Bill O'Brien feeling right at home with the Boston College Eagles
BOSTON -- After a disappointing return to the sidelines with the New England Patriots, it looked like Bill O'Brien was going to be on the move once again this offseason. But then another head-coaching job opened up, one that offered the Andover native the chance to coach in his backyard, and O'Brien was happy to pounce on that opportunity.
O'Brien is the new man in charge of the Boston College Eagles, introduced as the school's 37th head football coach on Thursday. After growing up playing football at St. John's in Danvers, O'Brien would have loved to have continued his career at The Heights.
But he said that he never would have made the team at Boston College, so O'Brien went to Brown instead. Now, several years later, the 54-year-old is in Chestnut Hill. He got a kick of out WBZ-TV's Dan Roche pointing out that becoming the head football coach of the Eagles was O'Brien's way of finally getting into Boston College.
"That's a great way to say it," O'Brien said with a hearty laugh after being introduced by the Eagles on Thursday.
It's been a whirlwind month for O'Brien, whose 2023 season with the Patriots didn't go as anyone imagined when he returned for a second stint as New England's offensive coordinator. The Patriots struggled to do anything offensively throughout the season and the unit was at the bottom of the NFL in scoring. It led to a 4-13 season, and the franchise parting ways with Bill Belichick after 24 seasons as head coach.
O'Brien had the opportunity to stay with the Patriots, but left to become the offensive coordinator at Ohio State. He didn't remain in Columbus for very long, however.
Jeff Hafley left his head-coaching job at Boston College to become the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers, opening a job that O'Brien has long coveted. Once the Eagles came calling, it was an opportunity that O'Brien could not pass up.
"It has been a great couple of days. It's a place that really fits everything that I believe in," O'Brien told Roche. "I really feel like it's a great fit for what we want to be as a coaching staff and as a team."
It's a perfect fit for both O'Brien himself on the sideline, and for his family at home. After O'Brien was let go by the Texans in 2020, his family remained in Houston while he moved on to become offensive coordinator in Alabama. Everyone moved back to New England when O'Brien returned to the Patriots, but then it looked like they'd have to uproot everything and move to Ohio. That was not going to be easy on the family, as O'Brien has two sons, including one who is currently studying at Tufts.
"This opportunity opened up and it's a little like the perfect storm," said O'Brien. "Not only was it a great fit as a coaching job, but it was great to come back home to where I grew up."
O'Brien is now tasked with keeping the Eagles going on their upward trend, following a 7-6 season and a victory at the Fenway Bowl in 2023. The Eagles aren't exactly a destination team, but O'Brien hopes to change that, while also bringing in the right crop of players who know how to represent Boston College the right way.
"All these jobs are challenging. Every job I've ever had was challenging in its own way, and I think the challenges are something that we have to embrace," he said. "People say this is a tough school academically. OK, let's go target guys who want to get a good degree, that are good football players, and that want to give back to the community. Let's do a good job at IDing the right guys. We have a lot of them on this football team right now and let's continue that."
O'Brien is eager to embrace that challenge, along with the challenge that comes with coaching a college team in a pro sports town. It's something Jerry York always said that he proudly embraced during his Hall of Fame run with the Eagles hockey team, and O'Brien hopes to turn Boston College into an important part of the Boston sports scene.
"We should all listen to Jerry York. He won [1,123] hockey games," said O'Brien. "I loved [his] teams, grew up rooting for his teams. And we're part of that Boston fabric. We need to do a good job making sure we put a good product on the field and making sure we become part of city life relative to those teams. We're not the Red Sox, the Patriots, or the Celtics, but I think we can have our own niche in Boston. I think that is a big part of our selling point as far as getting guys to come here and play."
