playing Razzle Dazzle in the backyard and just, I don't know, playing around, being young. There's a certain natural feel to the game once it breaks down that just comes to you. I think that's a big part of the game, and it's really tough on defenses. They can have the perfect coverage of the perfect play set up, but then the play breaks down, and you are able to make something with it. It's extremely frustrating.
Then we have the playmakers to do it. Zay and the other guys once they get loose, it's really hard on defenses.
THE MODERATOR: A question from the podium: Describe your head coach using one word.
PHIL JURKOVEC: One word?
THE MODERATOR: Coach is just as interested in that one word it seems like, too.
PHIL JURKOVEC: Passionate. Passionate about the game. I think he understands what it takes to make it as a college football coach. He has put in the work through years. I know because being from Pittsburgh, he lived at someone's house. What would you call it? Like a bar almost, as a GA. He really grinded his way up. He loves this game. He loves everything right about the game.
Coach Hafley has been the best. That's infectious. His love for the game.
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