Carmen DelloIacono’s view at Boston College football games will be a whole heck of a lot different than the places he watched from during his freshman year on campus.
The sophomore, and former football standout at Dedham High, is trying to earn his keep as a walk-on player for the Eagles. So far through camp, which ended last week with one final team scrimmage before their game on Satuday against the University of Miami, DelloIacono is still standing.
The biggest difference between high school football and Div. I Football Bowl Subdivision competition is just that for DelloIacono, as the size of the players he is lining up against is strikingly different than his days with the Marauders.
"The competition and the size of the bodies (of the players) that I’m playing with is very different," DelloIacono said on the brand new turf of Alumni Stadium. "It’s definitely gone from starting on all sides of the ball to mostly just playing on scout teams and giving looks for the other players. I still love it and I’ve been working hard."
The offers for DelloIacono coming out of high school were mostly on the Division II and III ranks to play football, but when he received his acceptance letter from Boston College, he knew academically it was the place for him.
The football part would sort it self out later.
"When I first decided to come here I knew that I wanted to try and walk on," he said. "The first semester, I just never really got around to it. It was just adjusting to a new schedule and everything, and it was difficult. Once I got the hang of that I decided to walk on in the spring."
DelloIacono has spent most of the camp working with the scout team, and in the final tune-up for the Eagles he saw time on the field with the scout team special teams unit. He is listed as a tight end on the Eagles roster, and even though getting on the field at some point during his collegiate career isn’t necessarily a given, he said he’s there to work hard and give the first-team units any kind of edge when they take the field on game days.
"They look for us to bring something to the team, if not as just a look but to just work hard and get bigger and faster," said DelloIacono. "We all have a goal of trying to get on the field at one point, so we are just all trying our best."
Carmen DelloIacono’s view at Boston College football games will be a whole heck of a lot different than the places he watched from during his freshman year on campus.
The sophomore, and former football standout at Dedham High, is trying to earn his keep as a walk-on player for the Eagles. So far through camp, which ended last week with one final team scrimmage before their game on Satuday against the University of Miami, DelloIacono is still standing.
The biggest difference between high school football and Div. I Football Bowl Subdivision competition is just that for DelloIacono, as the size of the players he is lining up against is strikingly different than his days with the Marauders.
"The competition and the size of the bodies (of the players) that I’m playing with is very different," DelloIacono said on the brand new turf of Alumni Stadium. "It’s definitely gone from starting on all sides of the ball to mostly just playing on scout teams and giving looks for the other players. I still love it and I’ve been working hard."
The offers for DelloIacono coming out of high school were mostly on the Division II and III ranks to play football, but when he received his acceptance letter from Boston College, he knew academically it was the place for him.
The football part would sort it self out later.
"When I first decided to come here I knew that I wanted to try and walk on," he said. "The first semester, I just never really got around to it. It was just adjusting to a new schedule and everything, and it was difficult. Once I got the hang of that I decided to walk on in the spring."
DelloIacono has spent most of the camp working with the scout team, and in the final tune-up for the Eagles he saw time on the field with the scout team special teams unit. He is listed as a tight end on the Eagles roster, and even though getting on the field at some point during his collegiate career isn’t necessarily a given, he said he’s there to work hard and give the first-team units any kind of edge when they take the field on game days.
"They look for us to bring something to the team, if not as just a look but to just work hard and get bigger and faster," said DelloIacono. "We all have a goal of trying to get on the field at one point, so we are just all trying our best."
Eagles head coach Frank Spaziani said about five to 10 walk-ons come out for the team each year. Boston College will keep all the walk-ons through camp and into the season as they don’t have the number of walk-ons like many of the bigger programs.
"We kind of try them out a little bit, said Spaziani. "First of all you see if they have the minimal amount of skills. The fact that they are coming to us shows that they are institutionally motivated and they want to be there, which is 90 percent of it. We just want to make sure that they can protect themselves and if they’ve got some football skills. That’s what we look at and most of them are highly motivated and they are certainly not the weakest link on our team."
As for DelloIacono, Spaziani has seen a consistent hustle from the sophomore since he decided to come out for the team last spring.
"He’s been out there and he’s done a good job," Spaziani said. "A lot of those guys, if you stay then you play. If you are out there spending time and working then we are going to wind up awarding a couple of scholarships to a couple of walk-ons."
