Spring-loaded changes at Heights

It was a subtle change, a small representation of the larger changes taking place this spring for Boston College's football team, which will be getting acquainted with first-year coach Jeff Jagodzinski and his staff in addition to learning his schemes and methodology.

The subtle change? BC's defense will no longer wear maroon practice jerseys. Instead, the offense will be wear maroon while the defense will dress in white jerseys for practice.

"Still can't get used to seeing them in maroon," said senior linebacker Jolonn Dunbar, nodding toward the offense. "I guess it makes them look better."

Said Jagodzinski, "When you're playing at home, you're in dark, aren't you? So you're playing against the white. That's the philosophy of that."

Among the larger changes the Eagles will experience this spring is adapting to the tempo of Jagodzinski's practice template, borrowed from his former employer, the Green Bay Packers.

"We're trying to get these guys to understand the pace and how we want to practice and the practice ethic and how we want things to look," said Jagodzinski as his team flew around during its third spring practice yesterday at the indoor bubble at Alumni Stadium. "I've got a pretty good idea watching these guys in winter conditioning and now we're getting to see these guys out on the field.

"I'm getting a better feel every day for these guys and they're getting a better feel for me, too, and what I'm expecting."

Jagodzinski, who was offensive coordinator for the Packers before returning to BC for a second tour of duty (he was offensive coordinator and offensive line coach from 1997-98), implemented "the same formula we had in Green Bay, as far as practicing," he said. "The pace of practice is fast.

"I told those guys, you're not going to expect what you're going to see, but I think they were surprised on Saturday [in the first practice]. They kind of had an idea when they came out on Sunday and actually finished up early.

"This age group is so much better because I don't have to deal with the paychecks and the egos and all that type of thing. These kids just want to play football, because they like playing football. These kids, this age group, are the best to work with, by far."

The transfer of redshirt freshman quarterback Ross Applegate, a dropback passer, indicated another change, and Jagodzinski confirmed, "We're getting away from that straight dropback-passer-type guy. We've got one of the best ones in the conference, but Matt [Ryan] can move around pretty well. But we're going to get some kids who can go make plays if something breaks down. That's the direction we're going." The Eagles already have two QBs in the pipeline with the signings last month of Dominique Davis from Lakeland, Fla., and Chris Johnson from Paterson, N.J. . . . Jagodzinski said Ryan's ability to pick up the new scheme quickly reminded him of a quarterback he worked with in his previous BC tenure. "He reminds me so much of Matt Hasselbeck, when I ended up having Matt way back when, eight or nine years ago," Jagodzinski said. "[Ryan's] very talented, and the way he leads the team in the huddle and all that, it's a lot of fun working with him. He's very smart and he picked up this offense we're putting in really easy."

Senior defensive tackle B.J. Raji was one of two players who showed up for practice yesterday with his right arm in a sling, senior linebacker Brian Toal was the other. Asked if there was any consideration given to redshirting Toal, who underwent offseason shoulder surgery and is sitting out spring drills for the second year in a row, Jagodzinski said, "We're going to see how his rehab is going, and it's going really well right now. I said to him today, 'You better get that thing right or you're not going to be in the backfield at all [in his dual role as short-yardage specialist].' He said, 'Hang on a second.' But he's a good football player and I told him I'd seen him play on film and I know what you can do." . . . BC will hold a pair of scrimmages April 14 and 21 before the annual Jay McGillis Memorial Spring Game April 28.

Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com.