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In the video above, new BC head coach Steve Addazio talks about the style of play he plans for the Eagles as well as the difficulties that can come with the first year at a new program.

None of them heard their names called during the draft, but all of them will have a shot at an NFL career.

Four former Boston College players signed free-agent deals with teams soon after the final round ended on Saturday. Linebacker Nick Clancy signed with the Atlanta Falcons, offensive tackle Emmett Cleary signed with the Indianapolis Colts, tight end Chris Pantale signed with the New York Jets and offensive tackle John Wetzel signed with the Oakland Raiders.

After finishing his first season as a starter with an ACC-high 145 tackles, Clancy was named first-team All-ACC. Once he signed with the Falcons, the Plainfield, Ill., native tweeted:

So psyched to join the Atlanta Falcons!

— Nick Clancy (@nickclancy54) April 28, 2013

Cleary, who was named an offensive cocaptain and started at left tackle for the Eagles in 2012, will join fellow Boston College alumni Gosder Cherilus and Anthony Castonzo in the offensive line corps in Indy.

Pantale, the other offensive cocaptain in 2012, suffered a foot injury early in training camp and as a result had a subpar senior season after being named to the preseason Mackey Award watch list.

When word of his deal with the Jets spread, one former and now future teammate celebrated the news:

Big shout out to my boy Chris Pantale for signing with the Jets! #WeAreBC #JETS

— Ryan Quigley (@RQuigs46) April 28, 2013

After going undrafted himself after the 2011 season and spending time with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent, punter Ryan Quigley signed a free-agent deal with New York prior to this April’s draft.

And while he had to have been at least somewhat disappointed not to hear his name called as he watched the draft from home in Pittsburgh, Wetzel, like his former teammates, has a chance to fulfill his career ambitions after signing with the Raiders.

“I feel good,” Wetzel said by text Sunday. “Oakland was one of the teams who liked me and called me right after the draft to get a deal done.”

The Raiders made the best offer, and now Wetzel is ready to get back on the field.

“I am just looking forward to getting back into football stuff and making the most of the opportunity,” Wetzel said.

The draft may be over, but the NFL dreams aren’t.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

And on the 2013 NFL draft's third day, Harvard tight end Kyle Juszczyk finally heard his name called.

With the 33rd pick in the fourth round, the 130th pick overall, the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens chose the Crimson H-back.

Juszczyk finished his career as Harvard's all-time leader in receptions (125), receiving yards (1,576) and touchdown catches (22) by a tight end, but will likely play more of an H-back role in the NFL.

He was ranked fourth among fullbacks, according to Scouts Inc. But he was the first player taken at the position.

Once the pick was official, Juszczyk tweeted his excitement:

Couldn't be happier to be a Baltimore Raven!Dream come true!Now it's time to work!#PurpleandBlack #NFL

— Kyle Juszczyk (@JuiceCheck44) April 27, 2013

Harvard coach Tim Murphy had high praise for his former player, the fourth drafted in Murphy's tenure as head coach, in a statement Saturday.

"Guys like Kyle Juszczyk do not grow on trees," Murphy said. "He will go down as one of the great players in Harvard and Ivy Football history. His rare combination of versatility, toughness, leadership and playmaking ability was one of the major catalysts for the highest scoring offense since the Ivy League was formed in 1956."

Juszczyk is the first Harvard player drafted since Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2005, and the 18th overall.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

NEWTON, Mass. -- As far as Steve Addazio is concerned, there’s no room for “my bad” at Boston College.

The new coach of the Eagles, one of the last people off the Alumni Stadium field on Thursday after practice, said he’s encouraged with how the players have responded so far this spring. But he knows there’s a long, long way to go.

As the team went through scrimmage situations late in the day’s session, shadows creeping farther and farther across the turf, the energy level was noticeably different from years past. Players on the sidelines were shouting encouragement to teammates on the field. Coaches were shouting instructions and exhortations, and voicing their pleasure (or displeasure) with results as they happened.

“I think it’s important that there’s energy, that there’s passion, there’s energy and they’re holding each other accountable,” Addazio said afterward about the noise level. “There’s no such thing as my bad. You gotta count on the guy on your left and the guy on your right, and they’ve gotta perform, when their number’s called they’ve gotta get the job done.

“Not being able to just brush off, ‘Oh, yeah, I made a mistake.’ Well that’s not acceptable. Can’t have that. It’s a fine line in football. It’s creating that atmosphere, and putting that pressure on and finding out who can really make a play when the pressure’s really on.”

For a program coming off a 2-10 finish, changing the mindset is important. So far Addazio has been pleased with the players’ attitudes.

“It’s important,” he said of seeing the offense and defense competing as hard as they did Thursday. “We’re trying to reestablish [a mindset of] winning is all that matters and losing is not tolerable. You’ve gotta fight for every inch, for every win. And how hard it is, how fragile it is to win a major college football game.

“We have to get back into that mindset, because we’ve had two years when we have not been bowl eligible. This is all about changing that and establishing that atmosphere. This is just the start.”

Asked where the team is in the process of installing new offensive and defensive systems, Addazio said the focus this spring is more fundamental than that.

“We don’t really know exactly which system it’s gonna be,” the coach said. “We’re really hunting and pecking to find our identity right now. It’s hard to know [what system you’ll run] until you really see what you have and what you can do. I know we can run some power football.”

Addazio said the staff is still figuring out how best to deploy the personnel at its disposal.

“We’ve got a lot of ball left to go. This was practice seven,” he said with a short laugh. “We’ve got a long way to go. But I like the attitude, I like the effort, I like where we’re headed. I really do. I do. I’d like to get a little bit more explosive, make a few more plays. Although we made a few today, [Alex] Amidon had a few today.”

The last hour of practice was devoted to game situations, complete with officials and down-and-distance markers. In one sequence, Amidon caught a ball from the left slot and exploded up the left side for a touchdown.

His offensive teammates chased him, cheering, all the way to the end zone to celebrate the practice score.

And later, when Sean Sylvia delivered a hit that produced a loud “Pop” of pad-on-pad, it was the defense‘s turn to turn up the volume.

It’s instances like those that have Addazio excited. But the veteran coach isn’t getting ahead of himself.

“I’m realistic about where we are,” he said. “I know where we need to be, and we’re not there. But I like our effort. I like our willingness, I like our energy.

“I know where we are, though, we’ve got a long way to go,” he said, with another short laugh. “But I like the fact that we’re scratching and clawing to get there. And my experience is we’ll get there.

“I don’t have a time clock on it. We’ll just keep working, building this thing the right way: on a good foundation of physical toughness and accountability.”

There’s no more room for “my bad” in Chestnut Hill, and that can only be a good thing.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

Boston College will be the first ACC team to open spring practice, one week from today. I had a chance to speak at length with new coach Steve Addazio about a wide variety of topics.

We covered so much ground, I present a few highlights here today. Stay tuned for more from Addazio when the Eagles put the pads on next week.

Now that you have been in place for three months, do you have a better idea of what you want to run schematically when you open spring ball?

SA: What I know right now is work ethic. What I know right now is attitude. I still don’t know that I know who’s capable of what on the football field, so you’ve got to get the pads on. No matter what we do, where we head, the starting point is going to be a two-back, one-back, zone-power counter concept, a real strong pro-style running game, play-action pass, nakeds. That’s going to be a starting point, no matter what direction we ultimately head. You head into Week 1, and you find out if you can rock off the ball, you find out the strength of your backs, you find out about your quarterbacks, your receivers in terms of your play-action passes. Then we’ll be able to tell after the first six practices or so how quickly we’ll migrate more of those shotgun, spread principles and how they’ll come into this offense.

You inherit a team coming off a 2-10 season. How do you deal with going about trying to change the mentality of a program that hasn’t seen its best days the past few years, especially when you have been a part of successful programs at your past few stops?

SA: At Temple, obviously Al (Golden) did a tremendous job of building that program so there was a built-in expectation level and we had to come in and find a way to take that expectation and exceed it, and we were able to do that. At Florida, we came into a similar situation, maybe not to the point of which there was a two, three or four-win team. But to Florida’s standards, it was very similar. Because Florida’s standards, six, seven, eight wins might as well have been two or three wins. I did have the experience of going into Indiana with Gerry DiNardo, which was a complete utter rebuild from every sense of the word, and then when I went to a high school program, and I had to build the thing from Ground Zero. I’ve got to rely on all those experiences together, but I will say this to you: There is a tremendous amount of pride here at Boston College, and rightfully so. This has been a very strong football program, consecutive bowl games that we had been to, eight of them. You talk about first-rounders, you talk about great players, rookies of the year, NFL players of the year, so, OK, we’ve had two down years. We haven’t had 20.

So there’s a lot of pride here and I think a tremendous willingness and buy-in to getting back, realizing we’ve got to do a great job recruiting. We’re working like crazy on that right now. I want to have a legitimate bona fide great recruiting year next year. We’ve got to restock our team. We have to redevelop that winning culture, that winning attitude. We’ve got to come in here, and we’ve got to shock everything right now and that’s what it’s all about. You walk into our building and you walk into that lobby and you’re just a couple years removed from some very good football teams and very good successes. This is not an instantaneous one, now. We’ve got to build this and it’s going to take a little bit of time. This is not just come in and let’s just get going, and turn this and twist that and bam we’re right in it. We’ve got some situations at quarterback where we have more drop-back mentality guys here. We have a depth problem at running back, and at wide receiver, so it’s a combination of things. It’s going to take some time. I want to build this thing the right way, with a great foundation, and get BC back to where BC was.

You mentioned Indiana and some of the other places you’ve been. How would you categorize this in terms of the type of rebuilding process you have ahead?

SA: That’s a good question. There’s similarities -- in a different way -- to Florida when we got there. Because Florida wasn’t where Florida wanted to be at that point in time, but Florida had come off some pretty successful years. Not that far removed from the Spurrier era. So there was a lot of pride. There’s a lot of pride here, whereas at Indiana it was a little bit more removed from the Bill Mallory era. It was a little further removed and it wasn’t as long lasting. Then when I was at Notre Dame, it probably wasn’t all that different, either. We were trying to reignite, re-recruit, restock a program that had success at a high level at one point. There’s similarities in all of them. Our kids here want to win, know they can win, know where this was, know what needs to be done. It’s not like we’re coming in here saying we have to learn how to win. Guys were here when this program was winning. Matt Ryan’s not that far removed. Luke Kuechly just walked out of here. Anthony Castonzo, those guys are not that far removed and they’re always around. I just feel like a sense of, we just have to dig our feet in right now, fight back real hard, give ourselves some time to restock and rebuild. But it’s around the corner, so to speak.

Along those lines, I’m going to ask you the dreaded timetable question. How long will it take before you get back to a bowl and contend for championships?

SA: We’ve got a real goal in front of us right now. The first thing we want to do is look at it like this: We want to win the opener, and then we’ve got to get bowl eligible. Now, I think you’re always looking at building consistency and working toward championships. The first thing we have to do is we’ve got to get back to a bowl.

I never believe in saying, ‘We can’t do this.’ The power of a team is so big when you bring that chemistry together. But we want to get bowl eligible immediately. That’s realistic, as opposed to me saying it’s going to take one year to do this and two years to do that. You just don’t know that. But I want to get bowl eligible right away and our team wants that, our program wants that and that’s where we’re headed right now.

Boston College has hired UConn’s Don Brown to be its new defensive coordinator, new coach Steve Addazio announced Wednesday.

“We’re very excited to have Don Brown joining our Boston College family,” Addazio said in a statement. “Don is a New England guy who has tremendous ties and relationships in the Northeast to go along with a great coaching resume.”

Brown, who spent the past two seasons as the defensive coordinator for Paul Pasqualoni, has deep roots in the Northeast.

The Spencer, Mass., native has been a head coach three times -- at Plymouth State (1993 to 1995), Northeastern (2000 to 2003) and UMass (2004 to 2008). He also has ties to the ACC, as he was the defensive coordinator at Maryland for the two seasons (2009-10) prior to joining the staff at UConn.

“He has tremendous character and is a great family man who is a perfect fit here at Boston College,” Addazio said.

Brown, 57, will take over a BC defense that was in disarray in 2012. The Eagles finished 113th in the country in rushing defense, 73rd in passing defense, 75th in scoring defense and 102nd in total defense in Frank Spaziani’s last season in the Heights, according to cfbstats.com.

“Coach Addazio has presented me with a great challenge -- one that I am very excited about,” Brown said in the statement. “I’m excited to be back in the ACC. The positive thing for me is that I’m a New England guy. I’m from Massachusetts. Coaching at Boston College has always been a wish of mine.”

As for philosophy, Brown’s approach may be music to the ears of Eagles fans.

“I’m a firm believer that you play the game on the balls of your feet, not on your heels. From day one, we’re going to be aggressive,” he said. “We’re going to attack the line of scrimmage. We’re going to get after the quarterback. We’re going to play with our hair on fire on defense. I’m a big believer in playing for tackles for loss and being disruptive and making life difficult for the quarterback. We’re going to attack. That’s the style of defense that I’ve employed. We’re going to fly around and attack the pass.”

While at UConn, Brown led a turnaround on D. The Huskies went from 58th in total defense in 2010, the year before he was hired, to 51st in 2011 and 10th in 2012.

The Huskies ranked seventh in the country in rushing defense in 2012, allowing an average of just 97.92 yards a game.

Brown’s defense also proved capable of getting to the quarterback, with 33 sacks in 2012 -- good for a tie for 19th in the country. BC finished dead last, 124th, with just six sacks in 2012.

Addazio also officially announced the hiring of Ryan Day as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

New athletic director Brad Bates praised Addazio’s hires on Twitter on Wednesday, writing: “Coach Addazio assembling excellent staff. Ryan Day and Don Brown will be terrific coordinators.”

The news also made its way to defensive lineman Connor Wujciak, who said via Twitter:

Don Brown as Defensive Cordinator??? Wow I am PUMPED.

— Connor Wujciak (@Wuj90) December 19, 2012

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

One of the key reasons Brad Bates chose Steve Addazio as Boston College's new head football coach is his ability to recruit.

With his passionate, fiery personality, Addazio plays well to a crowd, but the coach is also able to build meaningful relationships with recruits and, if he gets them to sign on, his players.

In fact, when he was an assistant to Urban Meyer at Florida he managed to get a top recruit in the Northeast to decommit from UConn and head south to play for the Gators.

"He was definitely one of [the reasons I committed], because he's a straightforward guy," New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez told ESPNBoston.com's Field Yates on Thursday. "He doesn't just tell you what you want to hear. That's what you want from a coach."

Asked on WEEI's "The Dennis & Callahan Show" on Thursday morning about recruiting Hernandez, Addazio said he pitched the tight end on the chance to contribute to a top-flight program and to make an impact in a high-powered offense.

"I had a great relationship with him," Addazio said. "I had a great trust factor, obviously being from the state of Connecticut going into Connecticut [to recruit]. I thought [Florida] ended up being a terrific fit for him. And certainly so, so proud of all the things that he's accomplished. He's a great guy with a great work ethic and great talent."

Hernandez was also full of praise for his former coach.

"He's a great coach," he said. "He's a great person on and off the field. He can be a little intense at times, but I loved him and I loved having him as a coach."

On the morning talk show, Addazio was also asked about the academic standards at BC and how that will impact recruiting, leading to this exchange:

Isn't it true that there are going to be players you can't get past admissions at BC?

"Yes it is," Addazio answered, matter-of-factly.

And you're prepared for that?

"Yes, I am," Addazio said. "Obviously there are plenty of really talented student-athletes that are really looking for a powerful degree and want to play a high-energy and passionate, great brand of football and want to be in a city like Boston and be on a beautiful campus like Boston College. That group is out there and I'm really looking forward to attacking it."

Hernandez was asked a similar question later Thursday, about how Addazio will fare recruiting in New England and bringing talent to the Heights.

"I know it's hard to get into a school like BC," Hernandez said, "but he's a great recruiter, and knows how to get recruits, so I'm sure he'll get a bunch of athletes there."

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey. Information from ESPNBoston.com Patriots reporter Field Yates was used in this report.

NEWTON, Mass. -- Like many interested observers, more than a few Boston College players were surprised by Brad Bates' hire of Steve Addazio to be their next football coach.

"A lot of the guys were surprised," quarterback Chase Rettig said. "This is why you can't listen to everything that's going on in the media, because there's a lot of names out there and Coach Addazio wasn't necessarily one of the different things people were talking about."

No, Addazio wasn't mentioned in many (any?) reports, but he's here now. The new coach introduced himself to the team in a 2 p.m. team meeting in the Barber Room of the Yawkey Center, then met with the media, boosters and athletic department staff in the same room an hour later.

And while Bates might have been stealthy about whom he was hiring, there's little stealthy about the man he hired.

A big man with a bald head and a booming baritone, Addazio can make quite the first impression.

"Obviously he brings a lot of passion and enthusiasm," Rettig said. "He wants to create a buzz for our football program."

In regard to personal style -- and certainly volume -- the difference from former coach Frank Spaziani couldn't be starker. While Spaziani sometimes seemed to be whispering in postgame sessions with the media, Addazio barely needed the microphone on the podium.

Heck, he barely even used the podium, instead wandering around behind it, gesturing to accentuate his points.

The energy, which Bates mentioned multiple times Tuesday night after announcing the hire, is already rubbing off on his new charges.

"Just having him in here today, it made me very excited," linebacker Steele Divitto said. "He's basically told us to buckle up and be ready for a tough offseason, and I'm looking forward to it. And I'm looking forward to this team's successes going forward."

Divitto said he knew Addazio a little previously, since both are Connecticut natives. The linebacker is impressed with his résumé, but the first thing he mentioned was that personality.

"He brings a lot of energy to the table," Divitto said. "I think it's very important to have a head coach that the players get excited to play for. It makes the game more exciting, it makes the players more excited, it makes it more enthusiastic. It makes them want to be out there and compete at the highest level.

"And that's something that a lot of guys have been looking for, and it seems like we're getting it now."

Said Rettig: "He's bringing passion, enthusiasm and he wants to do something special."

But back to that résumé for a moment. In two years at Temple, Addazio went 13-11 (9-4 the first year, 4-7 the second) and won a bowl game (37-15 over Wyoming in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl in 2011). Before that, he spent six years on Urban Meyer's staff at Florida, where he helped the Gators win two BCS National Championship Games (in 2006 and 2008).

Being at Florida in those halcyon days, of course, meant he also coached a certain famous quarterback who now plies his trade (sparingly) in New York.

"Even the guys he's coached, Tim Tebow," Divitto said. "I love Tim Tebow. He's extremely passionate, extremely intense. I love that. That's kind of the way I am. So personally I'm very excited. I know a lot of the guys are excited, as well."

On Wednesday, Addazio wore one of the rings he got in his time at Florida -- an accessory not lost on the Eagles.

"Experience is a big thing, because the more experience they bring to the table the faster kids will buy in," Divitto said. "And that's what we're looking for."

In Addazio, the Eagles hope they've found the coach they were looking for. Now, all that's left to do is to get to work.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

NEWTON, Mass. -- In his sometimes-thunderous introduction to the Boston College community, new head football coach Steve Addazio said all the things you would expect.

He's dreamed of being in this position all his life, he said. There's no place like BC, no place like Chestnut Hill on a football Saturday in the fall.

Addazio declared that he's here for the long haul, which had to be reassuring to Eagles fans with memories long enough to remember back past the Frank Spaziani era to Jeff Jagodzinski and the chaos that has ensued since the latter left after just two seasons to pursue bigger ambitions.

When questioned after his opening remarks about just what the long haul means to him, Addazio left no wiggle room.

"I want to be here and finish my career here," he said. "This is where I want to be. I have a home up in Cape Cod. I'm in New England. I'm at the most wonderful place I could possibly be at. I couldn't be more clear about that."

The big man paused, then turned a bit where he stood and went on.

"You can ask that lady in the red jacket right there," he said, gesturing to his wife, Kathy, seated in the front row.

"It's not red," she replied, drawing laughs from the room.

"In that maroon jacket right there," Addazio said, correcting himself as the laughter continued.

When the room quieted down again, the line of questioning shifted to something else Addazio had said in his remarks. Something you might not have expected, knowing the situation at the Heights at the moment: that you can win a national championship at Boston College.

"I think that any time you're at an institution like this," he said, "which has great tradition, has a beautiful campus, has a great education, in a city like we're in, in the city of Boston -- you can recruit, you can build, you can compete and you can win a national championship.

"It's been done. It's been done at a lot of places. That's the job, that's the mission, that's what we strive for. I've been in a couple of those. I've been there when that confetti comes down, and the feeling and elation and all the hard work that goes into it. There's absolutely no reason why that can't be accomplished at Boston College."

Heady words, indeed, especially coming as they do on the heels of a 2-10 season (which followed a 4-8 season, which … you get the point).

When he was pressed further, in one-on-one interviews, Addazio clarified. He isn't saying the Eagles will win a national championship, he's saying he believes it's possible they can.

"Can you? Absolutely you can," he said. "And I'm not coming in here as some bragging coach, 'Oh, yeah, we're gonna go win the national championship.' That's just not my style."

The task at hand, Addazio knows, starts with simpler ambitions.

"Where are we right now as we stand here?" he asked in his remarks. "We're currently not playing in a bowl game. We're disappointed. We're hungry.

"I talked to the team earlier before we came in here. I said to the team, 'As you sit in that chair I hope there's a disappointment. I hope it hurts. I hope there's a hunger. I hope there's a drive. I hope that you understand that you came to Boston College to win championships. I hope that fuels as we start this offseason workout program. Because we're all striving for success, and we're all competitors.'"

Linebacker Steele Divitto said part of the new coach's message to the players was, "Trust in me and I'll trust in you."

Addazio didn't just set out some lofty goals and leave it at that. He told the Eagles what he believes they'll need to do to achieve them.

"How are we going to get there?" he asked. "With a great offseason, by pushing each other, by pain and sacrifice, by strong will, a tough spring and a great summer, leadership by our seniors and a foxhole mentality. That's my job. We're going to have the toughest offseason we've ever had with winter conditioning and spring football because by pain and sacrifice you build bonds.

"And we're going to build a great chemistry, and we're going to feed off that hunger that's in everybody's belly and that disappointment. We're going to drive. That's what we're going to do. That's going to happen -- step by step."

It's clear the new coach has a vision for the program he wants to build at Boston College, and if Wednesday was any indication he should be able to communicate that vision well.

Where exactly that vision will lead, remains to be seen. But it sure had to sound good to Eagles fans.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

Steve Addazio, who was 13-11 in two years as Temple head coach, will be the new football coach at Boston College, athletic director Brad Bates announced via Twitter on Tuesday.

"Coach Addazio genuinely cares about his students and will facilitate their development in meaningful ways to create a family culture. He has a passion that is contagious and an energy that will motivate those fortunate to meet him," Bates said via Twitter. He is a proven winner with an extensive history of success as an assistant and head coach that includes two national championships. We are very excited to have Steve Addazio leading BC football and look forward to an extraordinary future."

Addazio oversaw the Owls' move from the MAC to the Big East and went 13-11 in his two seasons there. He had previously been offensive coordinator at Florida, winning two titles in a number of different roles with the Gators.

Addazio replaces Frank Spaziani, who went 21-29 in four seasons.

Mackay Lowrie said he had already run the scenario through his mind, so he had little to think about when Boston College fired football coach Frank Spaziani on Sunday.

Lowrie, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound quarterback from Roxbury Latin School, said Monday night that he still plans to play college football at BC. He is currently the only Massachusetts player from the Class of 2014 who has committed to the Eagles.

“My first reaction was it's unfortunate, but I'd be lying if I told you I didn't think it might happen,” Lowrie said. “I chose BC last spring knowing something like this might happen. That's college football.

“I'm staying with BC. I really can't wait to get there. I'm excited to see who will be the next head coach.”

BC assistant coach Sean Devine had dinner at Lowrie's house in Foxborough on Monday night.

“It was a planned home visit,” Lowrie said. “He's still a Boston College employee, and he told me he'll keep working until they tell him not to. It would be tough to see him go.”

Lowrie, a two-star recruit, originally intended to play baseball in college, but focused on football after he had a strong junior season. He was a three-year starter at quarterback for Roxbury Latin after playing defensive back as a freshman.

Rutgers also offered Lowrie a scholarship. Duke and Virginia are the other schools that showed significant interest.

“Basically it came down to BC, UVA and Rutgers,” he said. “Ultimately BC was the best fit. The location is huge -– it's less than 30 miles from my house. Academically you can't get a much better place in Division 1 football than BC. The fact that it's a Jesuit school was another huge factor.”

Another QB Option: Tim Boyle, a senior quarterback who plays for Xavier High School in Middletown, Conn., also said he will remain committed to BC, despite the coaching change.

“I am strongly committed,” Boyle said via text message Monday night. “I have no different opinion on BC. I still can't wait!”

Like Lowrie, Boyle is a pro-style quarterback who has already taken his official visit to BC. He also had offers from Florida, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Syracuse and Pittsburgh.

Boyle, a three-star recruit, missed seven games with a separated shoulder last season, but has completed 93 of 163 passes for 1,612 yards and 15 touchdowns (six interceptions) this season.

Third-seeded Xavier (8-1) is scheduled to play sixth-seeded Greenwich (8-1) in the Class LL quarterfinals tonight. Xavier is seeking its third consecutive Class LL championship.

More Local Flavor: Marquis Little, a linebacker from Manchester (Conn.) High School, is the only other senior from New England currently committed to BC.

Tight end Andrew Isaacs, Little's high school teammate, is one of three other New England players who decommitted from BC before Spaziani was fired. The others are Cheshire Academy linebacker Cory Jasudowich, and Sacred Heart (Waterbury, Conn.) wide receiver David Coggins.

Isaacs committed to Maryland, Jasudowich committed to Connecticut and Coggins is undecided. All three are three-star recruits

Recruiting information regarding high school or prep school players in New England can be sent to Roger Brown at rbrown@nhfootballreport.com.

Brad Bates is wasting no time.

A day after relieving Frank Spaziani of his duties as Boston College head coach, Bates took his message first to the Internet and then to the airwaves.

The new athletic director, hired away from Miami (Ohio) in October to replace the retired Gene DeFilippo, reassured his followers on Twitter on Monday afternoon that the coaching search is underway.

“I'm already fully immersed in the search for your next football coach,” he tweeted. “I appreciate all the positive input. I'll keep you posted throughout.”

Monday night, Bates called in to the “D.A. Show” on 98.5 The Sports Hub to discuss the coaching search with host Damon Amendolara.

When asked during the 10-minute spot if he would be OK with a hiring a coach who might be a short-term solution, Bates said: “If all else was equal, you would clearly want continuity in your program. At the same time, I can’t predict the future.”

Then Bates said he believes BC can be a destination for the right coach.

“We’re gonna create a situation here that’s gonna be, in our opinion, a destination-type situation,” he said. “A place that gives a coach every opportunity to have a high level of success and achieve that vision of excellence that we strive for in our football program.”

After that comment Bates was asked if he really believes that a top-flight coach could view BC as a destination, and the athletic director said he did.

“Coaches that are gonna be excited about BC, that can sell the product of Boston College, are people who are gonna be aligned with the values of the institution,” he said. “So when you have a situation professionally where you can strive toward your vision of the program, where you can work with highly intelligent and talented students in a community that really is a family, then yes, I think if you can find that person then the tenure is going to be longer than one might expect.”

During the interview Bates reiterated that the final decision on Spaziani’s status wasn’t made until this past weekend, and that wins and losses clearly play a role in any coach’s evaluation.

“If you believe that winning contributes to student development -- and I clearly do -- then [you believe] competitive success helps students really acquire a winning attitude,” he said. “They gain a wealth of knowledge and experiences and skills that will serve them the rest of their lives.”

The new AD said he doesn’t think Boston College’s academic standards, which are higher than those of some of its competitors, should be viewed as a negative in this process.

“In fact I think it’s an asset to us,” Bates said. “Clearly in our past we have a history and tradition of great success even when we had high academic traditions. I personally believe that the academics and the prestige of the degree clearly distinguishes us in ways that will appeal to students who really care about their education.”

On Sunday, Bates told reporters that he would not be considering any of the current Eagles assistants for the head-coaching position. On Monday, he said that past BC ties would just be a bonus in a candidate.

“I think the quick answer is of course, but it’s not a prerequisite to the ultimate decision,” he said.

“I think past experience and knowledge of BC is advantageous, but ultimately we need someone who is going to come in here, sustain the high retention and graduation rates of this institution, represent us as an ambassador to the entire community and to our alumni base and fans, and win. And do it with an energy and enthusiasm that makes all of our alumni proud.”

As of Monday, the Eagles have 16 verbal commitments in the Class of 2013. Bates was asked whether those agreements would be honored by the new staff.

“BC is about ethics,” he said, “and when those commitments were offered, when those scholarships were offered and those students shook hands and called those other schools and told them, ‘I’m going to BC’ and closed those doors -- Yes we’re gonna honor those scholarships. That’s just the ethical thing to do and that’s the way BC works.”

While Bates wasn’t asked about potential candidates on Monday night, several names already have been connected to the vacancy by various reports. The possible candidates reportedly include Cleveland Browns quarterbacks coach Mark Whipple, Harvard coach Tim Murphy, Kent State coach Darrell Hazell, Miami coach Al Golden and Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco.

Asked for a timeline, Bates said he wanted to move quickly -- but that he would not be hasty.

“We’re gonna move as quickly as we possibly can, but this is a very, very important hire,” he said. “This is a key leadership role in our department, and one of the most recognized names at the entire university. And so we’re going to be very deliberate in making sure we get the exact right person for what this program needs right now.”

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

Two days after the season ended and a day after coach Frank Spaziani was let go by new athletic director Brad Bates, the Eagles got a bit of good news: linebacker Nick Clancy and wide receiver Alex Amidon were voted onto the 2012 All-ACC first team.

Left tackle Emmett Cleary was voted onto the second team, while punter Gerald Levano and linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis received honorable mentions.

The teams are selected by a vote of 46 members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association.

Though the team as a whole had a forgettable season, finishing with the second worst record in school history at 2-10 (1-7 in the ACC) and beating only one FBS opponent all season (Maryland), Amidon and Clancy were two of the bright spots for BC.

The 5-foot-11, 186-pound Amidon came into the season with 36 career catches for 558 yards and three touchdowns. He more than doubled those numbers as a junior, finishing with BC single-season highs in catches (78, two more than Andre Callendar’s previous record of 76) and receiving yards (1,210, 61 more than Brian Brennan’s previous record of 1,149) and seven TDs (most on the team in 2012).

Clancy, a fifth-year senior, finished first in the ACC and third in the country in tackles with 145 (81 solo, 64 assisted), according to cfbstats.com. The 6-3, 232-pounder had a single-season high of 19 tackles prior to assuming the starting middle linebacker role vacated by Luke Kuechly this season.

Cleary, a captain, moved from right tackle to left this season and generally acquitted himself well. Levano took over in 2012 for record-setting punter Ryan Quigley, and averaged 42 yards on 57 punts -- good for third in the ACC.

Pierre-Louis, a junior, tied for 12th in the ACC in tackles with 85 despite missing three games with injuries.

So while Bates attends to the business of searching for a successor to Spaziani, Eagles fans can at least be thankful for the years Amidon and Clancy had and hopeful that Amidon and Pierre-Louis can build on their performances as seniors in 2013.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

Frank Spaziani will not return as Boston College head coach, the school announced Sunday.

The Eagles finished 2-10 in 2012, the season concluding with a 27-10 loss to NC State on Saturday, and won just six games the past two seasons.

“A personnel decision of this magnitude affects many people and is never taken lightly, but I felt a change was necessary," BC athletic director Brad Bates said in a statement.

“It is with gratitude that we recognize the many contributions Coach Spaziani has made to Boston College during his 16 years in Chestnut Hill,” Bates said in the statement. “He displayed unwavering dedication and loyalty to our institution and our football studentathletes, while consistently representing Boston College with class and dignity. He and his staff have devoted countless hours to our studentathletes and the BC community. We thank them and wish them well.”

Spaziani, who had just completed his 16th season with the Eagles -- the first two as running backs coach, 10 as defensive coordinator and four as head coach -- compiled a 22-29 record in his time in the top job.

“Obviously this is a sad day for my family and me,” Spaziani said in a statement. “Boston College has been my home for more than 16 years, and I have been fortunate to work with some amazing student-athletes. I will always treasure my relationships with them and the BC staff. Boston College is a tremendous place, and I am extremely thankful for my time there. I wish the current and future Eagles nothing but the best.”

In the statement, Bates said the search for a new coach will begin immediately.

“We will be seeking a leader whose vision of our football program mirrors the mission of our University,
who values the development of our studentathletes and whose goal is to return our program to national prominence,” he said in the statement. “Our fans and the entire University community value the rich tradition of Boston College football, and we are committed to making it a successful program.”

Taking over the team in 2009, once former athletic director Gene DeFilippo fired then-coach Jeff Jagodzinski after the coach interviewed for a job in the NFL, Spaziani faced immediate issues. Many of the players Jagodzinski had recruited to the Heights, where the Eagles were coming off back-to-back appearances in the ACC championship game, would decide to leave after the coaching change.

Entering the ’09 season, Spaziani didn’t have a single quarterback on his roster with Division I starting experience. That meant Dave Shinskie, a 25-year-old former minor league baseball player, got the chance to start under center.

The switch also hurt in recruiting, which is crucial for a school like BC. Spaziani was fond of saying that the Eagles had to develop players, they hardly ever got the kind of players who arrived on campus fully formed and ready to play from day one.

And though he had some success as head coach initially, going 8-5 in 2009 and 7-6 in 2010 and extending the school’s streak of consecutive bowl appearances to 12 years in a row, things began to go downhill in 2011.

Offensive coordinator Gary Tranquill retired after the 2010 season, and Spaziani hired Kevin Rogers to replace him. But Rogers coached only two games before taking a medical leave of absence for the remainder of the season, forcing Spaziani to elevate then-tight ends coach Dave Brock to the OC job.

The offense scuffled the rest of the way and Spaziani made another move in the offseason, bringing in Doug Martin to be the fourth offensive coordinator in three seasons.

Just as the offense began to show signs of improvement, though, the defense fell apart. Martin’s system has helped several players set school records in 2012, but the defense hasn’t been able to hold leads late and the team straggled to a 2-10 record.

It was only the second season in school history the team had double-digit losses.

Though it’s certainly not the only factor, the defections after Jagodzinski’s firing may have been a crippling blow for Spaziani. The losses created holes that the Eagles were unable to fill, either because of Spaziani’s own failures as a recruiter (he’s had just five four-star recruits and 34 three-star recruits in the three classes since 2010) or because of injuries to key holdovers from the previous regime.

For example, the Eagles entered the season hopeful that senior defensive lineman Kaleb Ramsey would stay healthy and play a big role on the defense, but Ramsey got hurt in the second game and missed the rest of the season.

Spaziani also dismissed the school’s all-time leading rusher, Montel Harris, before the 2012 season for a violation of team rules. Harris missed most of the 2011 season with injuries and received a medical redshirt for a fifth year of eligibility.

Harris transferred to Temple and has rushed for 948 yards and 12 touchdowns for the Owls in 2012.

There were also some questionable on-field decisions, such as opting to play for overtime against Virginia Tech at home on Senior Day instead of attempting to get into field goal range with the ball at the BC 17-yard line and just less than a minute to play.

Virginia Tech scored a touchdown on the first possession of overtime, Boston College’s offense got stuffed and Spaziani’s critics had another painful loss to point to.

While the on-field results were sorely lacking -- things got so bad this season, a handful of fans took to wearing brown paper bags over their heads at BC home games -- Spaziani was fond of saying that the players never stopped working hard. They always believed in the process, even though the payoff wasn’t there.

“I think it’s how we’ve brought ‘em up, what we try to instill here,” the coach, a career assistant before DeFilippo elevated him to head coach in 2009, said before a recent practice. “They believe in it, they trust it and they understand it. You hate to get too philosophical, but there’s life lessons being taught out here.”

Asked what those life lessons were, Spaziani said, “That it’s a jungle out there and you’ve got to work, and you’ve got to keep working, you’ve got to keep focusing, you’ve got to keep trying to excel. And sometimes circumstances get you.”

The circumstances -- and some questionable decisions of his own -- ultimately got Spaziani.

NEWTON, Mass. -- Things haven't been this bad at Boston College in a long, long time.

There was the 0-11 season in 1978 that ended with a loss in Tokyo. There was the 2-9 season in 1989, sandwiched between a 3-8 season and a 4-7 season.

But since Tom O'Brien posted an 8-4 record in 1999, the Eagles hadn't recorded a single losing season and had played in 12 straight bowl games.

Until the past two seasons, that is. The bottom has fallen out on BC under head coach Frank Spaziani, who has seen the record fall from 8-5 in 2009, to 7-6 in 2010, to 4-8 in 2011 to the current 2-9 in 2012.

Yet during Thanksgiving week, a number of Eagles made it clear that there's still plenty they are thankful for.

"We all owe a debt of gratitude, both for the chance and then for his belief in all of us that we can go out and get it done," fifth-year senior and offensive co-captain Emmett Cleary said of the only head coach he's ever played for.

"It's been bad this year, but you have to believe in the process more than you believe in the results you're seeing. I think a lot of this isn't Coach's fault, and I just hope he has his job season opener next year."

They've heard the rumors that Spaziani won't survive the end of the season. How could they not hear them? After all, Cleary said, they're on campus, too.

After a second straight losing season and with a new athletic director (Brad Bates) in charge at Boston College, Spaziani might be coaching his last game at NC State on Saturday (3 p.m. ET, ESPN3).

A loss to the Wolfpack would produce just the second season with double-digit losses in school history.

Coming as it has on the heels of a 4-8 season in 2011, the 2012 season seems to show that there just isn't enough progress being made on Spaziani's watch.

But is Spaziani entirely to blame? His players aren't so sure.

"If I'm in position to make a block and I don't make it, I'm not gonna blame somebody for calling the wrong play," Cleary said, pointing out that the players are the ones on the field. "It's toughness, discipline and just kind of approaching the game the right way that he's instilled in this team. We've had a rough season but those lessons work for football and they work for life. Nobody's lost sight of that, I think.

"With all the criticism, frankly, it's been good watching Spaz kind of model what he's been preaching for years now. You just have to worry about the day-to-day things and just keep working and that's ultimately what causes success in this world."

It also would've helped if Cleary's class had stuck around after 2008.

"We've talked about this hundreds of times among the older guys," Cleary said. "I think a lot of these games were lost three or four years ago, when my signing class -- which was, I think, 36 including walk-ons -- [decided to leave BC, and now] there's nine of us left. It's hard to win when you don't have experienced players and experienced depth.

"We've had a lot of young players playing and they've really played their asses off these last couple years, but I think you'd prefer to have those guys redshirt and have experienced backups when injuries and losses happen."

When Jeff Jagodzinski brought in Cleary and the rest of this season's crop of fifth-year seniors, the program was riding high. Cleary's redshirt year, 2008, the team was in the ACC championship game -- just as it had been the year before.

Then Jagodzinski interviewed for a job in the NFL, former athletic director Gene DeFilippo fired him and hired Spaziani, who had been the defensive coordinator from 1999 to 2008.

While hiring Spaziani meant there remained some continuity on the coaching staff, whenever there's a coaching change there will be some impact on recruiting.

"The reality is this, when you chop up recruiting, it doesn't show right away," Spaziani said before practice Tuesday. "It has unintended consequences that happen later on. … At Boston College you have to identify talent, you have to develop it and you have to have some continuity with it. There's other issues besides that. [But] that's a contributing factor."

The Eagles don't like talking about this kind of thing. It's too close to an excuse, and making excuses isn't how they operate in the Heights.

But it's true that it was an issue that they've had to navigate. Last season, the Eagles had 12 seniors. This season, they have 16 -- only eight of them significant contributors.

That makes it hard to win.

It hasn't helped Spaziani that the trend in college football has been toward giving coaches less time to succeed, rather than more, in the age of information.

(Read full post)