AUGUST 31, 2019 7
they’re more broad,” said Dil-
lon. “To me, it’s not about num-
bers,it’snotlike 2 ,0 00 yardsor
whatever like I had in the past
or win this award. I just want to
be somebody that’s dependable.
Whether it’s first down, fourth
down,firstquartertoovertime,
I just want to be somebody in a
situation — pass game, protec-
tion game, run game — that my
coaches, my teammates, the
fans here, they can count on.”
In the offseason, Dillon fo-
cused on strengthening his
body to withstand the rigors of
a full season. He emphasized
core work and stamina.
“I just learned a lot about
taking care of my body, obv-
iously with the injury and the
recovery process,” Dillon said.
“You’ve got to stay high
throughout that entire recovery
process.”
With the possibility of going
to the NFL on the horizon, he
said he’s focused on what’s in
front of him.
“Right now, personally, I’m
not satisfied at all with last
year,” he said. “There was a
bunch of great high points in
there. We got ‘College Game-
Day’ and stuff like that. A lot of
stuff that I can be grateful for,
but, as a team, that’s not where
we wanted to end.
“And individually, for my
season last year, that’s nowhere
near where I wanted to be or
where I wanted to perform,
with or without the injury. I feel
like I still have a lot to prove,
not necessarily to anybody else
but to myself.”
RWillAnthonyBrownmake
theleap?
This is the year Addazio has
been waiting for from his quar-
terback.
Groomed as a redshirt fresh-
man to take the reins, Brown
has been tested in two years un-
der center. He went through the
fire in 2017, completing 134 of
258 passes for 1,367 yards and
11 touchdowns before suffering
uBCFOOTBALL
Continued from Page 1
a season-ending knee injury. He
endured a grueling rehab and
was back on the field as the
opening-day starter in 2018.
As a redshirt sophomore, he
showed poise and sharpened
decision-making. His comple-
tion percentage ticked up to
55.4 (158 of 285), and he found
the end zone 20 times while
keeping his interceptions
steady at just nine.
Brown has lived a few foot-
ball lifetimes already.
Now he’s looking for the
breakthrough.
“That’s what we call being a
veteran guy, a grizzled-up guy,
having been through some ad-
versity,” Addazio said. “So we’re
at the point we’re looking for
big things out of him this year.
“I’ve said it, and people say it
all over the country: That quar-
terback position is so critical.
How do you take another step?
One way is have a veteran quar-
terback that plays at a high lev-
el. We’ve got some other things
we need to get done, but he’s in
position and we’re excited
about him.”
For the first time, Brown willcome into a season without the
wide eyes that come with youth
or the baggage that comes with
recovery.
“It feels good to just be at a
good starting point,” Brown
said. “Coming in no injuries,
everything healthy, green light,
everything on the move, know-
ing more, it’s just very comfort-
able.
“My experience, it’s been up
and down. Not much consisten-
cy. So just being able to learn
from that and learn from my
mistakes, learn from what I did
good and what I can keep im-
proving on is huge for me right
now and I feel like it’s going to
carry us a long way to take that
step forward.”
RNew coordinator, same
approach
The Eagles established their
offensive identity in 2016 when
they infused tempo into their
pro-style scheme. The result
was an offense with the capabil-
ity to be more explosive. In
2017, the Eagles had just 11
passing plays go for more than
30 yards (last in the ACC). In
2018, that number jumped to18 (seventh in the conference).
Former offensive coordina-
tor Scot Loeffler played a signif-
icant part in installing that sys-
tem, but his departure for the
head coaching job at Bowling
Green last fall doesn’t mean a
complete overhaul. New coordi-
nator Mike Bajakian’s like-
minded philosophy is what ap-
pealed to Addazio when he was
hired in January.
Over his eight years as offen-
sive coordinator at Central
Michigan, Cincinnati, and Ten-
nessee, Bajakian ran an up-
tempo spread offense. But dur-
ing his time as an NFL quarter-
backs coach with the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers, he learned
how to utilize tight ends, a posi-
tion of wealth at BC.
“I always thought in the
back of my mind, in my four
years in Tampa, that if I had the
opportunity to coordinate
again at the college level, I
would use an up-tempo
scheme, but I would be much
more multiple in formations
and personnel,” Bajakian said.
“So when Coach Addazio
and I started talking and hetold me about the depth they
had at the tight end position,
prior to me coming here, and
they utilize them, I said that
was exactly what I wanted to
do, and it became an easy deci-
sion.”
R...withafewtricks
Addazio has been known to
go in his trick bag, keeping de-
fenses guessing while also
wearing them down with tem-
po. That’s not changing.
“It’s just a part of us,” Add-
azio said. “I don’t want to use
the word ‘trick plays’ but
they’re specials. I think it cre-
ates big pops and momentum
swings and position swings and
I enjoy them. I think the players
enjoy them.”
RTightendsaretheengine
The Eagles ran an average of
81.4 offensive plays per game
last season, and a huge reason
they were able to churn out so
many was having tight ends
whocouldpulllongshiftson
extended drives. It’s exhausting
work, but that’s the point.
“I love it personally,” said
tight end Jake Burt, “because I
feel like once we bought into it
and got good at it, learned
everything, started moving fast,
you could see how much pres-
sure it puts on a defense. Hon-
estly, once we get to game day, it
makes our job a lot easier.
“It took a little bit. You can
tell sometimes when we’re real-
ly pushing it — when we get to
eight-, nine-, 10-, 12-, 15-play
drives — you can look across
and feel it. I’m tired, but they’re
more tired than me.
“It’s a part of what we
bought into and it’s what we’re
striving to do: be less tired than
the guys across from us.”
The grind has its rewards.
Four tight ends caught touch-
down passes last season.
RCan a young defense
proveitself?
Typically, BC always could
bank on its defense being de-
pendable. But after losing eight
starters, the Eagles are staring
down a depth chart full of un-knowns.
“It’s unproven,” Addazio
said. “That’s just the facts of the
matter.”
Defensive tackle and captain
Tanner Karafa is the lone re-
turner on the line. Cornerback
Brandon Sebastian is the only
member of the secondary with
starting experience.
The bulk of the experience
on defense lies with the line-
backing corps.
Preseason camp was a feel-
ing-out process. Up front,
Clemson graduate transfer
Richard Yeargin and either
Marcus Valdez or Brandon Bar-
low will line up on the ends.
Redshirt freshman Kyiev
Bennermon will be on the nose,
and true freshman Shitta Sillah
will be thrown in the mix.
On the back end, redshirt
freshman Tate Haynes will play
the corner opposite Sebastian
while graduate Mehdi El At-
trach and redshirt junior Mike
Palmer will hang back at safety.
How it all pans out in a con-
ference flooded with high-pow-
ered offenses is a question the
Eagles will figure out on the fly.
“You never know, right?”
said Addazio. “You don’t want
to put any limitations on
things. You don’t know.
“But experience tells you
that we’re young and experi-
ence tells me that on the defen-
sive side, we’ll have some grow-
ing pains, for sure. Can we over-
come it offensively? Can we
overcome it with special teams?
Can we do those things? Yeah.
“And then can young guys
come in and surprise the hell
out of you? Sure. But it’s a little
unknown.
“You see what you see in
practice, but it’s a little un-
known. It’s hard to gauge. Be-
cause what you don’t know is,
when the bright light goes on,
how some of those guys who
haven’t been in that situation
are going to respond.”Julian Benbow can be reached
at [email protected].Tight ends could power potent offense for BC
JONATHAN WIGGS/GLOBE STAFF
Offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian will utilize the tight end, a position of wealth at BC.
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