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NEWTON, Mass. -- Sophomore defensive back Al Louis-Jean has been suspended for the Eagles’ opener against Villanova due to a violation of team policy, Boston College coach Steve Addazio said Monday.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound sophomore is expected to rejoin the team for Week 2. Freshman John Johnson and junior James McCaffrey are listed in his place for Week 1, backing up starter Manny Asprilla.

Louis-Jean injured his foot during training camp in 2012 and missed the entire season. The Brockton, Mass., native has played in 10 career games and has 15 tackles (11 unassisted, four assisted), one forced fumble, three pass breakups and one interception.

Dudeck impresses

Former head coach Frank Spaziani called him “Hobbs,” as in “The Natural.” And while Addazio hasn’t gone that far yet, he’s clearly been impressed by his backup tailback.

“Dave Dudeck is one of those guys, to me, I don’t know, I just really like who he is,” Addazio said. “He’s a scrappy battler. He’s playing inside receiver, he’s playing tailback, now he’s back there returning punts. Why? Because he’s really accountable. He’s just one of those guys, man, he’s just an accountable guy.

“Who could come out of camp and not feel great about David Dudeck?”

The 5-foot-11, 190-pound sophomore was pressed into service when injuries struck the backfield last season, starting three games and appearing in nine despite starting the preseason as a defensive back. Dudeck finished with 41 rushes for 116 yards and a touchdown, and added 21 receptions for 155 yards and a touchdown.

Fullback flip

The Eagles have made a switch at fullback, with junior Jarrett Darmstatter listed on the two-deep depth chart as the starter (in place of senior Jake Sinkovec) and redshirt freshman Bobby Wolford the backup. Wolford started the preseason listed as a linebacker.

“I think he’s a guy who’s got some real toughness to him,” Addazio said of Wolford. “And I think he’s gonna develop really well at that position.”

Backup QB a question

While Chase Rettig is firmly entrenched as the starter at quarterback, the backup situation has been complicated by a training camp injury to would-be backup Josh Bordner.

That situation may be clearing up just in time for the opener.

“He took some snaps today, non-contact, throwing the football,” Addazio said of Bordner. “He’s limited. I think he’d be a question mark for the game on Saturday, still, at this point. But definitely heading in the right direction.”

If the 6-foot-4, 221-pound Bordner can’t go on Saturday, either senior Mike Marscovetra or freshman James Walsh would likely be the backup to Rettig.

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

NEWTON, Mass. -- Brad Bates might have said it best when he tweeted his congratulations this weekend:

Congrats to @BCFootballNews captains Ian White & Kasim Edebali. Is there a better honor than being selected by their peers to lead them?

— Brad Bates (@BCBradBates) August 25, 2013

Speaking after practice on Shea Field on Monday, both Edebali and White echoed that sentiment, sounding genuinely touched by the gesture from their teammates.

Asked what it meant to him, White admitted, “[It’s a] huge honor. When I first found out, I teared up. Soft, but ...” the 6-foot-5, 302-pounder said with a chuckle. “To know that my teammates and these coaches trust me and respect me enough to give me that honor, it was huge.

“It was a great moment in my life.”

A fifth-year senior from Conway, N.H., White is moving from right guard to right tackle to replace John Wetzel this season. He says the transition has been smooth, so far, as he gets used to playing in space on the edge.

Asked what being named captain meant to him, Edebali’s response was similar to White’s.

“It was just a really humbling experience,” he said. “I love all the guys in that room. This is my fifth year now. They are looking up to me and saying, ‘Kasim, we want you to be the guy that we follow when it’s crunch time.’ That means a lot.”

Wideout Alex Amidon said Edebali and White were fitting choices.

“They’re great guys. They’re really good leaders,” he said. “Obviously it’s a team vote, so it just reflects what the team wants as leaders: two linemen, two big guys. It’s good.”

After an ESPNBoston.com story Saturday night incorrectly suggested that Addazio selected this season’s captains, the coach made sure to clarify when he addressed the issue Monday.

“I did not pick the captains, the team voted for the captains,” he said. “They voted for Ian White and they voted for Kasim. I think Ian’s a strong, hard-playing, passionate player. He’s a good, strong leader. Kasim is a guy that has tremendous work ethic. I think the players recognize that and they see that.

“They are good representatives of BC football.”

The coach also made it clear that it can’t stop there.

“We had two captains -- and those are the two that are elected and they’re the two the team voted in, they’re the two that are going to go about the business of leading the team,” Addazio said. “But we also talked about the fact that Chase [Rettig] is emerging as a leader. And so are guys like KPL [Kevin Pierre-Louis] and Alex Amidon and Steele [Divitto].

“We’ve got a lot of guys. And though two guys have the title of captain, those guys need to be great leaders. That’s the challenge. I think when you have overall leadership is when you’re good. If they think it’s a one- or two-person committee it’s usually not very good.”

Edebali and White don’t believe it stops with them.

“My name and Kasim’s name get put on captain, but the whole group of seniors together are the leaders of this team that need to lead and bring people up and bring people along and make sure everyone’s on the same page,” White said. “Be a good example on and off the field. So my role really hasn’t changed. I’ve tried to lead from the beginning.”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a captain or not, it’s upperclassman leadership,” Edebali said. “The eyes are always on you. You’ve always gotta lead by example.”

And how, exactly, can you do that?

“Create energy,” Edebali said. “Give as much energy as you can. Get it going in practice, because if you have a good practice you’re gonna have a good game. So never let the underclassmen have a bad practice. Just get it going, practice hard, and then get ready to execute once we hit Saturday.”

The first test for BC and its newly anointed leadership duo is just five days away.

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

NEWTON, Mass. -- Steve Addazio was not happy, and he let his players know it.

The coach lit into the Eagles at the conclusion of practice Monday for what he deemed an unacceptable performance.

“I wasn’t particularly satisfied with today’s practice,” Addazio said when he held his first regular Monday session with the media shortly after. “I didn’t think that today’s practice was up to the standard that it should be. We’ve had a lot of good practices and not a lot of ones that I would say were below the standard but this one was certainly, in my opinion, below the standard of what it needs to be.

“I need to get back up, watch the film and dig into what we need to do to make sure that’s righted, because we certainly wouldn’t be where we want to be if we were playing a game today.”

Asked what was lacking, Addazio said it was across the board.

“The intensity level wasn’t where I thought it should be, and I just thought we made too many mistakes on the practice field,” he said. “Perfect practice equals perfect play. If you think that you’re just gonna get it on Saturday because you want to, it won’t happen.

“You’re ready when it’s clean. If it’s not clean, you’re kind of rolling the dice a little bit.”

Coming off a 2-10 season in 2012, the Eagles can’t afford to gamble in their preparation.

“We feel like for us to be successful we have to play really well as a team, which means we’re accountable and playing clean as a team. And when I say clean I mean mistake-free,” Addazio said. “We’re not gonna be a team that even though there’s several mistakes out there, one great player kind of brings you home on it. That won’t serve us well. We need to play across the board with high execution.”

The Eagles are technically in their third day of preparation for the opener against Villanova, where in a normal week it would have been the first day of prep. Addazio said that sometimes those middle days of preparation, traditionally Tuesdays in a normal week, can be the hardest.

It’s possible that was the problem for the Eagles on Shea Field on Monday. But whatever the issue was, Addazio is determined to remedy it.

His players understand where he’s coming from.

“I think he’s just trying to emphasize the point that it’s game week and people need to get going and make sure no one is taking their foot off the pedal,” senior wideout Alex Amidon said of Addazio’s post-practice message. “We’ve gotta keep on climbing until right up to that last day. It has to be 110 percent every day.

“He’s saying, ‘You play how you practice and you win the games right now.’ That’s his message,” Amidon said. “Don’t come out and think you’re just gonna play differently on Saturday. What you do out here is going to show up on the field.”

While some might be tempted to write off Villanova, an FCS program, and assume a BC win, Addazio sure isn’t. He’s determined to set the right tone for the opener, and for the rest of the season.

“Why am I harping on this? And why are we talking about this?” he asked rhetorically. “Because I said from the beginning, I think for us to have great success, we’ve gotta be a real team. And that’s gotta be an advantage.

“So I focus and concentrate and talk and drill on this a lot, because I’m trying to increase our level of that. That’s our way of gaining an edge. And that’s why it’s so important to me right now, and that’s why I get disappointed if today wasn’t as high as it should have been because I know that has to be our edge.”

Asked if he thought the Eagles were close, Addazio said there have been times they’ve looked pretty good. But Addazio wants them to look that way all the time, not once in a while.

“My mindset is always, ‘OK, guys, just like a game, that one there that happened today, that’s gone forever.’ And if that’s as good a teaching moment as I can get, that’s great,” he said. “That’s what I want. Games are fragile. Before you know it, you’re sitting in the locker room. You either sang the fight song or you didn’t.

“Don’t let ‘em get away. They get away real quick -- find a way to not let it get away from you. That’s something we’re training.”

It was only a Monday practice, and there are three more days to correct mistakes and prepare for the first opponent of the season. So any takeaways need to be tempered somewhat.

But if one thing seems certain, this early in the season, it’s that Addazio means what he says when he says he will not tolerate mistakes.

“Maybe in another way it’s a good teaching moment,” he said. “There’s no redos. We live in this world of redos. ‘Oh, my bad. My bad. Can we do it again? Can I get another chance? Can I have one more chance?’ No. No, you can’t. You get one. It’s over. Move on. You can’t get it back anymore.”

If the coach has his way in 2013, the Eagles will make their chances count. He’ll surely let them hear about it if they don’t.

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

With less than a week to go before kickoff of the 2013 season, Steve Addazio announced the first captains of his Boston College tenure: two fifth-year senior linemen, defensive end Kasim Edebali and right tackle Ian White.

The selections, traditionally made by a player vote, send a clear message: Success starts with hard work up front.

Edebali, a native of Hamburg, Germany, who came to BC via a program that landed him at Kimball Union in New Hampshire, has appeared in 36 games the past three seasons. The 6-foot-3, 246-pounder has 99 career tackles, with 53 solo tackles and 9.5 tackles for a loss.

White, a 6-5, 302-pounder from Conway, N.H., has played in 34 games the past three seasons, including nine starts at right guard in 2012.

Both have their degrees in hand, with Edebali earning a bachelor’s degree in communications and White earning a bachelor’s degree in human education. And both do the majority of their work in the so-called “trenches,” where the grit really gets tested and those lacking toughness need not apply.

White will be tasked with taking over at right tackle for John Wetzel, who’s moved on to the NFL with the Oakland Raiders. Edebali, meanwhile, will be encouraged (read: compelled) to attack the quarterback in new defensive coordinator Don Brown’s aggressive philosophy, in an all-out effort to erase the memory of last season’s paltry total of six sacks.

Addazio has said again and again in the buildup to the 2013 season that establishing the proper mindset -- the mindset he believes was missing in recent seasons in Chestnut Hill -- starts with him. But if it’s truly going to resonate with the Eagles going forward, that message ultimately has to come from the players, too.

As captains, Edebali and White can help set the right tone, or at least serve as examples for younger teammates to follow.

Editor's note: This post was edited after it was posted to correctly reflect the selection process of the captains.

Previewing Year 2 of UMass as an FBS program:

Massachusetts Minutemen

Coach: Charley Molnar (second season at UMass, 1-11)

2012 record: 1-11 (1-7 in Mid-American Conference)

Key losses: RB Michael Cox, WR Deion Walker, DB Darren Thellen, OL Quinton Sales, OL Nick Speller, OL Stephane Milhim

Key returnees: QB Mike Wegzyn, TE Rob Blanchflower, RB Jordan Broadnax, RB Stacey Bedell, OL Anthony Dima, P Colter Johnson, DL Stanley Andre

Newcomer to watch: DE Justin Anderson. Molnar is excited about this fifth-year transfer from Maryland, suggesting he could make a big impact as a grad student this season. Anderson’s career stats as a member of the Terps don’t look like much, with 31 tackles (19 assisted and 12 unassisted) and two sacks in 24 games (13 starts).

But the 6-foot-5, 280-pounder certainly has the physical tools to put pressure on passers, something that the Minutemen struggled to do in 2012. UMass had just 12 sacks in its first year at the FBS level, tied for 118th nationally and ahead of only Eastern Michigan in the MAC.

Anderson and Molnar are both hoping that the Blythewood, S.C., native can recreate the season another fifth-year transfer had for the Minutemen in 2012: Michael Cox transferred to UMass after graduating from Michigan, and turned 198 carries into 715 yards, five TDs and a berth with the New York Giants, as he got drafted in the seventh round.

Biggest games in 2013: vs. Maine, Sept. 7; at Buffalo, Oct. 19; vs. Western Michigan, Oct. 26; vs. Akron, Nov. 16

Biggest question mark heading into 2013: Can the Minutemen take a step forward in Year 2 of the transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision?

Molnar’s men have a year of FBS game experience and year in a Division I weight training program. Has that work improved their ability to compete in the Mid-American Conference?

If so, how much?

Forecast: As Coldplay frontman Chris Martin sang in “The Scientist,” “Nobody said it was easy/No one ever said it would be this hard.”

The same can be said for the Minutemen's transition to the FBS level.

Half of UMass’ 12 games in 2013 will be against teams that played in bowl games in 2012, beginning with preseason AP No. 23 Wisconsin (which lost to Stanford in the Rose Bowl in ‘12) at noon on Aug. 31 (Big Ten Network).

The Minutemen also have matchups with Kansas State (Tostitos Fiesta Bowl), Vanderbilt (Franklin American Mortgage Music City), Northern Illinois (Discover Orange), Ohio (AdvoCare V100 Independence) and Bowling Green (Military Bowl -- Presented by Northrop Grumman).

Before training camp started, Molnar set realistic goals such as reducing unforced errors and pre-snap fouls like false starts and illegal formations, and missing fewer tackles.

UMass will have to be better if it wants to draw well enough to avoid being put on probation by the NCAA. After UMass averaged just 10,902 in attendance in 2012, the NCAA stated that if the Minutemen don’t average at least 15,000 in actual attendance in 2013 they will enter a 10-year probationary period regarding the transition to Division I.

Failing to meet the 15,000 minimum standard could result in “restricted membership,” which according to NCAA bylaw 20.9.7.5.2 would mean UMass would be ineligible for postseason play and would have one year to meet the minimum requirement before having to reapply for admission to the FBS.

The win-loss record isn’t likely to be pretty again this season, but Molnar believes his team is light years better than it was when it started Year 1. Time will tell if he’s right.

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

Previewing the 2013 season for new coach Steve Addazio and the Eagles.

Boston College Eagles

Coach: Steve Addazio (first year at BC, 13-11 overall)

Team's 2012 record: 2-10 (1-7 ACC)

Key losses: RT John Wetzel, LT Emmett Cleary, WR Ifeanyi Momah, RB Rolandan Finch, TE Chris Pantale, LB Nick Clancy, DB Jim Noel

Key returnees: QB Chase Rettig, C Andy Gallik, RB Andre Williams, WR Alex Amidon, DT Kaleb Ramsey, LB Steele Divitto, LB Kevin Pierre-Louis, DE Kasim Edebali

Newcomer to watch: LT Matt Patchan. It’s not often that a possibly NFL-caliber offensive lineman drops into a team’s lap right after it loses two O-line mainstays to the league, but that’s exactly what happened to the Eagles with Patchan. A 6-foot-7, 300-pound senior, Patchan knew Addazio from his injury-plagued career at Florida and chose to transfer to BC after his former coach got the job. If he’s healthy in 2013, which is no sure thing for a player who’s missed two full seasons with medical issues, Patchan could make a big impact for the Eagles.

Biggest games in 2013: vs. Villanova, Aug. 31; vs. Wake Forest, Sept. 6; vs. Army, Oct. 5.

Biggest question mark heading into 2013: Depth. The Eagles don’t have much of it, especially at key positions like QB, RB and WR. If injuries strike at those spots, can Addazio & Co. patch the holes?

It could be a long season in the Heights if the answer to that question is no.

Forecast: The Eagles won two games in 2012 and if they’re going to improve on that dismal win total in 2013 they need to win their early home games.

Addazio’s Temple squad opened its 2012 season, the first back in the Big East, with a 41-10 dismantling of FCS foe Villanova. If BC can manage a similar result, it will be halfway to its 2012 win total after just one game.

BC has another potentially winnable game on the schedule in Week 2 when Wake Forest comes to Chestnut Hill for a Friday night game on ESPN2 (8 ET). Jim Grobe’s Demon Deacons were just 5-7 (3-5 ACC) in 2012, and with the game at home this might be BC’s best shot at an ACC win.

From Week 3 on, things get significantly more difficult on paper. There’s a trip to USC to take on the Trojans, then an open week and a visit from Florida State before Army comes to town in Week 6.

The Eagles have said their goals are to win the opener and to get bowl eligible. The former is probably a good deal more doable than the latter, but if either is to be achieved they’ll have to prove they can pull off Addazio’s new emphasis on a power run game and an attack-style defense.

Rettig, Williams and Amidon are expected to provide the bulk of BC’s production on offense, which could clearly benefit from more balance in 2013 as it was heavily pass-happy in 2012. Addazio has talked up freshmen RBs Myles Willis and Tyler Rouse in camp, and Amidon said that Spiffy Evans and Dan Crimmins are playing well so far.

Pierre-Louis and Divitto form the core of what should be a solid linebacking corps, with Ramsey back for a sixth season on the D-line after injuries derailed his 2012 season. If his teammates are to be believed, you’ll hear Mehdi Abdesmad’s name more this season, too.

Bottom line, it would be hard for 2013 to be as bad as, or worse than, 2012 was for BC. The question is just how much better it can be in Year 1 of the Addazio era.

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

Boston College defensive lineman Malachi Moore will not play in 2013 for medical reasons, coach Steve Addazio confirmed after practice Wednesday.

On Sunday, Moore posted on his Twitter and Instagram accounts that he wouldn’t play this season, posting:

Built a bond with my team that will last a lifetime. And even though I won't be with them on the field… http://t.co/fWBRugkhj2

— Malachi James" (@prophet_1121) August 18, 2013

The news was first reported by The Heights, Boston College’s independent student newspaper.

Moore, a 6-foot-7, 252-pound sophomore defensive end, played in six games his freshman year, making four tackles and collecting one sack. Though he wasn’t listed in the initial two-deep depth chart for the defensive line, Moore would’ve provided necessary depth to a unit that struggled mightily in 2012.

Though he played in only half the team’s games in 2012 -- all six appearances coming in the season’s final seven games -- with his one sack, Moore had one-sixth of the Eagles’ total in the category.

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

The numbers weren’t pretty, and the play that produced them wasn’t, either.

Boston College, long known as a stout defensive team, ranked at or near the bottom in a number of key defensive statistics in 2012 as it often struggled to stop opponents and ended up with a 2-10 record.

Here are just a few of the ugly numbers jumping off the stat sheet in 2012 (ACC rank, national rank in parentheses):

• Scoring defense -- 29.7 PPG (ninth; tied-75th)
• Rushing defense -- 213.25 YPG (11th; 113th)
• Total defense -- 455.6 YPG (10th; 102nd)
• Opponent first downs allowed -- 23.3 per game (11th; t-101st)
• Opponent third-down conversion percentage allowed -- 49.77 percent (12th; 120th)
• Sacks -- 6 (12th; 124th)

The new BC brain trust -- led by head coach Steve Addazio and defensive coordinator Don Brown -- is determined to improve those numbers in 2013, and the work begins with changing the defensive mindset.

They want to attack.

“As an offensive guy, I always felt like, you know, when you can just know where [the defense is] going to be all the time, you can kind of attack them,” Addazio said. “I think we have to disrupt offenses. I’m sure this year we’ll have big plays against us and things will happen, but that’s what we’re gonna do.”

Addazio has said many times that Brown is here specifically to implement this style of defense. And when he was told Brown called two BC defenders “animals” during the team’s media day, Addazio laughed.

“I think that speaks to the mentality of Don, right?” he joked.

“Beyond a doubt, if you can’t play defense you’re not gonna win,” Addazio said. “Now how are you gonna play defense? We want to have a staff that’s an aggressive, get-after-you staff, we want an aggressive, get-after-you scheme. Don Brown is that way by nature, and that’s why he’s here.”

So far, Brown’s new charges have embraced their new coach and his philosophy.

“The first thing when I think of Don Brown is aggressive football,” senior defensive end Kasim Edebali said. “You walk into a meeting, and he makes sure that you are gonna play aggressive football. He wants you to be a dude, first of all, like he always says. And he has schemes from every angle just trying to get after the other team.

“I love it. I just love getting after people, high-intensity, high-motor defense, aggressive, physical," said Edebali. "It’s all I love.”

It’s easy to love a scheme that has proven successful in the past.

Here is how Brown’s defense at Connecticut fared in 2012 in the same categories in which BC struggled (Big East rank, national rank in parentheses):

• Scoring defense -- 19.8 PPG (third; tied-19th)
• Rushing defense -- 97.92 YPG (second; seventh)
• Total defense -- 309.9 YPG (first; ninth)
• Opponent first downs allowed -- 16.2 per game (first; sixth)
• Opponent third-down conversion percentage allowed -- 33.86 percent (first; t-21st)
• Sacks -- 32 (first; t-29th)

UConn had some serious talent on defense in 2012, with four defenders taken in the 2013 NFL draft. Two of those picks, Trevardo Williams (11.5) and Sio Moore (7.5), each finished 2012 with more sacks than the entire BC team. And Brown’s system didn’t produce just NFL pass-rushers, with corners Dwayne Gratz and Blidi Wreh-Wilson also coming off the board.

BC senior linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis, a Nagurski Trophy watch list member, is excited to have more freedom to take shots at the quarterback.

“[The old system] was a little frustrating -- just at times you want to try to make a play but you just know that if you try to you’re gonna leave someone else out on an island,” Pierre-Louis said. “In this new system, pretty much everyone has playmaking ability and there’s gonna be someone to make the play, so you’re less worried about leaving someone on an island.

“Because once we go, we’re firing, we’re going.”

If there’s one potential (gaping) hole in the attacking, blitzing and shifting style the Eagles are implementing, it’s that it can put more pressure on the back end of the defense.

“There’s positives and negatives to everything you do, but that’s the way we want to play,” Addazio said. “We are gonna be aggressive on defense. I’m sure that we’re gonna get hit with some big plays, that it’s gonna get thrown over our heads a few times -- hopefully not too many -- but we’ve made that decision, we’re all-in.”

The BC pass-rushers are convinced that increased focus on pressuring the pocket won’t put too much stress on their teammates.

“I don’t necessarily think so,” Edebali said, “because coach says get after the quarterback and don’t give him no time and it’ll make the secondary’s life much easier if we don’t give him 10 seconds to throw the ball.”

In the end, it all comes back to that new mindset, Edebali said, and one of Don Brown’s frequent catch phrases (other than the now-ubiquitous “Be a dude”).

“He always says, ‘Solve your problems with aggression,’ ” Edebali said.

That’s exactly what the BC defense will attempt to do in 2013.

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

It was a question that just had to be asked.

Steve Addazio didn’t know the answer, and truly he didn’t really care. Ultimately it was his decision, and the players would just have to deal with the ramifications.

When the Eagles gathered in the team meeting room on the second floor of the Yawkey Center for their annual media day on Tuesday, the potentially uncomfortable question had to be asked:

So, how do you feel about not having your names on the backs of your jerseys?

“I was waiting for somebody to ask about that,” Andre Williams said, laughing. “Honestly, people were sighing about it but I think that with how classic the BC uniform looks anyway, taking the names off kinda makes us look a little more rugged.”

The Eagles will be the only ACC team to go nameless in 2013, in an effort to foster a team-first atmosphere. They held their first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday morning, three weeks before the season opener against Villanova.

On Monday, the Eagles have their first two-a-day session of camp. They will have another two-a-day on Wednesday, with single practice sessions Tuesday, Thursday and Friday ahead of the second scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 17.

Alex Amidon made a name for himself as a junior in 2012, with team records for catches (78) and receiving yards (1,210) in a single season.

Surely he would want fans to be able to identify him by more than his number.

“Actually I like that,” Amidon said of removing the names from the jerseys. “[It’s] kinda just emphasizing one of [Addazio’s] main coaching points: Team. Because that’s how we’re gonna win games, teamwork and toughness, stuff like that.

“And that’s one of the things, if you don’t have names on the back of your jerseys you’re less inclined to be selfish. So it’s not about you. It’s about BC, it’s about the name on the front of the jersey, not the back. I like that.”

While Boston College doesn’t actually wear its name on the front of its jersey, Amidon’s point is still well taken.

Steele Divitto is a no-nonsense kind of guy, so surely he wouldn’t mince words on the subject. And after initially saying he didn’t have an opinion on the matter, his demeanor suggesting he couldn’t care less one way or the other, he delivered.

“I know some guys don’t like it, but the bottom line is we’re trying to develop a team,” he said. “Everybody on the same playing field. Egos out the door. It’s not really about yourself -- it’s about BC, it’s not about Divitto. Every little thing helps.”

Who the guys are who don’t like the move, we may never know. It would be a bold (read: potentially foolhardy) move to publicly question Addazio’s decision, especially since it’s framed as one to remove concern for the individual and replace it with concern for the team.

Besides, Williams said, it’s not like players need their names on their jerseys for fans to know who they are.

With a confident smile spreading across his face, Williams said: “They’re gonna know who I am as soon as the game starts.”

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

NEWTON, Mass. -- When it comes to the new offensive philosophy at Boston College this season, one word tends to come up frequently: Balance.

In 2012, the Eagles skewed heavily toward the pass. There were a variety of reasons for this, including often playing from behind, the chemistry between quarterback Chase Rettig and wideout Alex Amidon, and the fact the running game just wasn’t very good.


BC, long known for its success on defense and in the running game, had little of either in the final season under Frank Spaziani. The Eagles finished last in the ACC and 119th in the country in rushing average (90.92 yards per game).

The team that ranked right ahead of BC in the national rushing yards per game? First-year FBS team Massachusetts (91.58).

New head coach Steve Addazio wants to re-establish BC as a power running team in 2013, thereby opening up more play-action chances for Rettig and the wideouts.

Enter Andre Williams and a revamped offensive line.

“I think the most important thing is not to look back and to look forward,” Williams said when asked about the disappointment that was 2012. “Because there are no remnants of the past left in this program, everything is new. You can even see the locker room is new, everything is new.”

The locker room did get an upgrade this offseason, but it remains to be seen if the running game has received a similar face lift.

Gone from the offensive line are both tackles, with Emmett Cleary (left tackle) and John Wetzel (right tackle) moving on to the NFL. In their place are Matt Patchan, a postgrad transfer from Florida, and Ian White, respectively. Andy Gallik remains at center, flanked on the left side by guard Bobby Vardaro and on the right side by guard Harris Williams.

Gallik said he believes the line is poised to perform better than it did in 2012.

“I’m really excited about the group,” he said. “This is probably the most athletic and strongest offensive line I’ve been around, going into my fourth year. We lost Emmett Cleary and John Wetzel to the NFL, and Matt Patchan came in and hit the ground running. It’s like he’s been here the whole time, he’s done well.

“Ian at right tackle is kind of the leader up front. We’ve all really been working hard together. We’re all really close on and off the field. So I’m really excited about the things we can do this year up front.”

All the O-linemen are excited to work with Addazio, who Gallik called a “guru of the offensive line,” and to run the ball more and with better results.

For that to happen, the Eagles need a big season from Williams, the only back on the roster with more than 100 career carries. Tahj Kimble, as a junior the second most experienced BC back, has only 60 career carries after suffering injuries that limited him to 10 games as a freshman and four games as a sophomore.

David Dudeck, who is listed second on the preseason depth chart, had 39 carries in seven games as a true freshman, after being converted from a defensive back to a running back midseason.

“I know that it’s up to me,” Williams said. “I’m the oldest running back here, and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s my last year, and I feel like everything is shaping up the way it’s supposed to. And I think that the offensive philosophy that we’re following this year is definitely gonna allow us to have a lot of balance but also give us an edge to take advantage of our strengths.”

Williams, a 6-foot, 227-pound native of Schnecksville, Penn., is excited to play a featured role, entering the season as the undisputed No. 1 back for the first time. Last season, Williams figured to split carries with Rolandan Finch, who later fell out of favor and has since left the school, taking the lead only after injuries and ineffective play from others pushed him ahead.

At media day, Addazio made it clear how important it is to him to be able to run the ball this season.

“I was teasing Ryan Day today, I told him ‘This is a really tough day for me, you know -- Day 2 of practice and we threw the ball at the ones 29 times and we ran it 20,’ ” he said. “I said ‘I don't think that's ever happened to me in my life.’ But we’ve got good balance, I just want to make sure we always be 30 run, 29 pass.”

Considering Williams averaged 14.44 carries a game in 2012, and that represents a career high, getting to 30 rushes a game likely will require one or more of the other backs on the depth chart stepping up to share the load.

Williams believes the Eagles have players capable of doing that, praising both Kimble and Dudeck.

“Dudeck probably works harder than anybody else on the team,” Williams said. “I can’t think of somebody else who works harder than Dudeck, and I love him for it. TK, he’s definitely got a skill that nobody else has. He just knows how to make people miss.”

And the head coach, unprompted, offered a vote of confidence for the two freshmen on the roster at running back, Myles Willis and Tyler Rouse.

“So far, I like the young backs,” Addazio said. “That’s a big concern for us -- the depth at running back -- and I like the young backs so far, so that has been a pleasant deal.”

The 90.92 yards per game on the ground in 2012 was BC’s lowest average since 2007 (101.14), when the offense was led by superstar QB Matt Ryan (the future No. 3 pick in the draft who averaged 321.9 passing yards a game on his way to 4,507 yards that season).

And since Rettig is not Matt Ryan (few people are as good as Ryan, as he’s proven in the NFL in recent seasons), chances are that if the Eagles end up more successful in the win-loss column than they have been in recent seasons, they will have given their running game that much-needed upgrade.

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

NEWTON, Mass. -- After just two days of practice, there wasn’t a lot new Eagles coach Steve Addazio could say for sure about his team at Boston College’s annual media day.

They’ve retained a lot of information -- maybe more than players at some other schools might have -- which is good. They’re working hard and have a good attitude, which is also good.

But, then again, they hadn’t even put pads on yet.

“My question to them after practice was ‘How are you gonna handle the Day 4 and 5 installation?’” he said. “And then fatigue is setting in and then you’re in physical contact and your body’s beat up and then you know what happens? It’s the old saying, ‘Fatigue makes cowards of us all.’

“When you get tired, things start falling apart on you and that’s part of toughness. You talk about physical toughness and mental toughness and you have to learn how to fight through that.”

Addazio said in the week prior to camp that he’s spent a lot of time trying to work on developing leadership skills in his players. He’s had “leadership seminars” with them, talking about great leaders from the sports and business worlds.

He cited Steve Young and Kobe Bryant as two examples and JPMorgan Chase CEO James Dimon as another.

Classroom learning is all well and good, but Addazio knows that in football real leaders emerge on the field.

“I say to them, ‘It’s easy to be a great leader when the sun is shining and it’s 70 degrees and everything’s going pretty good. It’s not as easy when you’re beat up and you’re tired and its 97 degrees and you’ve had about enough and you’re in Day 13.’ Then we’ll find out how good our leadership is,” he said. “Well, I’m hoping it is going to be good. I don’t have the answer to that right now.”

To find out just what kind of caliber character they have, Addazio and his staff plan to put the Eagles in as many adverse situations as possible during camp.

“It’s my job, our job, to put them in those stressful situations to create stress to learn how to handle stress,” he said. “Stress from fatigue, stress from hard coaching. We really get on their case really hard, and why? Because it’s really intense when the game is on the line and it’s fourth-and-1, on the road.

“It’s not a pleasant thing and you need to learn to train for that. I could make it zip-a-dee-doo-dah every day but that wouldn’t really help them get ready, that’s not my job. ... When I see the right opportunity as we head down into this thing, I’ll turn it on pretty good when I can to start to really see if we can maintain our composure, our toughness.”

Fifth-year senior defensive lineman Kasim Edebali, for one, likes the tough-minded approach the coaching staff has taken.

“[Addazio’s] an emotional guy and I mean that in the best way possible because there’s not a lot of people who care that much,” Edebali told reporters Tuesday. “When I have a good play, he’s the first one that’s on me and says ‘Good job, Kasim.’ But if I do mess up, he’s the first one to criticize me and encourage me to do better.”

It’s the same with the other coaches. Ryan Day, the fifth offensive coordinator at BC in the past four years, said leadership has been a big focus with quarterback Chase Rettig.

“The first thing we talked about was learning how to lead, learning how to lead 10 men,” Day said.

That wasn’t the first thing on Rettig’s mind.

“The first two weeks, all he wanted to talk about was the offense we’re putting in,” Day said. “What kind of routes we’re putting in, and the run game.”

He’s made strides since, Day said.

“That’s what I talk to Chase about all the time, ‘You have to find your right way.’ We talk about it all the time,” he said. “He’s gotta set a standard and then make everybody live up to that standard. That’s the supreme function of a leader.

“Everybody has their own style. Some days you have to use a style where you’re really direct with a guy. Some days you have to put your arm around him and show him the way. I think Chase is finding his own form of leadership.”

To illustrate, Day recounted a conversation he had with the signal-caller in spring practice.

“You really need to talk to these receivers about running the right route,” Day said.

“Every time a receiver makes a mistake,” Rettig replied, “you and the receiver coach run over and correct him before I can.”

“Well, then beat us over there,” Day said.

Sure enough, the next time a receiver ran the wrong route, Rettig was the first one to the wideout, pulled him aside and showed him how to run it correctly. It was a tangible piece of evidence that all the talk of leadership hasn’t fallen on indifferent ears.

“I think I’m just in a position now to do it,” Rettig said of being a leader. “You never want to be the one talking if you can’t back it up. I’m not saying I’ve done all these great things or had all these accolades, I’m just saying that with three years of experience I can pay it forward to someone else.”

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

NEWTON, Mass. -- The fall semester is still weeks away, but Tuesday was a work day at Boston College.

If there was any doubt of that, Steve Addazio’s wardrobe at the team’s annual media day erased it.

The new coach, two days into his first full training camp with the Eagles, arrived at his news conference in the Yawkey Center looking like it was just a pit stop on his way to the gym. Clad in a maroon BC T-shirt, a pair of black BC athletic shorts and sneakers, it was clear that the first order of business was working with his players on the field now, and everything else takes a backseat.

“So far, so good,” he said. “I like the attitude of the team, I like where we’re headed.”

Addazio praised his players for their retention of the information the staff piled on them during the spring session, and said he believes they have made progress on their goal of becoming a team-first organization rather than the fragmented groups he said they were at the end of 2012’s 2-10 season.

But the coach also repeatedly cautioned that it’s still very early to know anything for sure. The Eagles haven’t even put the pads on yet. That will happen by the end of this week, with the team first going to shoulder pads and helmets and then full gear before the first scrimmage of the preseason on Saturday morning.

Once camp really gets going and fatigue starts to set in, Addazio and his staff plan to put the players into as many adverse situations as they can to test the players’ mettle and prepare them for the 2013 season as best they can.

“That’s what training camp is, it’s the ability to learn how to fight through, mentally and physically, the fatigue factor in camp and still get better every day,” Addazio said. “We’ve not hit that yet. You might ask me that question three days from now and I’ll give you the honest answer. I might say ‘I feel great’ or I might say ‘I’m not happy.’ ”

As for the team’s immediate goal, Addazio left no doubt.

“All I care about is winning,” he said. “Some people get caught up in how you win, in style points -- all I care about is winning. Whatever we have to do in the course of the game to manage that game to win, we have to win as many games as we possibly can.”

Senior quarterback Chase Rettig echoed that sentiment

“I don’t care if I don’t throw a pass in a game,” Rettig said. “I just want to win. I just want to go back into the locker room after a game and celebrate, have the coaches happy.”

Rettig said he wants to get the Eagles back into bowl contention in his final go-round in Chestnut Hill, after missing out on the postseason as both a sophomore and a junior.

Asked if it would be realistic to expect BC to be able to get back to a bowl game in 2013, Addazio cited the program’s recent history -- going to a bowl in 12 straight seasons from 1999 to 2010 -- as evidence that it is.

“Yes. Absolutely,” he said. “We’re fighting for that: Win the opener, get bowl-eligible. This program’s gotta get back to a bowl game. That’s a bar that in my opinion we’ve gotta be at and climb from. So we’re in a foot race for that.”

But the coach also admitted there are no guarantees that the script can flip so quickly.

“It’s hard for me to sit here and predict to anybody the rate of how this is gonna move this program,” he said. “In my mind, it’s just every day just going as hard as we can go. And I believe the arrow is going that way.

“Is that one day? Eight months? Two years? I don’t know the answer to that. But I do know the answer to this: We can recruit, we can develop. We’ve got just this wonderful place in Boston College, and there’s absolutely no reason why, with work ethic and time, this needle’s [not] gonna move.”

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

With camp officially getting underway Monday morning in Chestnut Hill, here are three things to watch out for in Steve Addazio’s first fall camp with the Eagles:

1. Who steps up in the backfield?

Depth is Addazio’s No. 1 concern as Boston College gets the ball rolling for the 2013 season, as there isn’t much to speak of at several key positions.

The most important position with a dearth of experience might be running back, where there is Andre Williams and not much else. David Dudeck, the defensive back-turned-emergency-running back whom the previous regime liked to call “The Natural,” is listed second in the preseason depth chart, but that’s mostly out of necessity.

Tahj Kimble, the second-most experienced back on the roster, hasn’t proven he’s fully recovered from a knee injury that ended his 2012 season. And the other two running backs on the preseason roster are true freshmen, Tyler Rouse and Myles Willis.

Since Dudeck profiles more as a change-of-pace, pass-catching back than an every-down ball carrier and Kimble has to clear physical hurdles before he can be counted on to contribute, chances are Willis and Rouse will be given a shot to play early.

Will one of them answer the call?

2. Who steps up on the edge?

Running back isn’t the only position without proven depth. At wideout, only Alex Amidon (18 career starts, 12 in 2012) and Spiffy Evans (10 career starts, nine in ’12) have double digit starts to their names. (Bobby Swigert, with 11 career starts, would make three, but he’s out for the season with a knee injury.)

And while Amidon should be a potent weapon again this season, coming off a 78-catch, 1,210-yard, 7-TD campaign in 2012, Evans is BC’s second-leading returning receiver with a mere 22 catches for 247 yards.

If the Eagles succeed with Addazio’s plan to establish a power running game (no sure thing, considering item No. 1 above), they’ll need Evans, Dan Crimmins, Marcus Grant and Harrison Jackson, or some combination thereof, to step up and become threats at wideout to really make the offense work and maximize senior quarterback Chase Rettig’s talents.

3. Who stands out in the secondary?

New defensive coordinator Don Brown was brought to BC for a reason: to install an “attack-style” defense.

That means many things but in simple terms, Addazio wants his D to disrupt the opposing offense's best-laid plans. That could be by blitzing, from any level of the defense. It could be by shifting from a 4-3 alignment to a 3-4, to make the opposition think (or re-think).

It also likely will mean that more will be asked of the guys on the back end of the defense, the corners and safeties who will have to play more man-to-man as people in front of them rush the passer.

Do the Eagles have the quality players in their secondary to allow this kind of defense to succeed? The answer to that question depends on how guys such as Manuel Asprilla (projected to start at left corner) and Bryce Jones (projected to start at right corner) play, on how guys such as Al Louis-Jean and C.J. Jones rebound from injuries, and on how improved guys such as Spenser Rositano (projected starter at strong safety) and Sean Sylvia (projected starter at free safety) are at safety.

Opposing offenses will hit big plays against this defense in 2013. You can take that to the bank.

But if the back end holds up and Addazio and Brown can boost BC’s sack total from the woeful 6.0 the Eagles had in 2012, which ranked 124th and last in the nation, to a respectable level and set the tone for future seasons, you just might have to call it progress anyway.

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

It’s August, and you know what that means: College football kicks off this month.

Boston College will start practice on Monday, preparing for the season opener at Alumni Stadium against Villanova on Aug. 31.

A lot will change between the start of camp and the first game of the season. With a new coaching staff in place, led by Steve Addazio and coordinators Ryan Day and Don Brown, there will be new schemes to look out for and analyze. Familiar players will adapt to unfamiliar roles, and unfamiliar players will step up and become familiar.

There will also be less subtle changes on display.

When the Eagles take the field for the opener, fans will notice one big difference immediately: no names on the backs of the jerseys.

Addazio confirmed during his visit to ESPN headquarters this week that BC will be going “nameless” this season, something he announced in a previous chat on ESPN.com, and explained his reasoning for the decision.

“I just wanted to be a team, want to keep it more team-based than individual-based,” he said. “That was really the mindset there: the team, the team, the team, the team. That’s really what my thought process is.”

According to ESPN.com’s Andrea Adelson, the Eagles will be the only ACC team to go without names on jerseys in 2013. And while that could help them stand out from the crowd with potential recruits, that would at most be a welcome side effect, according to Addazio.

“Our emphasis is we feel we have to be a team,” he said. “You know, everybody is looking for an edge? I think our edge needs to be that, that we’re a team.”

The jerseys won’t be the only sartorial change the new coach makes this season. Addazio also plans to adjust the dress code for team travel, going from shirts and ties to shirts, ties and blazers -- with the team supplying the blazers, which will be emblazoned with the BC logo so there’s no mistaking who the Eagles are when they go on the road.

The new staff will certainly make more impactful changes -- switching to a new offensive system focused on establishing a power run game, and a new, “attack-style” defense; revamping the school’s recruiting efforts.

“Try to squeeze out selfishness, try to be accountable to each other,” Addazio said of the mindset he wants to instill. “Not that having your name on your back means that you’re not. But let’s not call attention to ourselves, but let’s call attention to our football program.”

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

Because of the circumstances, it was never going to be a long relationship.

Steve Addazio is entering his first season as the head coach at Boston College at the same time Chase Rettig is entering his final season as the starting quarterback.

So while Addazio is planning long-term, Rettig couldn’t be blamed for thinking short-term. He’s got dreams, like most kids his age in his situation (those magic letters N-F-L must dance through his mind when it’s not otherwise occupied).

Would you fault a soon-to-be 22-year-old for putting himself first once in a while?

But that’s not at all what the new coach has seen from his quarterback so far.

Instead, less than a week before preseason camp started, Addazio ticked off a list of things about Rettig that has impressed him.

“Unselfish; really cares about the team; wants to have a great year for the team; really into what we’re doing,” Addazio said. “He’s a guy who could easily say, ‘Oh, I’ve had all these coordinators,’ and could play that whole routine. No. He gets it. He’s a sharp guy and he gets it.

“He’s all about maximizing our team. I really like him a lot.”

And while it’s true that Rettig has had a lot of offensive coordinators, with Ryan Day making five in the four years he’s been in Chestnut Hill, he’s not using it as an excuse. Instead, the senior told reporters at ACC media day that by this point he’s used to learning a new system and is ready to help teach it to his younger teammates.

Raising a few eyebrows, Rettig said he feels “like I’m a professional.” But the 6-foot-3, 206-pounder wasn’t talking about getting paid, he was talking about his approach to the work.

That’s something his new coach appreciates.

“I told him, ‘You know, you’re gonna get measured. Quarterbacks are measured by their ability to win. We’ve gotta win games,'" he said. “That’s what it is. He’s gotta be a leader.”

Rettig will have to lead BC’s offense knowing that his new coach has made it abundantly clear that ideally he prefers a dual-threat quarterback to run his system.

“I just think that’s where it is in college football,” Addazio said. “You’ve gotta extend plays in college football, in my opinion, and I think that’s what a dual-threat quarterback will help you do, extend plays. I don’t mean the guy’s gotta be an option guy, necessarily, I’m just saying a guy who can extend plays, keep you alive, keep the chains moving. Go get 7 yards and get down on third down.”

But since Rettig is not exactly the fleetest of foot, Addazio and Day will adapt their offensive game plan for this season to fit the Sierra Madre, Calif., native. The pocket passer became the fourth quarterback in BC history to crack the 3,000-yard mark in a single season, throwing 463 times (completing 253) for 3,055 yards and 17 touchdowns (with 13 interceptions) in 2012.

“We’re gonna establish a run game,” Addazio said. “We’re gonna do that, because you can’t win if you don’t have any kind of run game. But the rest of it, I think you’ve gotta match to what you are and who you have.

“Chase is not a runner. We’re not gonna start running the heck out of Chase. So how do we accentuate his ability to throw the football? We’ve gotta have a run game.”

The Eagles finished last in the ACC in rushing last season, averaging less than 100 yards a game as a team.

Expect Addazio’s first order of business this summer to be addressing that deficiency, one that is especially glaring at a school like BC, which in its heyday was known for a lockdown defense and a physical running game.

From the sound of it, you can also expect to hear more praise of the player taking the snaps this season.

“I think he’s gonna really be that guy this year,” Addazio said of Rettig. “That’s my gut feeling, if he stays healthy.”

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