In Defense of Paul Myerberg’s 2013 Boston College Football Rank

Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

We spend 100 days previewing the Boston College football season around these parts, but that’s because we’re a Boston College site; when you’ve got the whole college football world to cover, teams might only get a day. Such was the case for the Eagles this year and every year in Paul Myerberg’s countdown of FBS teams from worst to first.

Today was Boston College football’s day in the sun, though perhaps with a ranking some might not have wanted to see: #100 out of 125 in what used to be known as Division I-A. That’s certainly a bucket of cold water and a slight kick in the onions after all of the school’s recent recruiting success, but the number itself isn’t unfair, and neither was Myerberg’s piece.

As a matter of fact, there was very little with which to disagree, if anything at all. These days, it’s almost a little rare for national media to have deep insight into what goes on in the Boston College program, but Myerberg has demonstrated often in the last few years that he comprehends the Eagles’ football problems and isn’t afraid to call it like he sees it. Many in the national media have ignored the team, and probably for good reason, while a sizable portion of the local media (they know who they are) consistently went to bat for the previous coach, some even going so far as to attack the fans who wanted change. The point is, when it comes to BC football, for a national figure, Myerberg’s on point and has been.

In his piece today, he is correct about the decline of the program, correct about the mess with which Addazio has been left, and is even correct about the personnel for the most part.

"It’ll be senior Chase Rettig for one more year. Barring an unexpected leap in 2013, his legacy has already been set: Rettig, for better or worse, will be remembered as the multiple-year starting quarterback over the Eagles’ recent decline. Fair, unfair? A little unfair, honestly, as Rettig’s physical gifts as a passer deserved a better fate than his recent three-year turn as the program’s starter. Last year’s offense put him front and center – there was no running game to speak of – and Rettig responded with a hugely up-and-down season ruined by a horrific final month, underlining one crucial fact: Rettig can’t do it alone."

Rettig’s legacy might not be completely set as such, and it would seem that most fans are unwilling to hold him responsible for the decline — that points to Frank Spaziani and Gene DeFilippo, with one who retired on his terms and one who did not. Perhaps it is that Rettig might have been the right quarterback at the wrong time, but we will never know, and at this point, it’s impossible to know how 2013 will look for him.

Elsewhere, the positional analyses are accurate, and although Myerberg may have lowballed the Eagles with a 4-8 prediction, coming off of a 2-10 season, we are collectively in no position to get annoyed at sports writers who pick us to double our win total from last year. The potential does exist for more wins than that if everything goes right, and those of us on the maroon and gold side of the fence will hope for more, but one cannot fault his rationale.

Boston College football is not going to be fixed overnight. Granted, the 2014 recruiting that has been done so far is making for some real optimism, but it’s only a fraction of what BC needs to do. Addazio and company must do their best with the current personnel, then close out the 2014 class strongly, and then add a couple more classes at a similar level of quality to properly flip the roster. It’s still a multi-year rebuild and that should not come as a shock to anyone.

One way to look at it is this: think back to where Boston College football was one year ago at this time. The program stunk of death and many feared it was going to get sincerely ugly. Right now, 2013 might not be that much of an improvement, but at least the windows are blowing in some fresh air and we have reason to believe things are moving in the right direction. Just because it might not be quantified in wins this season doesn’t mean it’s not happening long-term.

And here’s another way: it’s just a prediction. We’re going to make one as well in August, and don’t get mad when we don’t pick BC to win the ACC Atlantic. Myerberg or anyone else is perfectly free to slot BC wherever they wish, but the objective is certainly to be better than the 100th-best FBS team out of 125.

The preview article definitely was not perfect, though: it didn’t list this site you’re reading on its roll call of BC blogs.