ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL KICKOFF

July 22, 2021

Phil Jurkovec

Boston College Eagles

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Phil.

Q. Offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti, what can you say about what he's done with this offense, how you kind of describe his leadership and the plan that he's putting forward?

PHIL JURKOVEC: Coach Cignetti has been great. He's had so much experience in both college and the NFL. What he brings to us is NFL scheme, really an NFL style, which I think makes us a little bit different than every other team in the ACC.

With that comes a learning process, so that's taken some time for us. But now that we're in year two, he's really guiding us, and we're feeling a lot more comfortable with it.

Q. You have one of the more dynamic play-makers in the country on the outside in Zay Flowers. Can you talk about how your relationship continues to blossom, what your expectations are for you guys this year?

PHIL JURKOVEC: Yeah, Zay has been my locker room mate since I came to BC. I've known him from the start. Just being able to talk to him every day, he's driven and just such an exceptional talent. I've really never seen somebody be able to stop on a dime like he does, how fast and explosive at the same time.

He's so impressive.

Q. Hunter Long made a lot of clutch catches for you. He's gone on to the next level. You said you have Zay coming back, Jaelen coming back. Talk about the receivers you have, the options you have in this wide-open passing game, and what the extra year of preparation will mean to building the chemistry?

PHIL JURKOVEC: We have so many weapons. Kobay White didn't play last year, but he was the most productive receiver for BC the years prior. We have him back, CJ Lewis, Jaelen Gill, Zay Flowers. We have transfers, Trae Barry from Jacksonville State and Alec Sinkfield from West Virginia to go along with our other running backs.

I don't know. We just have so many options. I know everybody's going to want to ball, but it's going to be fun just to see the different personnel groupings we can go with, just all the different options that we have.

Q. Take us into the mind of a quarterback. You had five interceptions last year. How do you process an interception? What do you do with it? How do you move on?

PHIL JURKOVEC: Really have to start with the coaches. Coach Cignetti and Coach Hafley, I remember a threw a terrible pick just into double coverage against Duke first game. I come off, and Coach Hafley just like, Hey, forget about it. On to the next one.

That's kind of their view on it. Like we're just going to let it loose and go out there and play, have fun, play free, don't be worried about making mistakes, don't be afraid to lose. That's the mindset that we try to keep.

Q. You played behind a couple of great offensive lines at Notre Dame, now Boston College. What have you noticed at those two spots? More of the coaches there or more of the intangibles with the players and the coaches on the recruiting trail?

PHIL JURKOVEC: The O-line, they're kind of like a cult on the team the way they stick together, but it's awesome. They're so tight. You can tell they care so much about each other. It's a little different position than anywhere else because of how you have to work together.

But the O-linemen, I love 'em. They're really close at BC. They're all veterans. I mean, Zion up here. To go along with the four other guys, they're all veterans. They're nasty guys (smiling). I'm just excited to see what they can do now that it's year two under this new scheme.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.