New Years Day means resolutions. Everyone has resolutions on the first day of the year. From losing weight, to exercising more to spending more time with loved ones, everyone has something they want to improve on.
We here at New England Football Journal have personal and professional resolutions. Like Bill Belichick, we won’t share our personal resolutions but here are our New Years resolutions for New England Football for 2022.
Adam Kurkjian
1. For Boston College: Eight wins
This may seem like a familiar one for BC, but our resolution for the Eagles is eight wins. Why? Well, seven wins has been the proverbial glass ceiling for this program over the last decade-plus. BC has not won eight games since 2009, when the Eagles went 8-5 under Frank Spaziani. Since then, BC has won seven games six times, and six games three times. Although it may be difficult with their bowl games getting canceled left and right, the Eagles can get to eight in 2022.
2. For UMass: Four wins
Admittedly, we did not aim all that high for UMass here, but we thought this was a reachable goal for the Minutemen. In his first year back with UMass, coach Don Brown will try to get the program back to where it was under Mark Whipple, who had 4-8 seasons in 2017 and 2018. Although the roster might not be ready for that, we feel four wins is fairly realistic. We have felt good about the Brown hire ever since it was made. This would be a good first step as he gets started rebuilding the Minutemen.
3. For Springfield Central and Catholic Memorial to play a game
Look, we are aware that this is not going to happen. But dare us to dream. The two best teams in the MIAA again will be Springfield Central and Catholic Memorial. With the way the alignment is set up, there is no way for these two to meet in the playoffs. But in our highest hopes, we would love to see these teams battle it out. This truly would be the best game in the state. Again, we know it won’t happen, but this is the game everyone wants to see.
Kevin Stone
1. No more flags for hurdles in high school
Let the kids be athletes. I understand that the rule was put in for safety concerns, which is admirable, but they’re football players. And who knows, maybe a hurdle on tape gets the eyes of a college coach somewhere & a kid’s life is changed because of it when he eventually gets an offer. I repeat, LET KIDS BE ATHLETES.
2. UMass fans, please lighten up
This obviously doesn’t go for all of them, the majority of fans we interact with are fantastic & UMass is absolutely our biggest attention getter. But, for the love of god you don’t need to have a negative reaction to EVERYTHING the program does. Sit back & enjoy the ride with Don Brown.
- Get Mac some help
Nelson Agholor & Kendrick Bourne are No. 2 or No. 3 receivers at best. They’ve been nice additions, but Mac needs a go-to guy on third down and a guy he can simply throw a ball up to and let him go get it. This offense will continue to struggle if Mac doesn’t have some more help next season.
John Sarianides
1. A Patriots Super Bowl Appearance
Why not? I miss the days when the Patriots were pretty much a shoe in to play in the Super Bowl every year. I yearn for the days when Gillette Stadium was the center of the football universe in January. Here’s to a Super Bowl run!
2.Coaches educate themselves on the statewide playoff: I hope coaches educate themselves on the statewide system. The better they understand the system, the better their chances of positioning their team to earn a top four seed and host two playoff games.
3. See more kids play football: This will always be a resolution of mine. I want to see more kids playing football. Numbers are down. We need to get them up. We need more kids participating. It is up to us as coaches and advocates of the game to promote it and bring kids back into it.