Charlie Comella didn’t have much time to sit with disappointment after Boston College baseball’s postseason exit last May.
He was on a 10 p.m. flight out of Atlanta that night, landed in Boston at 3 a.m. Monday, and showed up at Fish Field House for football practice three hours later.
“Personally, I would take a couple of days,” his father, Greg, said. “It speaks to where his head is at, where his mind is at. He loves to compete.”
That kind of rapid reset has become part of Comella’s identity. The Wellesley native is balancing two Division 1 sports, and right now the football side is paying off in a big way.
A redshirt sophomore, Comella is in the middle of a breakout defensive season for BC. After picking off two passes - including a 47-yard return for a touchdown - in the Eagles’ road win over Georgia Tech last Saturday, he earned Atlantic Coast Conference defensive back of the week honors. His four interceptions are tied for third in the nation.
Boston College coach Bill O’Brien pointed to one of those plays as a perfect example of what Comella brings.
“That play that he made in the middle of the field, he’s a center fielder,” O’Brien said. “I’ve actually seen him do that on a baseball field.
He’s a really good athlete. He’s a very versatile player.
He can do a lot of different things.”
The athletic bloodlines are easy to trace. Comella’s family owns a local restaurant chain, and growing up his official title was “chief tester.”
His paternal grandfather, Gene, played at Boston College. His father starred at Xaverian with Matt Hasselbeck before going on to Stanford and then seven seasons in the NFL as a fullback, mostly with the Giants.
Greg Comella later coached Charlie’s Pop Warner teams, and the two have stayed close through every stage of the younger Comella’s career.
“He’s always in my ear and giving me pointers,” Charlie said. “Whatever questions I have, I usually go to him.
Growing up, I would fire off questions to him about what it was like. It’s obviously unbelievable that he played.”
The elder Comella still gets a kick out of watching his son compete.
“Sometimes I find myself watching him out there thinking, ‘Gosh, I certainly couldn’t do that,’ ” he said.
Charlie Comella’s path wasn’t straightforward. He missed his senior season at Xaverian because of a collarbone injury, but stayed around the program and served as a sort of assistant coach during the Hawks’ run to the Division 1 Super Bowl.
That football story is only part of the picture, though.
When then-BC coach Jeff Hafley reached out about interest in the Eagles, the family made it clear that Comella wanted a shot at both sports.
“My question to you is, if you could play both at Boston College, would you do that?” Greg recalls asking Charlie.
“He said, ‘Oh, I would do that in a heartbeat.’ ”
Comella redshirted the fall of his freshman season in 2024, then settled into a special teams role last year before turning back to baseball. He was a reserve on the 2026 BC team that finished 37-23.
Now, with support from O’Brien, defensive coordinator Ted Roof, cornerbacks coach Jules Montinar and his teammates, he’s become one of the roster’s most dangerous playmakers. Boston College has used him at cornerback, nickelback and safety, and he’s taken full advantage of the chances in front of him.
“He has the drive,” said his high school football coach, Al Fornaro. “He wants to get better.
He studies the game. Right now, Boston College is reaping the benefits, as is he.”
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Stiga will be part of a roster that is still taking shape in the coming months, but the Boston College connection is already clear. With one Eagles player already on the team, the program has a chance to be represented strongly in a tournament with international visibility and a long history. For a BC roster that has spent the fall drawing attention on the ice, this is another sign that the Eagles are being watched far beyond the college hockey map. [Read more 🡒]