< Previous28 @BCFOOTBALL | 2024 FOOTBALL PROGRAM BOSTONCOLLEGE Assistant Coaches LEADING THE EAGLES 32-3 record between 2016-18 and won a state title in 2017. Following a fellowship with the Dolphins, he returned to his high school alma mater of St. Peter’s Prep (N.J.) to win a state title as an offensive assistant. As a player, Huggins spent four seasons at Rutgers and earned his degree in economics in three and a half years. He missed his senior year due to injury after compiling 842 rushing yards, nine rushing touch- downs and 20 receptions in his first three seasons. The Scarlet Knights played in a bowl game in all four years of his career. He was named to the Big Ten All-Aca- demic Team in 2014. Huggins went on to earn his master’s degree from Northern Iowa in sports psychology. He ran 59 times for 232 yards with a pair of rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown during the 2015 season. He and his wife Victoria have two sons; Zion and Zayden. Will Lawing Offensive Coordinator/ Tight Ends Will Lawing was introduced as the Eagles’ offen- sive coordinator and tight ends coach by new head coach Bill O’Brien in the spring of 2024, remaining on O’Brien’s staff for the 10th straight year, across three prior stops before arriving on the Heights. Lawing joins the Eagles’ staff after spending 2023 as the tight ends coach for the New England Patri- ots, where tight end Hunter Henry finished as the second-leading receiver oo the team, hauling in 42 catches for 419 yards and six touchdowns, finishing with the team’s best target rating (105.5) and the most third- and fourth-down conversions (11), via PFF. Henry’s six receiving scores last season wre tied for sec- ond among all tight ends, trailing only Sam LaPorta. Prior to his stop in Foxborough, Lawing spent two years as an offensive analyst with O’Brien at the Uni- versity of Alabama from 2021-2022. During his two years on the Crimson Tide staff, Alabama reached the CFP National Championship as SEC champions in 2021, going 13-2 while averaging 488.3 yards of total offense per game, and claimed a Sugar Bowl victory in 2022, averaging 477.1 yards of offense per game. Lawing and the offensive staff worked with talents like Heisman Trophy Winner Bryce Young, Jameson Williams, Brian Robinson Jr., and Jahmyr Gibbs, all of whom went on to the NFL. Before his stint in Tuscaloosa, Lawing worked with O’Brien on the Houston Texans staff from 2014 to 2020, spending the first three years as a defensive quality control coach before moving to offensive line assistant from 2017-18, and then tight ends coach from 2019-20. In 2018, the Texans went 11-5 and won the AFC South, with three offensive Pro Bowlers in Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins, and Lamar Miller. That year, the Texans averaged 126.3 rushing yards/game, and finished with the eighth-most rush- ing yards in the NFL. Houston won the division again in 2019, with tight end Darren Fells catching seven touchdowns, and three more offensive Pro Bowlers in Watson, Hopkins, and Laremy Tunsil. Previously, Lawing spent a season at Penn State as a graduate assistant, his first year as a member of O’Brien’s staff, and before that, four years at Juniata College in a variety of roles. A North Carolina native, Lawing played wide re- ceiver at the University of North Carolina from 2004 to 2007. PLAY OUR NEW NINE-HOLE, PAR-3 COURSE, THE ACORN. 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Most recently, he has spent the last five years in the XFL and Unit- ed Football League as a head coach, defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator, including 2023 as the co-DC for the UFL champion Arlington Rene- gades under former National Champion head coach Bob Stoops. In the NFL, Lewis worked as the defensive backs coach in San Francisco (2015), Atlanta (2010-14), Seattle (2009) and Carolina (2007-08). He held that same role with Pittsburgh (1995-99) prior to his promotion to defensive coordinator by Hall of Fame coach Bill Cowher. As a coordinator and position coach in the league, he coached six players to All-Pro status, including Hall of Fame defensive end Michael Strahan and two-time All-Pro safety Carnell Lake. As a player, Lewis spent four years with the Green Bay Packers from 1983-86. He played in 51 career games, starting 42. He was one of three Pitt players drafted in the first round in 1983 along with Hall of Famers Jim Covert and Dan Marino. Dan O’Brien Linebackers A 2005 graduate of Boston College, Dan O’Brien returns to the Heights as the linebackers coach under head coach Bill O’Brien. Dan O’Brien’s father Tom O’Brien was the head coach at BC from 1998-06. Most recently, O’Brien spent three seasons at Southern Miss. He began as the safeties coach from 2021-22 before assuming the defensive coordinator role in 2023. O’Brien spent the two previous seasons at Georgia (2019-20) in defensive quality control. Over his two seasons at Georgia, O’Brien helped the Bulldogs post a 20-4 record, which included a SEC East Division title in 2019 to go along with appearances in the Sugar Bowl and Peach Bowl. Previously, O’Brien coached five seasons at the Naval Academy (2014-18) as the safeties coach. The Midshipmen went 38-28 in that span with four bowl appearances, including wins over Pittsburgh (2015) and Virginia (2017) in the Military Bowl. In 2015, Navy won a school-record 11 wins and claimed the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy for the third time in four years. The Midshipmen finished that season ranked No. 18 in the country. O’Brien arrived at Navy following a stop at Elon (2011-13) as defensive back coach and a four-year spell at Alabama as a defensive graduate assistant (2007-08) and defensive analyst (2009-10). Alabama went 43-11 over that four-year stretch and won the 2009 BCS National Championship. O’Brien was a student assistant at BC and earned his degree in communications. Upon graduation, he spent the 2005 season with the New England Patriots as a scouting assistant intern. He is married to the former Alicia Marcum and they have two sons; Rowan and Charlie.31 @BCFOOTBALL | 2024 FOOTBALL PROGRAM BOSTONCOLLEGE Assistant Coaches LEADING THE EAGLES Matt Thurin Special Teams Coordinator Matt Thurin enters his fifth season as Boston Col- lege’s special teams coordinator. Thurin came to the Heights after a five-year stint at Ohio State. The BC special teams unit blocked two kicks in 2023 and did not allow a blocked kick or punt on the season. Thurin oversaw the development of kick- er Liam Connor, who ascended to placekicker after serving as the kickoff specialist as a freshman in 2022. Connor went 11-for-14 on field goals, including three makes of 45 yards. Thurin also coached safeties in his first four years with the Eagles. Under his tutelage, strong safety Jaiden Woodbey was a two-time All-ACC Honorable Mention. Boston College’s 2022 special teams unit was one of just four in the ACC to block two or more kicks. A blocked extra-point against Louisville proved to be the difference in the Eagles’ first league win of the season. In 2021, Connor Lytton was second in the ACC and 11th nationally in field goal percentage, connect- ing on 11 of his 12 attempts including both from 40+ yards. Grant Carlson ranked top-30 nationally in punting average (44.2) while Travis Levy ranked sec- ond in the ACC and 15th nationally in kickoff return average (27.5). In his first season at the Heights, Thurin made a major impact in the improvement of Boston College’s special teams. BC finished 34th nationally in field goal percentage in 2020, the best finish for the Eagles since 2013. Aaron Boumerhi converted 16-of-20 of his field goal attempts while Grant Carlson averaged over 42 yards per punt, including 15 punts pinned inside the 20-yard line. Thurin worked together with BC head coach Jeff Hafley for one season with the Buckeyes as Thurin worked with the safeties and on special teams as a de- fensive quality control coach. Thurin was part of three consecutive Big Ten Con- ference championship teams at Ohio State and also victories in the 2019 Rose Bowl, the 2018 Cotton Bowl and the 2016 Fiesta Bowl. A native of Louisville, Ohio, Thurin attended Baldwin Wallace University where he played football and baseball before an injury ended his playing career. He played for Baldwin Wallace’s 2003 Division III playoff team and graduated in 2007 with a degree in early childhood education. He has a master’s in edu- cation from Akron (2009). Thurin came to Columbus after working three seasons – 2012-14 – as secondary coach and special team’s coordinator at Columbia University. In 2011, Thurin was a graduate assistant at the University of Colorado, working along the offensive line and on special teams. Prior to that, he spent three seasons at Akron as a defensive graduate assistant working with the Zip linebackers and secondary. Thurin’s coaching career also includes a year at Walsh University. Thurin is married to Elizabeth Tinto, from Chesa- peake, Va. The couple has a daughter, Adaline. Darrell Wyatt Assistant Head Coach/ Wide Receivers Darrell Wyatt was introduced as the Eagles’ wide receivers coach in 2022 and will serve as assistant head coach and wide receivers coach under Bill O’Brien starting in 2024. Wyatt helped oversee the evolution of Zay Flowers into a first-round NFL draft pick in 2023. Flowers was featured heavily in the BC offense as he set the program record for receiving touchdowns in a sea- son (12), tied the receptions record (78) and posted the fourth 1,000-yard season in BC history at 1,077. Flowers also broke the career record in all three cate- gories before being selected by the Baltimore Ravens. Flowers was an All-ACC First Team pick and As- sociated Press All-American. In 2023, he oversaw the development of Lewis Bond into the Eagles’ leading receiver. Bond was one of just six receivers in the ACC to catch 50 or more passes for over 00 yards and seven touchdowns. Wyatt came to the Heights after four seasons at Central Florida. During his tenure at UCF, Wyatt spent three years working for head coach Josh Heu- pel and his final year with head coach Gus Malzhan. During that time, the Knights compiled a 37-12 re-32 @BCFOOTBALL | 2024 FOOTBALL PROGRAM BOSTONCOLLEGE Assistant Coaches LEADING THE EAGLES cord, including an undefeated regular season in 2018, and four bowl game appearances, including the 2019 Fiesta Bowl. In 2021, UCF averaged 206.2 passing yards and 31.9 points per game. Wyatt and the Knights pro- duced two 500-yard receivers in Ryan O’Keefe (812) and Brandon Johnson (565). Johnson was second in the American Athletic Conference with 11 receiving touchdowns, while O’Keefe, who earned All-AAC Second Team, added seven. O’Keefe set a UCF sin- gle-season record with 84 receptions. Wyatt coached a pair of UCF All-Americans during his first three seasons in Orlando with Gabriel Davis and Marlon Williams under his tutelage. Davis was a fourth round pick of the Buffalo Bills in 2020 and has compiled 70 receptions in two years in the NFL. Prior to UCF, Wyatt served as an offensive assis- tant at Arkansas State in 2017. The Red Wolves pro- duced a top-five passing offense and a top-20 total offense ranking during his lone season with the squad. Previously, he was at Houston in 2016 as the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. The Cou- gars posted a nine-win season in 2016, including a week-one win over No. 13 Oklahoma. As an offen- sive analyst at Oklahoma State in 2015, the Cowboys started 10-0 and finished with a win over No. 16 Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl. Wyatt was on the coaching staff at Texas from 2011-13 under Mack Brown. He was co-offensive co- ordinator and wide receivers coach for the Longhorns in 2013, while serving as co-recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach in 2011 and 2012. During his time at Texas, Wyatt’s wide receivers earned five All-Big 12 Conference accolades. With Wyatt’s help as co-recruiting coordinator, the 2012 Texas signing class was ranked No. 2 in the nation. In 2008-09, Wyatt was the associate head coach/ offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach at South- ern Mississippi. The Golden Eagles were No. 18 in the nation in scoring offense and No. 31 in total offense in 2009. In 2008, Southern Miss broke 36 offensive school records en route to the No. 20 total offensive output in the country. Wyatt also has coaching experience with Kansas, Arizona, the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, Oklahoma, Baylor, Wyoming, Sam Houston State and Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College. A native of Killeen, Texas, Wyatt is a 1989 grad- uate of Kansas State University where he played for two seasons after transferring from Trinity Valley in Athens, Texas. He and his wife Cindy are parents of a son, Des- mond, and a daughter, Charese. Craig Fitzgerald Director of Football Performance A veteran of more than 25 years of experience at the collegiate and professional levels, Craig Fitzgerald takes over the strength and conditioning of the BC football program as the director of football perfor- mance. He previously worked with head coach Bill O’Brien at Penn State (2012-13) and with the Hous- ton Texans (2014-17). Fitzgerald spent the last four seasons with the New York Giants as the head strength and condition- ing coach before accepting a position at Florida in the 2023-24 offseason, but ultimately made the move to BC to reunite with O’Brien and work with the Eagles. He also has head strength coach experience at Harvard (2005-09), South Carolina (2009-11) and Tennessee (2018-19). Fitzgerald holds the highest honor awarded in his profession, the certification of Master Strength and Conditioning Coach by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA). HE is also certified by the National Strength and Condition- ing Association (NSCA). As a player, Fitzgerald was a three-year letter- winner and starting tight end at Maryland, where he earned his degree in 1996, after beginning his career as a walk-on. Fitzgerald and his wife Mary have three sons; Mac, Joe and Luke.NEWLYRENOVATED HOTELTRIPLEPLAY THREEGREATHOTELSWITHIN 3MILESOFBOSTONCOLLEGE HomewoodSuitesbyHiltonBoston/BrooklineLongwoodMedical 111 Boylston Street, Brookline, MA 02445 (617) 232-1487 HiltonGardenInnBoston/Brookline 700BrooklineAvenue,Brookline,MA02446 (617)935-0077 HomewoodSuitesbyHiltonNeedhamBoston 2001stAvenue,Needham,MA02494 (781)455-998735 @BCFOOTBALL | 2024 FOOTBALL PROGRAM BOSTONCOLLEGE Support Staff LEADING THE EAGLES JOSH BEEKMAN Director of Football Initiatives EMMA BURGASON Associate Director of Sports Medicine ROB CHUDZINSKI Senior Offensive Analyst DOMINIC CUONO Analyst SPENCER DICKOW General Manager KARMICHAEL DUNBAR Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach TEVIN GEDDIS Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach MICHAEL GEORGE Defensive Analyst RIAN HEALY Assistant Director, Sports Medicine LAUREN HUNT Assistant Director, Football Operations TIM JACKSON Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach ALEC KERR Director of Football Operations MEGHAN KITTLESON Administrative Assistant to the Head Coach ELI KOSANOVICH Graduate Assistant, Quarterbacks TYLER MOORE Assistant Director, Video & Technology BERJ NAJARIAN Chief of Staff ROBERT NUNEZ Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach CASEY O’BRIEN Head Equipment Manager TITO PASQUALONI Graduate Assistant, Defense & Special Teams BRITNEY PEARSON Football Operations Assistant/Branding KAMRYN RODRIGUEZ Director of On-Campus Branding BRYSON ROSSER ANDREW SCHATZ Assistant Equipment Manager ETHAN SHEIRER Graduate Assistant, Offensive Line TERARITH THAY Associate Director of Sports Medicine MIKE VIGNEAU Director, Sports Medicine, Football Not Pictured: Will Blackmon, Senior Defensive Analyst; Jack Broaddus, Assistant Athletic Trainer; Michael Butler, Recruiting Intern; Molly Grindle, Assistant Athletic Trainer; Tom Jurkovec, Graduate Assistant; Doug Marrone, Senior Analyst for Football Strategy/Research; Nick McGriff, Special Teams Analyst; Kailah Murphy, Head Football Dietitian; Kevin Riley, Director of Video & Technology; Derek Titchner, Equipment Graduate Assistant36 @BCFOOTBALL | 2024 FOOTBALL PROGRAM BOSTONCOLLEGE Traditions FLY EAGLES Maroon and Gold In the mid-1880s, a committee of students was appointed to determine which hue would best represent BC. After considering the colors of rival Je- suit institutions — Holy Cross’s purple, Fordham’s maroon, Georgetown’s blue and gray — the committee selected two of the Papal colors, maroon and gold. The student body unanimously approved. Eagle Nickname The Eagle nickname and mascot were conceived by Rev. Edward Mc- Laughlin, S.J. Fr. McLaughlin, incensed at a Boston newspaper cartoon depicting the champion BC track team as a cat licking clean a plate of its rivals, penned a passionate letter to the student newspaper, The Heights, in 1920. “It is important that we adopt a mascot to preside at our pow-wows and triumphant feats,” Fr. McLaughlin wrote. “And why not the eagle, symbolic of majesty, power and freedom? Its natural habitat is the high places. Surely the Heights is made to order for such a selection.” Superfans As juniors in the 1997-98 school year, Jeff Bridge and Chris Millette embarked on a mission that would change the atmosphere at Boston College football, basketball and hockey games. The two fans started to plan a way to make games at BC more exciting. They created a “Gold Rush Game” and sold gold “Superfans” T-shirts for just a few dollars in the BC Bookstore. Today, the gold-clad “BC Superfans” can be seen en masse. The Gridiron Club Eagle In celebration of BC’s 50th season in Alumni Stadium, the Boston College Gridiron Club made a generous contribution to fund a “Grid- iron Club Eagle” tradition display adjacent to the team’s locker room. At each home game, when the team emerges from the locker room, each member touches the eagle in honor of all the student-athletes, coaches and fans who have played a role in establishing BC’s proud football tradition. The eagle was unveiled before the 2006 thrilling double-overtime win over Clemson. Traditional Songs For Boston For Boston, for Boston, We sing our proud refrain! For Boston, for Boston ‘Tis Wisdom’s earthly fane. For here all are one And their hearts are true, And the towers on the Heights Reach to Heav’ns own blue. For Boston, for Boston, Till the echoes ring again! For Boston, for Boston, Thy glory is our own! For Boston, for Boston, ‘Tis here the Truth is known. And ever with the Right Shall thy heirs be found, Till time shall be no more And thy work is crown’d. For Boston, for Boston, For Thee and Thine alone. Alma Mater Hail Alma Mater! Thy praise we sing. Fondly thy mem’ries ‘Round our hearts still cling. Guide our youth, through Thee we shall prevail, Hail Alma Mater! Hail! All Hail! Words and music by T.J. Hurley ’85Next >