Year one of Bill O’Brien’s tenure as head football coach at Boston College is setting up to be a historic one for the program.
On Saturday, his Eagles closed out their regular season with a 34-23 win at Alumni Stadium over Pittsburgh (7-5, 3-5), moving their home record for 2024 to 6-1 and their overall record to 7-5.
Seven wins heading into bowl season gives O’Brien the opportunity to do something the program has not done since 2009:
Be an eight-win program with real momentum heading into recruiting season.
“Just very proud of the team,” O’Brien told the media postgame. “You know, haven’t even been here a year, and you know just really thankful for the team and the coaching staff and the support staff and everybody in this room right here. Administration, Father Jack - everybody that’s contributed.
“You know, we’re not an undefeated team, but I think we’re a good football team, and I think we’ve improved as the year’s gone on, and a lot of credit for that goes to the players and the coaching staff. And just very proud to be their head coach. Very proud today to have a chance to possibly win eight games, which hasn’t been done in a long time. So just proud to be associated with Boston College football.”
Boston College (7-5, 4-4) closes out their regular season winning three of their last four games in conference play. This type of positive upswing was much needed after losing three in a row in the middle of their schedule, squandering the local and national momentum the program had after a 4-1 start to the season.
The jumping off point for this bounce back came at halftime of their November 9 game against Syracuse, where O’Brien benched starting quarterback Thomas Castellanos at halftime in favor of backup QB Grayson James. After being tied 14-14 heading into the half, BC controlled the pace of that second half on their way to a 37-31 win.
Less than a week later, Castellanos entered the transfer portal, and was no longer a member of the football team. James was the man under center for the Eagles moving forward.
Every single week since taking over the starting job, the junior Florida International transfer has improved.
In Week 12, he helped take the Eagles to the doorstep of a massive upset, falling 38-28 on the road to #14 SMU.
In Week 13, James and the Eagles played their most complete game of the season, dominating North Carolina at home en route to a 41-21 victory.
On Saturday, James used Week 14 to showcase the full breadth of his progress, throwing for 253 yards and 2 touchdowns in his team’s sixth home-win of the season.
“Grayson is somebody that we’re just, we’re very proud of,” said O’Brien. “You know, here’s a guy that’s come back from injury, and then to play tonight, which I thought was probably his best game, you know he just did a great job.
“He managed the game very well. He did not turn the ball over. He took off on a couple scrambles that were huge for us within drives. Just an awesome guy, you know - combination of a great person, great student, an improved football player, got better every week. Very proud of Grayson James.”
It’s players like James that have Boston College football legends bullish about the direction of the program under O’Brien.
In Week 13, 1984 Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie and his top target Gerard Phelan both spoke glowingly to WEEI.com about the improvements they’ve noticed within the program in O’Brien’s first year, as both were being honored at Alumni Stadium that day for the 40th anniversary of the “Hail Flutie” - the signature play of Boston College athletics.
One week later, it was 2023 College Football Hall of Fame linebacker Luke Kuechly singing the praises of O’Brien, as he met with the media pregame before being honored in the second quarter for his hall of fame induction last year.
“I think he’s done a great job,” said Kuechly. “I just think you look at what makes BC, BC, and it’s always just been, you know, toughness, physicality, the right kind of guy - guy that loves the game of football more than anything. And I think Bill has done a great job of - obviously, you know, it’s hard for him to get all the guys he wants in here right now, it’s been such a quick time. But I think he values the right type of guy.
“That’s such a word that gets thrown around, it’s so cliche in college football, ‘We need the right guy.’ But I think he knows what plays at Boston College. He knows what can win. He knows what kind of kids that we can recruit to come up here that value all of the stuff that they value at Boston College. From the toughness, the effort, the love of the game, also the importance of the education. I think when you start to mix that all together, it kind of comes full circle and shows you this is like the shape of the guy that we want. Now we know what that guy looks like. Now let’s go find him. And I think he’s gonna do a great job doing that.”
While the recruiting cycle never stops in today’s college football, O’Brien’s focus now turns to the extra month of practices he gets with his current group, as they’ll be looking to accept an invite to a bowl game taking place in late December.
A source within the program told me that the Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX on New Year’s Eve would be the likely landing spot for the Eagles if they were to beat Pittsburgh on Saturday. With that win in-hand, we’ll see if BC secures the invite to a bowl game that is tied for second-oldest in the country.
“I’ve been to a lot of bowls,” said O’Brien. “I think the bowl experience is a great experience. You get the extra practices. You get the extra time with your team. You know, college football is a lot better when it comes to that than pro football. In college football, you’re with your players a lot throughout the whole year. And so to be able to go to a bowl and be around these guys and continue to build the relationship with the players that we have, I think is a big deal.
“So whatever bowl we go to, we’ll be proud of the fact that we’re in that bowl, and represent BC to the best of our ability. But I think it’s just - it’s about being able to get that extra month with your team.”
O’Brien said they’ll know by “next Sunday,” December 8, which bowl game they’ll be headed to.