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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 21, 2011

Frank Spaziani

THE MODERATOR: We welcome Boston College head coach Frank Spaziani. Whose Eagles will most Massachusetts had this Saturday.
COACH SPAZIANI: Well, first of all, we were disappointed in our start but we are not disappointed in the effort. Our kids are playing hard but we obviously have to do more and help manage them a little bit better.
So we have got a tough opponent coming in here, an in-state team coming into our place who certainly has very good players, well coached and they are highly motivated.
So with that, I'll turn it over for those questions.

Q. Wanted to get your opinion of the ACC expansion, and if the ACC were to go to 16 teams, which teams which you also like to see added?
COACH SPAZIANI: Once again, that question, you know, as far as who would be added, I haven't given that any thought at all, and I think that takes a lot of thinking to decide what teams are there.
And far as my opinion, expansion, the people that are in charge of that and doing it know what's best for the conference, and what's best for the ACC will certainly be good for Boston College.

Q. Can you give us an update on Montel Harris and if redshirting him this year is in play at this point?
COACH SPAZIANI: The update on Montel is he practiced some yesterday. And you know, haven't had the medical report yet of how he came out of practice, so once we get that, if that was all right, we'll go forward and he'll track again. And then we'll deal with that on a day-to-day basis with Montel.

Q. How much does had his absence -- you're 0-3, how much has his absence had an effect on you guys so far?
COACH SPAZIANI: Once again, when you take the best player -- the best offensive player in the conference out of your mix, it certainly has an effect.
Now once again, there are other factors that have gone into it. We have some other problems that we need to address also but having Montel certainly would make things look a lot better.

Q. Do you think he'll play this year?
COACH SPAZIANI: Well, I'm hoping he will.

Q. Obviously the Montel thing, you have no control over, you're just waiting for that to firm up there so to speak. What in terms the other aspects of the team that you have control over, what are the points of emphasis this week do you improve upon?
COACH SPAZIANI: Well, once again, when you have a start like we've had and you're close but you're not close and you're really far away in a lot of ways, in coach's terminology, and this sounds a little Catch 22 there, but we have to honker down and get back to some of the fundamental stuff and not get too far ahead of ourselves.
You know, win Tuesday's practice, and then win Wednesday's practice, and get ourselves doing the stuff that we know we can do and know we can execute and try to get as good as we possibly can. Because you still have to play fast, and that's what it comes down to. So that's what we are working on.

Q. Are just not as good in several areas as you expected to be at this point in the season, or again, is it just about the best player in the league not being there?
COACH SPAZIANI: Well, no, no, no, no. It's not all about Montel. We have had -- once again, I'm reluctant to get into stuff because it sounds like -- you know, we have no excuses. But we certainly have had some problems that we have had to manage our way through, and it's been a little bit more difficult than we had anticipated as far as the problems coming up.
I mean, you know, some guys have not been there and some guys have not performed the way we thought they would, and so you know, once again, you have to manage your way through and that's what coaching is about, and figure out how to win.
We have enough guys to win.

Q. In the loss to Duke, do you have any concerns about the kicking game specifically coming out of that matchup, or do you think that was a one-time thing and not really a red flag for you?
COACH SPAZIANI: One-time thing? We missed field goals in the first game and then we missed the extra point and the field goal in Game 3.
So, it's not a one-time thing and it certainly is a concern. It certainly is a concern. You know, we have to get better performance out of a lot of people, and certainly the kicker is a little bit more obvious to everybody.

Q. Have you been trying out some other people during practice, thinking about making any changes?
COACH SPAZIANI: Well, there are other things that -- other options that we have gone to before that. I think, you know, Nate has done it. Nate can do it and Nate has to do it. We have got to resort to those things first until he gives us every indication that a change needs to be made.
But Nate can kick the ball and he certainly has a lot of ability and we need to get him back on track.

Q. I wanted to ask about expansion, too. I'm curious, the fact that the ACC is bringing in two former Big East teams that you've played as a Big East member, that kind of connect BC to the rest of the league geographically, it's not like you were 50 miles away from everybody else anymore.
COACH SPAZIANI: I know, the irony of it all.

Q. Yeah, I'm just wondering, does that have any long-term benefit for BC, connecting you more to the conference, and would it help in recruiting to have other teams in the northeast that are with you?
COACH SPAZIANI: Well, once again, as I've said before, a lot of people have given us a lot of serious thought, and put a lot of thought into it. And I'm sure they are making as intelligent decisions as they can.
I do not spend a lot of time on it. But I will say this: There's a lot to be said for tradition. And you know, certainly having some schools that we have played and are in our area and have tradition; there's a lot to be said for it. There's a lot of benefits to it, and you know, I'll leave it at that.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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