New Boston College football coach Steve Addazio named Don Brown defensive coordinator. Brown, a native of Spencer, was defensive coordinator at UConn the past two seasons. He’s been a head coach at UMass (2004-08) and Northeastern (2000-03).

“We’re very excited to have Don Brown joining our Boston College family,” Addazio said in a statement. “Don is a New England guy who has tremendous ties and relationships in the Northeast to go along with a great coaching resume. He’s been a head coach at Northeastern. He’s been a head coach at Plymouth State. He’s been a head coach at the University of Massachusetts. He’s had coordinator experience at Maryland in the ACC and comes to us having most recently served as the defensive coordinator at the University of Connecticut. He has tremendous character and is a great family man who is a perfect fit here at Boston College.”

Said Brown: “Coach Addazio has presented me with a great challenge — one that I am very excited about. I’m excited to be back in the ACC. The positive thing for me is that I’m a New England guy. I’m from Massachusetts. Coaching at Boston College has always been a wish of mine. I’m a firm believer that you play the game on the balls of your feet, not on your heels. From day one, we’re going to be aggressive. We’re going to attack the line of scrimmage. We’re going to get after the quarterback. We’re going to play with our hair on fire on defense. I’m a big believer in playing for tackles for loss and being disruptive and making life difficult for the quarterback. We’re going to attack. That’s the style of defense that I’ve employed. We’re going to fly around and attack the pass.”

Addazio also officially named Ryan Day offensive coordinator, confirming an appointment he announced at his introductory press conference. Day, who was a BC assistant coach from 2003-04 and 2007-11, assisted Addazio at Temple this past season.

“Ryan is one of the bright young minds in college football,” Addazio said. “He’s going to coach the quarterbacks and be the offensive coordinator. He’s so excited to be back and part of the Boston College family.  This is home for him.  He knows Boston College and he is thrilled to back.”

Day has a supporter in University of Oregon coach Chip Kelly.

“[Day] played for me and I coached with him,” Kelly said. “He was a great kid and one of the bright minds as well as one of the best players I have ever coached. I think he is one of the best young coaches in the country and it was just a matter of time before he was running the show, offensively, somewhere.”

Steve Addazio met the media during his introductory press conference at BC. (John Quackenbos/BC)

New Boston College football coach Steve Addazio was introduced to the media at a Wednesday afternoon press conference. Courtesy of BC’s media relations department, following is a transcript of Addazio’s comments.

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT

“Good afternoon. I want to thank you for coming out, this is truly a great day, and an exciting day. I am humbled and very honored to stand here today as your head football coach at Boston College. This is my dream job and I have spent my coaching life at a lot of great places.

“All the friends that know me, knew that I one day wanted to be here at Boston College. The messages I have been receiving — “We’re so happy for you,” “We knew this is where you wanted to be.” Two years ago I had a chance to come back to the Northeast in Philadelphia, which was great. Now I have a chance to come to New England, which is truly home, and we are ecstatic.

“My dream was to come to a university that was all about the family concept. I grew up in a strong family with strong faith and now I have the opportunity to now lead a football program within a tremendous family. My wife, our family, the catholic faith is the centerpiece of our lives.

“As you look at me, I haven’t missed any meals. To have the opportunity to go to the North End to enjoy a plate of macaroni is something I am looking forward to.

“My wife, Kathy, she has been my life. My daughter Nicole works at Georgetown and graduated from the University of Florida. My daughter Jessica will be graduating in May from Central Florida and wants to get into elementary education. My son Louie is a scholarship tight end at Syracuse, that’s my family. I have a dog named Bailey, a golden retriever that is completely out of control.

“I’m here for the long haul and I’m here to win championships. Win championships with class and honor, developing young men on and off the football field. I want to develop men that are going to leave BC one day to go make a difference in this world in a positive way. I’m a teacher, so it’s important to me to know that I can be a small piece in the development of a young man.

“Our football program is going to be about a lot more than just football. It’s going to be about family, academics and making a difference in people’s lives.

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Nick Clancy

Boston College linebacker Nick Clancy was named to the All-ACC first team as voted on by the league’s 12 coaches, the ACC announced Wednesday morning. Wide receiver Alex Amidon and offensive tackle Emmett Cleary were named to the second team.

Linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis and punter Gerald Levano earned honorable mention.

Last week, Clancy and Amidon were named first-team All-ACC by the league’s media, while Cleary was named to the second team and Pierre-Louis and Levano received honorable mention.

Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd was named Player of the Year by the coaches, beating out North Carolina running back Giovani Bernard and Clemson wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Boyd also was named Offensive Player of the year, while Florida State defensive end Bjoern Wener was named Defensive Player of the Year. Miami running back Duke Johnson is the league’s Rookie of the Year. Duke’s David Cutcliffe was tabbed as Coach of the Year.

This is the first year the league has had the coaches select an all-star team.

Boston College senior Nick Clancy was named ACC Linebacker of the Week on Monday for his performance in Saturday’s 30-23 overtime loss to Virginia Tech.

Clancy, a 6-foot-3, 232-pounder from Plainfield, Ill., records 20 tackles (17 solo), including 2.5 tackles for loss, with two pass breakups.

Clancy is the league’s leading tackler with 127 in 11 games. He is the only ACC player this season with 20 tackles in a game, reaching the milestone twice. He recorded a career-high 24 tackles (14 solo) at Northwestern on Sept. 15, which led to his first ACC Linebacker of the Week award.

Boston College (2-9, 1-6 ACC) visits NC State (6-5, 2-4) on Saturday afternoon.

Midway through the third quarter, it seemed as though quarterback Everett Golson and the Notre Dame offense would’ve been content spiking the ball on first and second down and still manage to gain a first down.

Why not? The Fighting Irish started off the game off by going perfect 10-for-10 on third down, twice overcoming penalties that had backed them up or taken away a successful conversion. Of those eight conversions, Golson ran or five and passed for two. He also threw for two touchdowns and ran for another score in a 21-6 win at Alumni Stadium.

“You have to play good defense to win, and you certainly have to play good third down defense,” coach Frank Spaziani said. “Some of it was our execution and some of it was their execution and some of it was their improvisation. It goes back to my topic sentence: We have to make some plays and when we get the opportunity, we have to make our share of them.”

The Eagles were heavy underdogs heading into the game and were predicted to get steamrolled by the undefeated Irish. With that said, Notre Dame came in and scored the easy victory, but it’s difficult to say that they blew the doors off BC. The Eagles defense allowed six yards of offense per play, but did not surrender many big plays, giving up no breakaway plays over 25 yards or quick-strike scores.

Instead, Irish coach Brian Kelly and the offense showcased a gameplan of cold-hearted efficiency that lead to sustained, but, more importantly, successful drives. Each of Notre Dame’s three scoring drives went at least nine plays and lasted at least four minutes, 56 seconds. The Irish’s most sustained drive was a grueling 16-play, 97-yard drive scoring drive right before the half that lasted eight minutes, 30 seconds.

“Whenever you’re facing a national-caliber team, you know they’re going to execute, and that’s something that we struggled with this year,” linebacker Steele Divitto said. “We gave them the third-and-long and we just can’t get off the field and that’s something we have to work on and continue to build on in the future.”

The Eagles, though, were never truly out of the game, as the lead never stretched past 18 points and came back within two scores in the fourth quarter. However, the Eagles, who spent much of the game watching the Irish convert time after time, couldn’t sustain their drives, going 8-of-15 on third down conversions and had converted 4-of-8 before Notre Dame faltered once on third down.

The main source of frustration, especially on third down, came in the form of Golson, a redshirt freshman that is known as a dual-threat quarterback, going 16-of-24 through the air for 200 yards while rushing for 39 yards on 11 carries. Both sets of skills were on display Saturday, as Golson showed his scrambling abilities as well as a capacity to manage the game in an effort to sustain drives.

“He’s good. He’s still a freshman, though,” Divitto said. “He’s very dynamic, he’s quick and he’s a good athlete. He’s definitely a playmaker. He’s definitely a guy they can go to to make plays. He’s been the guy who led them down the field in the fourth quarter or whatever it was and he’s done a heck of a job so far.”

While the Irish thrived in the running game, recording 184 yards on 40 carries as a team, the Eagles failed to get a consistent ground game going, leading to unfavorable third down situations. While the output far outshined last week’s effort that produced 12 yards on 21 carries against Wake Forest, BC totaled just 53 yards on 23 carries, a 2.3 average, thanks in large part to quarterback Chase Rettig losing 36 yards from sacks.

Boston College tied with Northwestern for third in the nation for overall graduation success rate in all sports among Football Bowl Subdivision schools, the NCAA announced this week. BC totaled 97 percent, finishing behind only Notre Dame (99) and Duke (98).

The BC football team’s score of 94 was tied with Miami for tops in the ACC and third in the nation (behind Notre Dame and Northwestern, both at 97).

Seventeen BC teams had a perfect GSR score of 100.

To read more about BC’s accomplishment, click here. For more from the NCAA on GSR trends and statistics, click here.

BC coach Jerry York watched his team unveil another championship banner Saturday night. (AP)

Boston College hockey coach Jerry York wrote a letter to the team’s fans through the school newspaper, The Heights. In the letter, York implored the students to continue their support but provide it in a classy manner.

The Eagles won their home opener on Saturday, 3-0 over Northeastern, on a night when they unveiled their 2012 national championship banner. The game was a sellout, with 7,884 fans on hand.

In his letter, York thanked the students for their support and noted that the team feeds off their energy.

Added York:

I write to challenge each of you. BC is a special place. As BC students you have amazing minds and great talents. When you support our team, I ask that you put your talents to work. Think creatively when joining together in unison to cheer on the Eagles. Think creatively when coming up with new chants and cheers. Continue to make things interesting for your fellow fans and inspiring for our team.

When doing so, we only ask that you use sound judgment in language. Please don’t curse. We travel to other arenas and hear things I never want to hear. Our hockey program belongs to BC. It belongs to the students, alums young and old, and fans alike. Game day at BC is where we join together in pride. It should be enjoyable for everyone.

BC, ranked third nationally, is 2-1 heading into Friday’s night game at UMass-Lowell. The Eagles host the River Hawks the following afternoon.

Boston College was predicted for a 12th-place finish by the media that covers ACC basketball during the league’s annual Operation Basketball event Wednesday. This follows a similar prediction from ACC coaches on Monday.

NC State was tabbed to finish first, ahead of Duke and North Carolina. It’s the first time since 1974 the Wolfpack received such a prediction from the media.

Here are the preseason rankings and All-ACC team from the 53 media members who voted.

TEAM PREDICTIONS
1. NC State (26 first-place votes), 601 points
2. Duke (21), 589
3. North Carolina, 520
4. Florida State (6), 484
5. Miami, 436
6. Maryland, 341
7. Virginia, 287
8. Clemson, 277
9. Georgia Tech, 189
10. Virginia Tech, 169
11. Wake Forest, 151
12. Boston College, 90

PRESEASON ALL-ACC
Lorenzo Brown, NC State
C.J. Leslie, NC State
James Michael McAdoo, North Carolina
Mason Plumlee, Duke
Michael Snaer, Florida State

PRESEASON ACC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
C.J. Leslie, NC State

PRESEASON ACC ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Rodney Purvis, NC State

Boston College was picked last in the ACC basketball coaches poll released Monday. NC State, which returns four starters from last season’s 24-13 team that reached the Sweet 16, was voted to the top spot, receiving eight first-place votes and 139 points. Following the Wolfpack are perennial powers Duke (130 points, three first-place votes) and North Carolina (124 points, one first-place vote).

The rest of the poll consists of Miami (104), Florida State (103), Maryland (78), Virginia (68), Clemson (61), Georgia Tech (40) and a tie for 10th between Virginia Tech and Wake Forest (32), ahead of BC (25).

NC State junior forward Lorenzo Brown was tabbed as the Preseason ACC Player of the Year. Brown averaged 14.7 points and 7.3 rebounds last season. Joining Brown on the Preseason All-ACC team are NC State classmate C.J. Leslie, North Carolina sophomore James Michael McAdoo, Duke senior Mason Plumlee and Florida State senior Michael Snaer.

NC State freshman Rodney Purvis was named Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year.

This is the first year the ACC has polled its coaches for predictions and an all-league team. The media poll will be released later this week.

The ACC Wednesday announced new scheduling formats that take effect next year.

In an effort to maintain rivalries and competitive balance, the ACC is partnering each basketball team with two opponents for to games per season. Boston College will play Notre Dame and Syracuse twice, once home and once away.

The Eagles will play their remaining 14 conference games against rotating opponents with five home-only games and five road-only games.

In football, the ACC elected to stay with an eight-game conference schedule. BC will play the other six teams in the division, one crossover rival, and one rotating team from the other division.

In baseball, the ACC announced that beginning in 2014 the championship will feature 10 teams in a six-day event that begins as double-elimination and shifts to single-elimination for the semifinals and finals.