One Transfer and One Pandemic Later, Phil Jurkovec is Ready to Get Going for Real at BC
By JD Biagioni
If you asked Phil Jurkovec back in December 2019 where he’d be a little over a year later, he probably wouldn’t have pictured this, but he’s happy with the choices that led him to the Heights.
“There’s no regrets from me. Coming to BC has been the best, most important decision that I’ve made.”
From riding the bench in a packed house in South Bend to masking up in an empty Alumni Stadium, Jurkovec had quite the whirlwind year in 2020. It all started back in mid-January when he announced his transfer to BC, a little over a month after joining the transfer portal. The decision to transfer from the school he grew up rooting for was a difficult one for Jurkovec, but one he felt necessary, especially after Ian Book announced he would return for his senior season.
“[Playing at Notre Dame] wasn’t what I expected in a lot of ways,” Jurkovec said. “I found myself growing worse there. I wasn’t able to really bring out my talents. I really tried it, but after a couple years my family sat down and talked with me, and we decided I needed to go somewhere where I could be in the right situation with coaches that would develop me.”
Jurkovec initially committed to the Irish during his sophomore year of high school, choosing Notre Dame over Alabama and Clemson. Following the commitment, he continued to rack up accolades at Pine-Richland High School. In only two and a half seasons as a starter, he accumulated the second most yards in Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League history. During his senior season, Jurkovec threw 39 passing touchdowns and rushed for 24 more, leading his team to a 16-0 record and receiving the honor of Gatorade Pennsylvania Player of the Year.
Jurkovec scrambles against BC (2019).
He arrived at Notre Dame as the fourth-ranked dual-threat quarterback recruit in the nation. Jurkovec redshirted his first season and made seven appearances as a redshirt freshman, but mostly in games that were already out of hand. He saw some action in Notre Dame’s 2019 victory over BC, completing one pass and rushing for 42 yards.
When Jurkovec put his name in the transfer portal, not many schools reached out to the former top recruit, but, of the few that did, BC pushed the hardest. Head coach Jeff Hafley, who arrived at BC right around the time Jurkovec decided to leave Notre Dame, went so far as to pick up his new quarterback at the airport when Jurkovec first landed in Boston.
“They really made it clear that they were the ones who were going to care about me and my development so it was an easy choice to pick BC,” Jurkovec said.
Jurkovec enrolled in January so that he could participate in spring workouts in advance of his first season with the Eagles. Unfortunately, the best laid plans went awry, as the Covid-19 pandemic changed every aspect of human life in March. Jurkovec was still finding his way around Boston when he and the rest of the school were sent home.
Back in Pennsylvania, the waiting game was difficult for Jurkovec on two fronts. Not only did he not know if there’d be a season, but, even if there was one, he also wasn’t certain he’d be eligible to play due to his transfer waiver situation.
“[Not knowing] was really scary because I hadn’t really played for a couple years,” Jurkovec said. “And I was just itching to get out on the field and let it go and see what happens.”
The high school standout had thrown a total of 18 passes over the previous two years and now stared down the possibility of sitting out another year. The complicated NCAA transfer rules mandated that Jurkovec receive a waiver to play before he’d be granted immediate eligibility.
Even Jurkovec himself got into the #FreeJurk movement.
In some respects, the pandemic complicated the waiver situation and in others it benefited Jurkovec. Part of the holdup stemmed from the ACC’s pandemic realignment which saw Notre Dame temporarily join the ACC and be added to BC’s schedule. It’s rare that a player receives immediate eligibility when he transfers in-conference and even more rare when he’s slated to face his former team.
The ordeal dragged on through the summer, culminating in the #FreeJurk movement started by a group of BC fans who were upset with the NCAA’s failure to provide a decision. The situation escalated when JT Daniels, a transfer in relatively the same circumstances as Jurkovec, received his eligibility in July, under two months since his transfer announcement. At that point Jurkovec was going on month eight without word.
Finally, on August 4th, the Eagles had their QB1 when the NCAA granted Jurkovec immediate eligibility. The jubilation was short-lived, however, as BC had plenty of work to do and a little over a month to prepare for the opening game at Duke. Coach Hafley barely had time to introduce himself to his players before the shutdown. Now he and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. were tasked with installing a whole new offense. Jurkovec was a quick study and had plenty of praise for Cignetti Jr.
“Coach Cignetti studied years in the NFL, learning the best pass concepts, the best run concepts,” Jurkovec said. “He’s seen what’s worked at the highest levels of football. Our offense is pretty different because he brings things from the NFL.”
In his first start since the 2017 Pennsylvania state championship, Jurkovec impressed, throwing for 300 yards against the Blue Devils. The 26-6 victory opened a lot of eyes regarding a team pegged to finish 13th in the ACC preseason poll.
Over the next two weeks, Jurkovec was thrust into the spotlight in critical moments. He led BC to a double-digit comeback victory over Texas State, which included scoring 10 points on the team’s final two drives in the waning minutes of regulation.
The following week, the team’s comeback effort fell just short against an upstart North Carolina team. In the narrow defeat, Jurkovec marched BC down the field with a 15-play, 69-yard drive capped by a CJ Lewis touchdown in the game’s final minute. The touchdown brought the Eagles within two, but BC failed on the two-point conversion, killing the upset bid. His 37 completions in the game tied an Alumni Stadium record.
Throughout the first half of the season, Jurkovec continued to rack up numbers Eagles fans hadn’t seen since the days of Matt Ryan. His 127 completions and 10 touchdowns place him first in both categories among BC quarterbacks over their first five games. He also seemed to improve as the games progressed, leading the nation in second half passing yards through five games.
Some good company for Phil Jurkovec.
Injuries hampered Jurkovec during the second half of BC’s season, but he continued to give Eagles fans hope for the future. At the end of a near upset against then-No.1 Clemson, Jurkovec separated his shoulder. The next two weeks he received injections and battled through pain and numbness; he even attempted 40 passes against Notre Dame while nursing the injury.
After healing up over BC’s long-awaited bye week, Jurkovec suffered a non-contact knee injury during the second half of BC’s home finale against Louisville. The Eagles ended up dodging a bullet, as the injury turned out to be a sprained PCL, but it prematurely ended his first season on the Heights. The Eagles wrapped up the regular season without Jurkovec a week later in a 43-32 loss against Virginia, before becoming the first Power Five school to opt-out of the 2020 bowl season.
“I know a lot of people look at us like ‘it’s so great you even got to play,’” Jurkovec said. “And it was, it really was. There are so many people who sacrificed so much throughout the pandemic, and for us we did get to play real football and have a full season, so that was awesome in itself. But what went with that was pretty difficult. We were basically on lockdown for half a year, just being in the facility or in our dorms.”
Separated shoulder and all, Jurkovec leads BC onto the field before 2020 matchup with ND.
The decision to not accept a bowl invitation came as a shock to some, but it highlights the new player-first culture that BC is building under Coach Hafley. When Jurkovec spoke about choosing BC, he mentioned that in his second go-around choosing a school, he looked only at finding the right group of people, and he found that group at BC. He alluded to the sacrifices made, which, while difficult, paid off for the Eagles who were able to play all 11 games on their schedule and only had one positive test once players returned to campus in July.
“We had to give up a lot, but I think the process allowed us to grow closer because we were always together. We were all fighting it together.”
With the exception of Hunter Long and David Bailey, all of Jurkovec’s offensive targets return, as well as his entire offensive line. With the return of Kobay White and a full offseason to master the offense, Jurkovec is confident that BC can take yet another leap in 2021, after the passing offense improved from 113th to 24th.
In 2020, Jurkovec, against all odds, proved that he could excel at the college level and rediscovered his love for the game. His performance is one of the key reasons why the Eagles are a trendy pick to finish as the No. 2 team to Clemson in the ACC. But, after serving as the No. 2 at Notre Dame, Jurkovec isn’t settling for second best anymore.
“For us, the goal is the ACC Championship plain and simple. That’s what we’ll be going for every year.”