HC of Boston College football Bill O'Brien joins!
What does O'Brien think of the Belichick news? What does it mean for College Football and the ACC?
What does O'Brien think of the Belichick news? What does it mean for College Football and the ACC?
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00:00Bill anything of note happening in college football that we could talk about this morning
00:08No, it's a pretty uh, it's a pretty bland day
00:16Has this news about Bill Belichick surprised you
00:22No, I don't think so, you know Bill Bill is a Bill's a football coach
00:26she's a football coach at heart and
00:28You know, I think that when you when you look at the landscape of where we're at, you know
00:33I don't want to speak for him at all
00:34but you know, he had a great opportunity and in his opinion and and and he went forward and you know, I think
00:42You know when you look at college football, I think it's great for college football
00:45I would also say it's great for the ACC, you know
00:48This this narrative out there that the ACC is third and all this other stuff
00:53I mean, here's here's Bill Belichick taking a taking a job in the ACC
00:56So I'd say it's good for college football. It's good for the ACC. Oh
01:01Are you surprised if there were not any NFL offers that were available when it came to Bill?
01:09No, no, not at all. You know, one of the things about the NFL
01:14I think I've said this to you guys before and regardless of who you are obviously him being
01:19You know the in my opinion the greatest coach of all time in the NFL
01:23I mean, it's still the power structure in the NFL and most organizations is
01:29You know, it's it's different and in college, you know, you certainly have people you need to answer to as a coach
01:35there's no doubt about it, but
01:36You can in many ways you can set up the program in your own vision and not have to get it approved by
01:43You know, let's just call it a partner GM partner or whatever it is
01:47You can get it, you know the way that you feel like you need to get it to be successful
01:52And I'm sure he saw it that way
01:54Ross Tucker on this radio station the other day said that Bill will be a horrible college coach
01:59Essentially because his I think he called it his negative style of coaching won't resonate with college players
02:06Wiggy's been saying that that you can't coach these guys
02:09The way you can coach guys in the NFL or you could coach guys in the NFL
02:14I know you may have experienced that so far when it comes to your experience at BC
02:18Do you think that's gonna be an issue for Bill?
02:22I don't see it that way. I look I think that
02:26You know, I tell these guys at BC if you if you take four classes or five classes
02:31This is your fifth or sixth class. So in many ways as a head coach, you're you know, you're a teacher
02:36And so I think that one of the things that Bill is he's a great teacher, right?
02:41So I think he'll in any in Greg like it and I think wig would agree with this
02:46He's a very very bright guy, right?
02:48So he's gonna be able to adapt his surroundings and things like that. But I you know, I think in the end we're teachers, right?
02:54So we have to we have to adapt to who we're teaching and you know, I'm sure he'll he'll be able to do that
03:00Bill the one thing that I look at is how does he or maybe how do you and then how will he?
03:07deal with guys because you see it all the time, you know, Florida just had a kid and
03:12Jack pie burn who went in and says here's my demands for next season or I'm transferring
03:19And that's what it seems like a lot of these college kids are doing. I
03:25Think in the end wig and I I really I really want to answer this the right way I think in the end
03:34You know, I'll give you the example of Boston College right now so far. We have not lost one guy
03:41That we really, you know wanted back on this team and the reason for that is
03:47Honesty, you know to be able to look a guy in the eye and just say hey look man
03:51We're not going to be able to fulfill those demands or you know
03:54Hey, look, here's what we can do for you relative to school football and NIL and if you don't like it
04:00There's the door because in the end football is a team sport. It will never go away from that
04:06There is some obviously some individuality in football relative to pro football and college football
04:12but in the end
04:13it's a team sport and if you preach the team and
04:16You set it up the way that you really believe in I believe you can succeed now time will tell wig time will tell but
04:23If a guy came into me and had a bunch of demands, I'd be honest with you wig
04:27I don't care like where he was on the depth chart. I would say there's the door and
04:32Take care. Good luck to you. So that's the way I approach it
04:36I'm not saying bill approach it that way, but I don't really put up with a lot of demands at Boston College
04:42Someday probably not on the radio when we're out together or something in person. You're gonna tell me what Tommy Castellanos did to you
04:49Oh my god
04:54That's the problem hey Billy
04:56did Bill
04:58Did Bill call you at all and seek your counsel before he signed on to be the Tar Heel set coach
05:04No, he didn't curse. I read like I just you know, Bill and I I owe a lot to Bill, you know
05:10I he hired me at the Patriots and promoted me
05:15Taught me a ton
05:16But I'm not as close to Bill as you know, Maddie P or some of the other guys
05:21I'm not I you know, so we text he texted me after the Syracuse game
05:25He texted me after the Florida State game, hey great win things like that, but no, you know, not but I you know
05:31I have great respect for Bill and you know, I owe a lot to Bill
05:35He taught me a lot about the game, but we're not talking on the phone every day to be fair Billy
05:40I don't think it's physically possible to be closer to build than Maddie P
05:46Keep
05:47Keep an eye on bears. Yeah bears pretty close bears told you that he's staying with you
05:52Or is he going back to Bill?
05:56All I can tell you is bears is the best and he's been a huge asset to us here at Boston College and
06:03Hopefully he's here for a long time. I hope so, too
06:06But Bill we talk a lot about the college
06:09Player right now and how they don't really care about what you've done in the past whether you're Bill Belichick whether you're Bill O'Brien
06:16Do you feel that way or do you feel like Bill?
06:18Belichick going to UNC the parents the players are going to look at that as such a plus of
06:24a of a Super Bowl winning coach
06:27One of the greatest coaches of all time being able to coach your child or you personally. I
06:33Think that's a great question. I really think that
06:37What it still comes down to you know, whether it's pro or college, but especially in colleges
06:43You know the relationships that you have with with the people
06:47In the organization right that the players mainly the the players families, you know, I'll give an example
06:52we've had a we just had a guy who had to have knee surgery and
06:57You know in the pros you wouldn't be on the phone with his parents, right?
07:01You would not be talking to this guy's mom about knee surgery like that's not but but in college football
07:06You know, I'm on the phone, you know two or three times with this this this guy's mom
07:12You know talking talking her through the process right? Okay here he's he's in the pre-op stage right now
07:18Then he's going to get surgery at this time. Then here's how it's going to work when he's
07:22When he's out of surgeries coming to Health Services at Boston College
07:25Like there's a there's a level of care as the head coach in college that you have to have you
07:31You know, that was the one thing too when I was at Alabama, you know, Nick Saban and his wife Terry Saban
07:37They poured their heart and soul into that program and I think that's really you know
07:42What it is that the head coach you are pouring into this
07:45Program because you want what's best for the kids and you know at the same time you want to win
07:50And that's what we try to do here
07:52So it's really about in my opinion the relationships with the players and their families
07:56One of the arguments against bill being successful that I've heard the last 24 hours is I'll call it the grind
08:03You know the dealing with boosters dealing with donors
08:07Making recruiting trips is for you has college being a head football coach in college
08:14Is that been more of a grind than it was in the NFL?
08:18Not really, you know Greg like I the people that I deal with at BC and I think to like I'll go back to this
08:24This is a and these are really good questions because it's making me think about what really why I took this job
08:31You know, it's about the fit, right? So I'm a good fit at BC
08:34so when I talk to
08:36You know the donors at BC or I talk to the administrators or the people here at BC
08:41I don't want to go down a list of names
08:43But Greg you you guys know Courtney Curtis, you know who the big people here are. They're great people. I fit with them
08:49I'm from Boston or I'm from Massachusetts. A lot of them are
08:53They really want to see BC as a winner
08:56They believe in BC. I believe in BC. So I think it's about the fit
09:00I think so for Bill, you know to be you know, who he's dealing with and things like that
09:05It's in the end. It's a good question for him, but I enjoy the people I deal with here
09:10You know, whether it's calling a guy. Hey, can we can you make a donation or it's just checking in with somebody, you know
09:17Like I there's a guy here named. Dr. Jerry Healy, you know
09:21This guy is one of the best guys ever
09:23Somebody that texts me after every single game or you know, we we have lunch every once in a while
09:29He's just a great Boston guy
09:31Boston Children's Hospital doctor was a legendary doctor there
09:35That's the example of who I you know deal with a lot and so they're great people here at BC to deal with
09:41Bill does excuse me that I think that maybe his personality
09:47Belichick's could potentially help him because of the fact that one thing a lot of coaches don't do in college football is
09:54they're not open and honest with the
09:58Athletes and you know, especially the parents
10:00Do you think that might be something that actually favors him in college football is his honesty? I
10:08Think that's one of them the the main things that I learned from him
10:12And so the answer would be yes, like, you know again, I try to give you guys some examples like over the last
10:20Ten days I've met with every kid on our team and some guys come in here and say like hey, you know
10:26What are the things I need to do to get better?
10:28You know, what are the things I need to do to maybe you know
10:32Let's just call it earn a little bit more money and I tell hey man
10:35like this is the thing you don't practice consistently or
10:39You know
10:40here's some things you have to get better at relative to the weight room or to develop more explosion or
10:46You know to learn your plays better, you know, you make a mistake
10:50You know once every four plays like, you know, we got to learn our plays better, you know
10:54So being honest is the only way to go. It's the only way to go. You can't BS these guys
11:00You got to tell them what it is. And so, you know, obviously bill never BS players
11:05So that's that's what he'll be good at. Well bill O'Brien really appreciate your thoughts on bill Belichick
11:12It won't happen. I guess this upcoming season, but at some point the two of you will be
11:17across from each other on
11:20College football field somewhere which is pretty wild. I
11:23Don't think we play till somebody told me last night. We don't play, North Carolina till
11:282028 well in the ACC title game
11:39Chapel bill. Yes. I don't know. Maybe we'll get the futures get the future schedules adjusted a little bit
11:45We can play them sooner than that in the regular season, but who knows?
11:48Oh, how great would that be the opener next year would have been bill versus Billy?
11:51Oh, yeah a plus great
11:55Thank you guys one of the great defensive minds of our time up against one of the great offensive minds of our time
12:01Oh, wait, bill. Are you still here? I didn't want you to hear that. I want to say that I don't want you
12:07All right
12:09Hey
12:10I'm not here next Thursday. So Merry Christmas. Happy holidays all that stuff
12:14I really appreciate you being on the show and it's
12:17You're one of the best interviews we have and everybody always tells me it so thanks a lot. We appreciate it Bill O'Brien
12:23Merry Christmas to all you guys. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. All right, that's Bill O'Brien with his thoughts on Bill Belichick
12:30Heading to Chapel bill as Curtis just said