BC completes recruiting class on early signing day

CHESTNUT HILL — The NCAA introduced an early signing day in 2017, with college football teams able to announce the written commitments of football recruits on December 20. Boston College apparently completed its class, introducing a full complement of recruits Wednesday morning.

Head Coach Steve Addazio provided a synopsis on each player who signed their letters of intent to attend BC.

David Bailey. David Bailey, you know, from Ridgely, Maryland is a running back, big back; big, powerful, great-looking guy. I mean, I think as I've said here, to have a chance to have big backs come in in the style of offense we're in, I love. Great ball skills. I think he's got a tremendous future ahead of him. Really good athlete, basketball player. You're talking about a 6'1, 240-pound guy that might be 250.

Kyiev Bennermon, defensive tackle, 6'3, 290, out of Poughkeepsie. Had him in camp; extremely coachable, quick twitch, explosive guy on the defensive line, a position that is always critically important interiorly.

Ryan Betro out of Lawrence Academy, one of three; 6'4, 295-pound guy. I actually saw him the other day. He's actually 280 pounds -- I'm sorry. Let me back up. He looked like he was 275-80 pounds. He's actually 300 pounds. He'll come in here 310, 315; explosive, athletic, very, very impressed. We had him in camp, very well coached. Paul Zukauskas, a former double eagle, great player here, as his head high school coach and has done a fabulous job with him.

Hugh Davis, the linebacker out of Indianapolis, Cathedral High School, voted Mr. Indiana. Fantastic player. Covers the field, athletic, tough. We've had great success with guys here out of Cathedral. We'll continue to do that. Great program.

Going down the list, I know I can't take forever talking here. Nick DeNucci, linebacker out of Pope John, another great program. Nick is a very athletic, fast linebacker, got great size, can really cover the field; very impressive guy.

Vinnie DePalma out of DePaul, state championship team. Vinnie is a big, strong, physical, fast guy. Vinnie will be here early, enrolling in December, very, very impressed with Vinnie. Again, high character, great work ethic, great student, tremendous upside.

Finn Dirstine out of Lawrence Academy, offense lineman, 6'5, 320 pounds, big, massive guy. Had him in camp, very coachable, very smart guy. Great work ethic. He's a mountain of a guy, now, and was a guy that was highly, highly recruited and will be an impactful player here. So, we're excited as heck about Finn.

Jehlani Galloway, wide receiver from Classical in Rhode Island. Jehlani has been committed to us. He's very, very loyal to his commitment here. Very athletic receiver. Great parents. And just really epitomizes a BC guy. I think he's going to be an impact guy here. We're very, very excited about Jehlani.

Aaron Gethers, cornerback out of Bishop McDevitt, another place that's had so many great players. I'll tell you just a quick story about Aaron, I love about this kid. We didn't know how fast he was. He looked fast. He looked great on tape. Said, well, nowadays you try to get a guy to come to camp and run for you, they start balking; they're afraid to get on the clock. He goes -- I think it was here, whatever it was. He goes, "I'll go out run right now. I said, no, you can come to camp and run. You run what you say you're going to run, I'm going to offer you. Came in, lined up, beat what he said he'd run. And I love guys like that because they're competitors. They're not afraid. Today everybody thinks it's like the combine. I'm not going to work out, I'm not going to do the bench press. I like these guys that show up, boom, they say something, they back it up and they do it. He's got speed, he's got athleticism. He's got great competitive excellence to him. Played at a really high level of high school football. Excited about Aaron. Dad was a hell of a player at Penn State. Just a great family.

Elijah Jones from Cardinal Hayes. Elijah plays wide receiver and defensive back. He is a long, great athlete with tremendous speed and ball skills. Really, really excited about his future. He's so athletic and so fast. And you're talking about another guy with real size here. Okay. And we're into that. I mean Elijah is 6'2, 6'3. I mean it's hard to get those guys. And so, another great high school program. And a lot of upside there.

Johnny Langan, quarterback. Another Bergen Catholic. A long line of guys come out of Bergen Catholic here. State champion. One of those guys that will put the team on his back, go win a game, reminds me of Tim Tebow a little bit that way. He has that mentality to him. He's athletic. He's tough. And he's a leader. Those are the things you look for in a quarterback. And we're very, very excited about Johnny.

Joey Luchetti, the third guy from Lawrence Academy, in no particular order. 6'6, 235-pound tight end. I watched Joey play basketball recently. I mean his body control; his athleticism is remarkable. It's remarkable. And I mean he is a big-time guy. We had him in camp. All these guys we had in camp. I mean he was impactful in camp. His ball skills, his athleticism, his toughness and his speed. This is a guy who can do a lot of things. This guy is a big athlete. Again, watch him handle the ball like a point guard on the basketball team. Amazing, absolutely amazing. So, we expect huge things out of Joey.

Jason Maitre, defensive back out of Everett; very explosive guy, big vertical leap. Another state championship program, great high school program, right in our backyard. Tremendous character. We've had such success with guys that have come out of Everett High School. This guy is a bright, bright guy, classy guy. And I think he's going to be a heck of a football player for us. I really do. He has great ball skills and a real knack for the football. So, we're really excited about Jason.

Thomas Shelmire, offensive lineman from Highland Park in Texas. He's playing for the state championship in Texas this weekend. And we had him in camp. Very explosive, and really well-coached guy. Interior offensive lineman, great skill set, very bright, really excited to be at Boston College, like all these guys are, and playing at a high level of high school football. Very competitive, high level. Playing for -- that's saying something, too, right. All these state championship guys. State championship in Texas.

Joe Sparacio, linebacker, like Vinnie DePalma, will be here in January. From Naples, Florida, 5'11, 220-pound guy, who is maybe the most explosive. Great measurables, great speed, great ball skills. This is a guy that I think, you know, will shock people. This guy is very athletic and he could -- he's coming here as a linebacker. He could play fullback. He could do a lot of things. He carried the ball in high school. He had great running ability, great ball skills. Those are those linebacker kind of guys, man. They can do a lot of things for you. And he and Vinnie will be here early. But what a guy. His dad is a high school coach. I've known his dad for a long time. When I was recruiting in the State of Florida, I was at Florida, and originally they're from Long Island. They understand the Northeast and really have a great appreciation for Boston College. Great young man. Tremendous young man.

Evan Stewart. He's a hybrid, strong safety, outside backer guy. And played at St. Joe's for Augie Hoffmann, who was great player here at Boston College. Great high school program in New Jersey. And just really -- also played in the state championship. And just a great player. His dad was a great player, played at Rutgers, big guy, linebacker. And this is a guy whose best days are ahead of him. He's very, very talented, very tough football player. Very versatile. Can play in the back end. Will be a big guy and will be able to translate down and play in that hybrid spot as I mentioned.

John Tessitore. John grew up in a family where Boston College was very important. His dad went here, Joe, we all know and love. And John is a very accomplished kicker, punter from Choate. And great work ethic. Tremendous loyalty to Boston College. Great to see a guy who dreamed about being an Eagle and that dream came true for him. And he has relentless work ethic and preparation just like you see his dad do in his career. So very, very excited about John and his talent level and character level and what he'll bring to our football program.

Matt Valecce, quarterback. Matt's from New York, played at Fordham Prep. This is a guy that is a big guy now. I mean he's 6'5, 220-, 25-pound guy, may end up being next year 235. He can flat fling it. He is a really good athlete. He's got great measurables, and he's got a powerful, powerful arm and very, very smart, kind of gets things immediately. Very impressive young man, extremely impressive, the way he carries himself. And again, another guy that understands and completely bought in, wants to be a part of what Boston College stands for. He is a student-athlete and a very, very -- like Johnny, he's a vicious competitor. So, we couldn't be more excited about Matt and his future here.

Tyler Vrabel, offensive lineman, from Saint Pius in Texas. Ohio guy. We all know his dad, Mike, used to coach over at the Houston Texans. And they say Mike was a late bloomer. Well, Tyler is probably along those lines. I've seen him over the last year. He's grown incredibly. His whole body has changed right in front of us. We had him in camp. He's a ball guy, now. Not shocking. He's a ball guy. And I think he's going to have a great future as a tackle for us here. I loved him, I loved his ability to pass protect, his feet, in camp. He's playing at a high level of football in Texas. They just finished last week, and I think he'll bring a mentality, a passion for the game like his dad had -- has. And so, we're very, very excited about Tyler.

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