BC’s O’Brien realizes dream of training at ‘home’

Pete Thamel, ESPNFeb 15, 2024, 05:23 PM ET CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.– Expense O’Brien was officially introduced as the brand-new head football coach at Boston College on Thursday in a move athletic director Blake James called a “huge step.”

BC hasn’t won 8 games in a season considering that 2009, and the hiring of a veteran NFL and college coach like O’Brien offers a precursor of optimism moving on. The overarching theme of the day was a return home for O’Brien, who grew up in the area and has a deep family history at Boston College.

“I went into training in 1993 when I left Brown,” O’Brien said. “I entered into coaching [starting] at Brown, and I always dreamed about being the head coach at Boston College.”

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O’Brien’s hire resonates in your area and nationally with the commitment of Boston College to bring in a coach with such a substantial pedigree.Thursday’s press conference, which was loaded with relative, former players and an outsize contingent of local media, stressed regional ties, as O’Brien’s arrival at Boston College is a homecoming. He matured in close-by Andover, finished high school from St. John’s Preparation in close-by Danvers and played at Brown in close-by Providence.Amid a roll call of member of the family– and getting choked up when thanking his wife, Colleen– O’Brien revealed gratitude that his training journey brought him back to a task he had actually always wanted. “My career has actually taken some twists and turns and taken me down roadways I never might have pictured,” he stated.

“However as I stand here today, I could not be more grateful that the roadway has lastly taken me back home to Boston College.” O’Brien pertains to BC with 2 successful head-coaching stints on his résumé, as he capably directed Penn State through the grisly years in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sexual assault convictions. He also reached the NFL playoffs 4 times as the head coach of the Houston Texans.He likewise has acted as offending coordinator at Alabama and with the New England Patriots.O’Brien returned to the Boston location in 2015 for the job with the Patriots.

When he took the offensive coordinator task at Ohio State last month, his family prepared to

stay in the Boston location, so when the Boston College task came open not long after, it marked a considerable opportunity.”I’m still sort of pinching myself, “Colleen O’Brien, who finished from BC in 1992, informed ESPN.”It doesn’t seem real. The past 10 days were sort of in a whirlwind, however we have actually spoken about this location a lot, about this task a lot. And just to see it finally concern fruition, it’s pretty amazing. “One child, Michael, is a college baseball player at close-by Tufts. Their other son, Jack, has an unusual genetic brain malformation referred to as lissencephaly, which needs considerable healthcare. Part of the reason the O’Brien family wasn’t following Expense to Columbus was to stay close to close by Boston Kid’s Medical facility for the quality of the care readily available for Jack.Bill O’Brien thanked Ohio State coach Ryan Day in his remarks, stating he valued Day’s “perseverance and understanding”about O’Brien wanting to return home. The Buckeyes have actually given that employed Chip Kelly as their new offending coordinator.O’Brien went 15-9 in his 2 seasons at Penn State, 2012 and 2013, calmly guiding the school and program through the lowest moment in school history. With the Texans, O’Brien went 52-48 during his tenure from 2014 to 2020, consisting of four playoff bids in the 5 seasons between 2015 and 2019. He won playoff games in 2016 and 2019. His tenure at Boston College comes at an intriguing moment for the school and the athletic department. BC has 31 Department I sports and has seen just middling success in football and males’s basketball over the past 15 years.The O’Brien hire looms as a precursor of dedication from the school, which has actually upped the staff salary and support pool for O’Brien.

One of the signs of those much deeper pockets appeared after O’Brien’s press conference Thursday, when long time pal and strength coach Craig Fitzgerald shook hands and stated hey there to the assembled.BC employed Fitzgerald from Florida in the days after O’Brien’s hire.O’ Brien stated that Fitzgerald was instrumental in”assisting to keep that program together” at Penn State and that he has actually appreciated of the monetary dedication BC has actually given him to assemble a strong staff. He stated BC officials are”making things happen”up until now.”We believe in toughness, hard work,”O’Brien said.”Our company believe in lifting weights. Our company believe in the science, but we know on the football field, we have to move individuals, especially up front.

We need to deal with individuals. We need to sometimes run individuals over.”James said the school’s financial investment into football has been led by the college president, Dad William P. Leahy.”It’s a financial investment that we’re continuing to make, to move up increasingly more, “James said. “At the same time, it follows who we are as an institution. So I don’t know where we would fall in the league, however I know Bill feels excellent about it, and if my coach feels good about it, I feel great about it. And once again, we appreciate the organization assisting us get to that point.”

O’Brien inherits a strong lineup coming off a 7-6 season. That consists of returning quarterback Thomas Castellanos– O’Brien has taken to calling him”Tommy”– and a strong offensive line let by veterans Ozzy Trapilo and Drew Kendall.O’ Brien stated that the program’s identity will be on the offending and defensive lines which they’ll attempt to funnel previous generations of BC football, which has been understood for dominant line play. “We will not be out-toughed,” O’Brien stated. “We will not be outcompeted.”