Boston College’s preseason work has moved into a more demanding phase, and the specialists room is one of the clearest places where that progress is showing. After the Eagles got through last week’s acclimation period, they hit full pads for the first time on Wednesday during a stretch of five camp practices, with Tuesday’s off day giving the group a chance to reset after the first round of full-speed contact and play calls.
Special teams coordinator Matt Thurin says the challenge this time of year is less about simply getting reps and more about managing a smaller roster while still building chemistry.
"With the roster rules, we have less guys," said special teams coordinator Matt Thurin. "We have seven specialists right now that are competing, so we try to set up their days like a pitcher in baseball.
You can't kick every day, so we've been doing a good job of managing their legs to go through quite a few months of football…It's a very tight-knit group, and I think that everybody's excited to build on their past experiences. But every year is still a new year, so we have to go out and prove it."
That room gives Boston College one of its strongest areas of continuity heading toward 2026, and kicker Luca Lombardo is a big reason why. He was the first specialist to convert all except one-or-less field goals on 10-or-more attempts since Connor Lytton went 11-for-12 in 2021, and his perfect extra point percentage helped BC avoid a missed PAT for an entire season for the first time since Aaron Boumerhi made all 45 of his attempts in 2019.
Those kicks mattered beyond the box score. Boston College’s red zone efficiency jumped by 13 percentage points even though the offense scored three fewer points per game than it did in 2024. The Eagles finished by converting more than 90 percent of their red zone trips over the final three games, and the extra field goal or two that showed up through special teams made a real difference in the overall scoring picture.
"Routines become habits," outlined Thurin, "and it's how they take care of their body. I think that having a lot of competition makes it easier to split up those reps more because guys have opportunities to go prove themselves. It's not just one group that's going out and working."
Punting was another area where BC found steadiness. Shamus Florio, a graduate transfer from Yale, gave the Eagles a reliable answer at a spot that had not seen one player handle most of the work since 2022.
He punted 49 times, averaging about four punts per game, and his 40-yard average per kick included a 63-yard punt against Fordham, the longest by an Eagle in four years. Florio also hit a 56-yard punt against Pittsburgh and pinned a punt on Connecticut’s goal line.
Freshman Andy Quinn was part of that mix as well, handling most of the kickoff duties and also uncorking a 68-yard punt against SMU. BC also brought in Towson transfer Bryce LaFollette, another piece in the specialists room who can keep the competition moving and help develop leadership in that group.
"They're both very professional with how they handle themselves," explained Thurin. "They do a good job competing together.
Bryce brings a lot of experience, but Andy's a second-year player who played last year from a kickoff standpoint. He got a few reps in punt situations, and I think they both bring a professionalism to the position.
They both have very talented legs that can do a lot of different things, and I think they have like-minded approaches to the game. They're friends off the field, and since everybody's a different person, they have different things [that they can do] - and I think they do a great job of working together to execute those things."
Thurin’s impact goes beyond the individual specialists. He has built a reputation for squeezing production out of the margins, and Boston College benefited from that structure last season. The way the kicker, holder, snapper, gunners, kickoff coverage, and younger players connect in that system gave the Eagles a useful edge.
"It's sometimes location over velocity," said Thurin. "If a guy can throw the ball really fast, the ball isn't where it is.
So with special teams, you have to get the ball off very quickly. It's about the exact location that the holder catches the ball, where the laces are.
If you get a wobbly ball, that's on the holder to do a great job catching the ball, spinning the laces and getting it down to the exact point. The exact location where the laces spin, you might be at seven yards, seven-and-a-half yards.
So you see where variables are, and there is some nuance that's different about [the relationship between players]."
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