From the Pool to the Gridiron: Inside the Incredible Sports Journey of BC Football's Jackson Gugni

By Giovanni Culotta

May 20, 2024 12:21 PM

It may have been a crushing day for Boston College football players, but September 16th, 2023 was a surreal afternoon for long snapper Jackson Gugni. While his team suffered an excruciating two-point home loss at the hands of the third-ranked Florida State Seminoles, Gugni’s unforgettable experience came when he jogged onto the field late in the fourth quarter for his first career appearance as a college football player.  

But Gugni’s journey to the gridiron was perhaps more difficult than that of many of his teammates wearing the gold helmets that day: as a lifelong swimmer, Gugni had to part with the sport he often had a rocky relationship with in order to be reborn as an athlete on the football field. 

“I had a love-hate relationship with swimming, and even still it was very hard for me to leave,” said Gugni, a 21-year-old Boston College senior, “but I am glad that I did.” 

Gugni poses for a photo with Miami Hurricanes long snapper Michael Donovan after a game on November 24, 2023

In a college athletics landscape where players’ career trajectories are anything but linear, Gugni’s winding road from quitting a BC’s swim team to joining the Eagles as a football player  in a matter of months is a story of perseverance that diehard fans adore. Gugni himself is  certainly a sports fanatic, as he remembered that becoming a college athlete was a dream come true dating back to his youth growing up in Detroit, Michigan. 

“It had always been my dream to play a sport in college,” Gugni said, “I didn’t care what it was, as long as I was doing something.”  

Gugni began swimming when he was six years old. While he also played baseball and basketball in addition to his time in the pool as a young boy, Gugni experienced early success as a swimmer and improved very quickly. Gugni enjoyed being on the swim team but that didn’t mean he was completely hooked to the sport itself. 

“Swimming was never my favorite sport, and I enjoyed winning more than I enjoyed swimming,” Gugni said, “All of my friends were on the team, so that was another appeal.” 

Gugni’s swimming success continued into high school In his freshman and sophomore years, Gugni was one of the top 25 swimmers in the nation. He met with swim coaches at the University of Southern California, University of Florida and the University of Texas about competing at the collegiate level. 

But a torn labrum sidelined Gugni for the summer going into his senior year, in what was ultimately the first bump in the road in Gugni’s long college sports journey. The other schools pulled their offers because he didn’t race, and Gugni remembers settling for the lone school he had an offer from, Boston College.. 

“BC was the only big school that I had left,” he said,  “I committed the week after I visited because I really felt at home when I toured the campus.” 

Gugni joined the BC swim team in 2020 and spent his freshman year of college at home in Michigan due to COVID, which made his adjustment to college life extremely difficult. Gugni missed out on the chance to connect with his new teammates and race against college competition, and also dealt with a herniated disc that he still nurses today. By the time he first came to campus as a sophomore in 2021, these issues along with initial uncomfortability at BC contributed to Gugni’s declining interest in swimming. 

“Entering my sophomore year, I was halfway out the door on swimming because of how bad my freshman year went,” he said “I was afraid to be so far from my family, and I completely lost interest in swimming.” 

As Gugni developed the desire to step away from swimming, he shared these feelings with his parents back home in Michigan. While the news that her son would be quitting the swim team was disheartening at first, Gugni’s mother, Jen Savel, said that she supported her son’s decision because of the work he put into being a college athlete. 

“My initial reaction was sadness because swimming had been such a significant part of his life,” Savel said, “however, we’ve always told him if he ever decided to be done, we would support him because he was the one who had to put the work in.” 

Gugni with family members after a BC football game

Yet his bond with his teammates is one of the few facets of Gugni’s short swim career at BC that he cherishes, as a few of Gugni’s current roommates are his former fellow swimmers. Thus, Gugni’s teammates were sad to see him go. BC swimmer Ryan Mathis, a 22-year-old Boston College senior from McLean, Virginia, who lives with Gugni, empathized with his close friend’s decision and was disappointed that they never got to swim together.

“I knew he was having some back problems, so I definitely understood his decision,” Mathis said, “I was definitely sad because I know injuries are hard and I never got to swim with him.” 

Gugni officially quit the BC swim team in October of 2021, and as a result was stuck in a situation he had never been in before: a life without sports. As a lover of the outdoors and exercise, Gugni felt lost at a campus that is 611 miles away from his home in Michigan. Without sports as a solace from schoolwork and feelings of homesickness, Gugni’s emotional state plummeted.

“After I quit swimming, I had come to the point where I was very broken down,” he said,  “I didn’t feel like there was any purpose for me here without sports.” 

Gugni’s parents urged him to get involved outside of class before he spiraled out of control. His search for a sports-related extracurricular led him to intramural flag football, where his athleticism raised eyebrows. His friends jokingly told him he should try out for BC football, but Gugni believed that walking on was as serious as any race he ever swam in. 

“I remember my mom and I both laughed when I told her I might try out,” Gugni said, “but the next morning, I emailed the team’s sports information director to ask about walk-on tryouts.” 

Gugni had found something to train for, but he didn’t have the first clue how to go about training for it. Gugni’s only football experience came in flag football as a kid and with BC intramurals, so he first needed to find someone who could help him learn the football skills necessary to succeed at the tryout. While Gugni sought guidance, a student equipment manager with a similar story to that of Gugni found him first. Enter Alex Shehab, a 23-year old from Dexter, Michigan, who graduated from BC in 2022. 

Shehab was a high school swimmer that also committed to BC’s team and was familiar with Gugni’s name because he swam for Gugni’s rival high school. Like Gugni, Shehab decided to quit the swim team and then got a job with BC football as a student equipment manager. When he learned that Gugni had also quit swimming and was trying out for the team, Shehab said he immediately emailed Gugni offering his advice and that he and Gugni became fast friends. 

“Jackson was eager and he seemed so ready to work,” Shehab, who now works as a law clerk in Michigan, said, “I was happy to see someone with a similar storyline to mine make their own path at BC football.” 

Shehab and Gugni spent many nights at Fish Field House, the football practice facility, learning the skills of playing defensive back, because that is the position group where Shehab had spent most of his time working. Gugni acquired years’ worth of football experience in just a few weeks, which impressed Shehab enough for him to vouch for Gugni to some of the coaches. Gugni described the intense nerves that he was feeling the night before the tryout, but also that he left the field in high spirits.

Gugni snaps a football at BC Football practice

“I remember I could barely sleep the night before,” he said, “but I felt like the tryout went really well.” 

Then-Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley and his staff felt that way as well: the next day, the team informed Gugni he could join them for spring practices, making him an official BC football walk-on defensive back. Gugni could barely contain his excitement having just conquered the very tall task of joining a Power Five football team without any prior football background. 

“I was in my dorm room when I got the call, and I just remember being super excited,” he said, “I felt like the huge weight that I had been carrying since I quit swimming had been lifted.” 

As exhilarating as the news was for Gugni, those closest to him were equally thrilled with his  accomplishment. Gugni’s parents, who were the first to learn that Gugni made the team, and his mother felt an overwhelming sense of pride stemming from Gugni’s perseverance throughout the journey.

“We were at home and on the phone with Jackson, and I was just so happy for him,” Savel said, “it had been a really long road to get there, and I was so proud of the way he worked for it.” 

Ryan Mathis was equally proud of Gugni’s achievement, because Mathis knew how much he wanted it and said that Gugni playing football has augmented their friendship. 

“I was definitely proud that he took such a horrible situation and made the most of it,” Mathis said, “I think our friendship has been really supportive with us playing two different sports.” 

And Shehab, whose football advice and campaigning to the coaches played an integral role in Gugni making the team, was overjoyed about leaving a lasting mark on BC football by helping a person like Gugni realize his dream. 

“With it being my last few months with the team, I was happy to know that the BC football family was gaining an amazing person in its ranks,” Shehab said. 

Gugni secured his roster spot as a long snapper for the 2022 BC football season after being asked to switch positions. While this is a tall order for some football players, Gugni continued to showcase his work ethic to the team by practicing his long snapping every day while home in Michigan, where he even recruited his parents to help him with drills. 

A summer’s worth of hard work culminated in the Florida State game, as Savel described watching Gugni’s first career snap as though her son was playing in the Super Bowl. 

Gugni with fellow BC football long snapper Michael Wright after a BC Football game at Alumni Stadium

“We had friends with us at the game and I was screaming so loud for Jackson’s first snap,” she said, “we were all going crazy and it was so much fun.” 

As BC football enters 2024 with head coach Bill O’Brien and his staff leading the charge, Gugni will return to play his final season as a graduate. Proudly representing the team’s 2023 bowl win at Fenway Park with a black team hoodie, Gugni beams a smile as he reflects on his time with the team and vows to give next season everything he has. 

“I can’t thank BC football enough because joining this team has been an awesome experience,” he said, “I am so grateful to be on this team, and I am so ready for next season.”