Frank Spaziani

Running back Montel Harris has been thrown off the Boston College football team, the school announced Tuesday. "Montel Harris has been permanently dismissed from our football team due to a repeated violation of team rules," coach Frank Spaziani said. "We are grateful for his contributions the past four seasons and will support him in completing his degree requirements and in his future pursuits. " Harris, a senior who is BC's career-leading rusher with 3,735 yards, has been plagued by knee injuries the past two seasons.

Running back Montel Harris has been thrown off the Boston College football team, the school announced Tuesday. "Montel Harris has been permanently dismissed from our football team due to a repeated violation of team rules," coach Frank Spaziani said. "We are grateful for his contributions the past four seasons and will support him in completing his degree requirements and in his future pursuits. " Harris, a senior who is BC's career-leading rusher with 3,735 yards, has been plagued by knee injuries the past two seasons.

Country singer Kenny Chesney proved his pigskin bona fides yesterday by paying a surprise visit to the BC football team. Coach Frank Spaziani gathered the Eagles to watch Chesney's 2010 documentary "The Boys of Fall," and then brought out Chesney himself, who spoke to the team. The singer was in town to perform two shows - last night and tonight - at Gillette Stadium. The shows are the final dates of Chesney's "Goin' Coastal" tour, which sold more than 1.1 million tickets.

Hamstrung by injuries, the Boston College football team went into the Jay McGillis Spring Game missing 17 players, including 11 on defense. Offensively, the Eagles were without wide receivers Colin Larmond Jr., Johnathan Coleman, and Bobby Swigert and running backs Montel Harris and Andre Williams. That left sophomore Tahj Kimble, junior Rolandan "Deuce" Finch, and sophomore Paul Maglio, a converted defensive back, to handle the bulk of the work. But when Kimble went down with an ankle injury in the first quarter, Finch shouldered much of the burden, running 27 times for 196 yards and...

In the first of a series of changes on his coaching staff, Boston College football coach Frank Spaziani has hired Jim Bollman, the former offensive coordinator/offensive line coach at Ohio State, as the Eagles new offensive line coach. according to sources at BC. The official announcement is expected later this afternoon. The Eagles current offensive line coach Sean Devine will coach the Eagles tight ends next season. Dave Brock, who moved up from coaching the tight ends to the role of interim offensive coordinator last season as a replacement for Kevin Rogers remains in limbo More changes...

The good news for Boston College following Saturday's 30-14 loss to No. 16 Virginia Tech is that it should get easier. No real monsters remain for the Eagles, starting with Saturday's game at Maryland, which is, like BC, an inexperienced and injury-riddled team in the middle of a period of bad karma. Coach Randy Edsall's Terrapins (2-5) are coming off a 41-16 loss to Florida State, and have not beaten a Bowl Subdivision team since Miami in their opener. And while the Eagles' final result against Virginia Tech was familiar, there were more signs that BC is getting close to...

By Mark Blaudschun, Globe Staff In a move that further clouded the situation in the Boston College defensive backfield, coach Frank Spaziani announced yesterday that starting safety Okechukwu Okoroha had been dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons. When contacted at a team function last night, Spaziani would not elaborate, other than to say that the Eagles would reassess the secondary as they prepare for their season opener against Northwestern on Sept. 3. The first hint that something was amiss came in Sunday afternoon's situational scrimmage, when Spaziani...

Boston College is still a couple of weeks away from beginning its summer football training camp and the Eagles are already down two wide receivers. BC football coach Frank Spaziani confirmed this morning that wide receivers Clyde Lee and Shakim Phillips are no longer in school. "Clyde had some academic issued and Shakim is transferring," said Spaziani Neither receiver played significant roles last season. Lee, a 6-0 foot, 190 pound sophomore, played two seasons for the Eagles and played 10 games with 17 receptions last season with one touchdown as a spot receiver.

Boston College football coach Frank Spaziani has been on the recruiting trail, looking to upgrade a roster that produced a 4-8 season this fall. But yesterday he took care of one administrative issue that had been pending, naming Doug Martin the Eagles' new offensive coordinator. Technically, the position had been open since Kevin Rogers took a medical leave of absence in September. In the interim, Spaziani had moved tight ends coach Dave Brock to offensive coordinator for the remainder of the season, while making it clear the job was open and he would...

In a move that further clouded the situation in the Boston College defensive backfield, coach Frank Spaziani announced yesterday that starting safety Okechukwu Okoroha had been dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons. When contacted at a team function last night, Spaziani would not elaborate, other than to say that the Eagles would reassess the secondary as they prepare for their season opener against Northwestern on Sept. 3. The first hint that something was amiss came in Sunday afternoon's situational scrimmage, when Spaziani kept both starting safeties - Okoroha and Dominick...

The Boston College football team has its third offensive coordinator in as many years, as well as some big holes to fill, and thus has a lot to address in spring practice. The Eagles had their first scrimmage of the spring Saturday and showed that they have been tackling those issues. "It was a good start," coach Frank Spaziani repeated three times. "We came out with some edge, and it was a good start with some new coaches and some young players. " Junior quarterback Chase Rettig took the majority of the first-team snaps and completed 10 of 17 attempts.

They talk pretty much every day, exchanging ideas while getting to know each other. Chase Rettig has been through it before. So have Dave Shinskie and Mike Marscovetra, the other veteran quarterbacks on Boston College's roster. And so has Josh Bordner, who may very well battle Rettig for the starting job. It is what you do if you are Doug Martin, the Eagles' new offensive coordinator - a position that has been open three times in the last 12 months. But this is not Martin's first dance.

C.J. Fair scored 13 points and No. 2 Syracuse (26-1, 13-1 Big East) scored the final 6 points to eke out a 52-51 win over No. 19 Louisville (20-6, 8-5) at the KFC Yum! Center . . . Tyshawn Taylor had 20 points and Jeff Withey had 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 blocked shots in a dominant performance, lifting No. 5 Kansas (21-5, 11-2 Big 12) past host Kansas State, 59-53 . . . Perry Jones III rediscovered his shooting touch with 18 points and No. 9 Baylor (22-4, 9-4 Big 12) rebounded from consecutive losses with a 79-64 victory over Iowa State (18-8, 8-5)

For a team that finished 4-8 last season, Boston College's football coaching staff appears to be quite popular. Although no official announcement will come until tomorrow, new Rutgers coach Kyle Flood has used the BC staff as a personal shopping mall. First, Flood tried to entice defensive coordinator Billy McGovern to come back to his native state. But McGovern declined, telling Rutgers that while he was still very much a New Jersey guy, his roots are also firmly planted at BC. Then Flood approached Dave Brock, who took over as BC's offensive...

Tennis John Isner jolted Roger Federer with his big serve and booming groundstrokes, winning, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, to give the United States a 2-0 lead against Switzerland in the first round of the Davis Cup yesterday in Fribourg, Switzerland. In opening singles, Mardy Fish outlasting Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 9-7. The US can sweep Switzerland in the best-of-five series today when Mike Bryan and Ryan Harrison face Federer and Wawrinka in doubles . . . Top-seeded Maria Sharapova was ousted from the quarterfinals of Open GDF Suez in Paris, beaten by Angelique...

Mark Herzlich is gone; he is with the New York Giants in Indianapolis, preparing for Sunday's Super Bowl against the Patriots. Luke Kuechly is gone; he is in Florida, preparing for the NFL combine later this month. The absence of those two marquee linebackers is one reason that when Boston College football coach Frank Spaziani announced his 2012 recruiting class yesterday, four of the 16 players were linebackers. And with his top prospect at the position, Steve Daniels, still dealing with academic issues that kept him out of last year's recruiting class, Spaziani knows...

The mistakes will be reviewed, worked on, and hopefully corrected. But one phase of Boston College's 24-17 loss to Northwestern yesterday at Alumni Stadium may be ominous. Kicker Nate Freese , who showed a stronger leg during training camp, missed field goals of 31 and 40 yards, making only a chip shot of 19 yards in three attempts. If the Eagles are going to complete rallies or win close games, they need to be automatic from 40 yards and in with their kicking game.

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent Boston College extended a scholarship offer to Chelmsford’s Tim Joy on Friday and it took the returning senior captain less than a day to call head football coach Frank Spaziani and verbally commit to play for the Eagles. BC had been Joy’s top choice all along, although the All-Conference tight end/linebacker had also taken unofficial visits to Maryland, Duke, NC State and UConn. At 6-foot-2, 220-pounds, Joy posted 131 tackles, three interceptions and two sacks last season, earning All-Merrimack...

When the official commitments start coming into the football office this morning, there will not be much drama or hoopla. A quiet football recruiting season at Boston College will produce no five-star or even four-star recruits. Most of the recruiting services that rank these things no doubt will place the Eagles on the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference list, far behind Florida State, Miami, Clemson, and Virginia Tech, who dominate the top of the charts each year. BC coach Frank Spaziani said he is working on a plan that involves getting "BC type" players.