Bill O’Brien knows how hard you think it is to win at Boston College. He’s heard it left and right since taking over the BC program in February. After spending last season as the New England Patriots offensive coordinator, O’Brien was slated to take the same role for Ryan Day at Ohio State before the Boston College job opened up late in the cycle. Jeff Hafley’s decision to leave BC for a defensive coordinator job in the NFL prompted many to wonder whether more college coaches will ditch the headaches of the transfer portal and name, image and likeness for the professional ranks.
Many of those problems are compounded at a place like Boston College, which doesn’t boast the same kind of resources many blueblood programs can pour into their teams. For O’Brien, it was the challenges that attracted him to the job.
“Without a shadow of a doubt, it’s a motivating factor for me,” O’Brien told CBS Sports. “All I hear is what a tough job it is. But Boston College is a very special, unique place to me and my family. I’m from here and when I was a kid, I grew up dreaming of being the head coach at Boston College. I watched Jack Bicknell, I watched Tom Coughlin when I was younger and then Tom O’Brien as I was coaching what they did here.
“Every job I’ve ever had has been tough. I had the Penn State job right after Joe Paterno. I had the Houston Texans job in the National Football League. (Also) working as an assistant in the NFL with the Patriots — those aren’t easy jobs.”
O’Brien is told that no one has ever described working for Bill Belichick and Nick Saban as easy, either, and he’s quick to laugh and agree.
“No doubt,” he said.
The Boston native takes over a Boston College program that went 7-6 last season under Hafley, including a Fenway Bowl win over soon-to-be ACC opponent SMU. We recently caught up with O’Brien to discuss what he inherited at BC, lessons he learned working for Saban at Alabama and more. The conversation has been lightly condensed and edited for clarity.
CBS Sports: You were at Alabama for the start of NIL (2021-2022 seasons) and then spent last season with the Patriots. In just the year you were away from college football, how much did things change?
Bill O’Brien: Things change really fast. When I was at Alabama, we had Bryce Young and he was probably the first guy relative to NIL that could take advantage of NIL and rightfully so. He was a great player…
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