Eagles Nest Festivus 2025
We’re a day late, but in honor of Festivus (the now famous Seinfeld ‘holiday’ for those that don’t know), I sent out a call on the Eagles’ Nest message board on Tuesday for a football airing of grievances.
You guys didn’t disappoint:
Why are we not EXTREMELY aggressively recruiting southern Catholic high schools??!? There aren’t many, but they are loaded with talent.
There was a lot more to this particular grievance that I couldn’t fit in the headline, but it’s a valid question. I would say mostly because of money (the elite of the elite will go to Notre Dame or somewhere else with the same type of vibe because of the cash), but I think it’s facilities and overall recruiting approach as well. I’ve heard mixed bags from certain high school coaches on how some coaches on this staff (and previous staffs) went about their recruiting and it’s rubbed a lot of high school staffs the wrong way, more so the private schools than publics. In terms of facilities, if I walk into Alumni as a sophomore or junior then another stadium (literally any other one in the ACC) Alumni automatically goes to the bottom of the list of my visits. It is what it is. But, you’re right, BC should be cleaning up when it comes to Catholic school talent (not just CM and Prep).
This is crazy, no idea why we don’t hit these schools. One reason may be, however, that our football recruiting staff continues to be woefully understaffed. BOB‘s recruiting staff is literally about half the size of schools like Wake and Duke, never mind Miami which blows our staff away. BC admin has to finally stop di**ing around and spend the money it takes to have a professional football organization.
Also accurate. Have to hope this changes with the new “commitment” financially. Only so much the coordinators and other staff members can do. I also think this is why you have Kenyatta Watson now. His presence will allow coaches to filter out the ‘time wasting’ recruits so they can focus on the bigger fish. I also believe Watson’s presence will take some pressure off the staff to find a ‘diamond in the rough.’ Now, Watson can discover the hidden talent and then delegate recruiting responsibilities to whichever coach will be with that particular kid every day.
We pulled Harris from Montana though? This seems like much lower hanging fruit than that.
The more Reed Harris’ BC can find, the better. It also makes the firing or Wyatt more perplexing given how much Harris sort of burst onto the scene while working with him. BC can develop NFL talent at any position and as long as Harris keeps improving he’ll be playing on Sundays. That’s arguably the biggest draw for the staff right now. Record aside, there’s some legitimate reason to think you can make the NFL if you’re good enough and play in Chestnut Hill. The problem is, BC could have more trouble finding that type of ‘hidden’ talent AND getting them to stay if the financial commitment isn’t as strong as the higher ups have made it seem like it’ll be.
BC admin does not even realize it is out of its depth. Can’t fix something if you don’t know that it is broken.
This is why I continued to say keeping Bill O’Brien was the smartest move BC could make this offseason. There’s so much wrong with the athletic department and how they view sports that it goes well beyond coaching. As we’ve already discussed for the last two months, 2-10 is embarrassing and O’Brien is starting this year on the hot seat (‘short leash’ I’ve been told), but fighting an uphill battle against your bosses certainly is a tough way to win games in the ACC or any conference for that matter.
If this staff gets the help, this team will immediately get better, I have no doubt in my mind. But, if there’s internal battles and the team isn’t getting the full support from everyone it should be, it’s going to be a mess again.
Merry Christmas!
As always, thank you all for another great year despite some pretty terrible football and basketball being played. I don’t have this job unless all of you continue reading and keeping the message boards active, so thanks again and Merry Christmas/Happy Festivus to all of you and your families!
