BC faces Virginia Tech tonight! HC of BC Bill O'Brien joins!

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BC faces Virginia Tech tonight! How is BC dealing with Jackson and other injuries? How is their depth right now? Thoughts on game tonight?

Transcript

00:00He joins us this morning from Blacksburg, Virginia.

00:03Good morning, Bill.

00:05Morning, Greg.

00:05Morning, guys.

00:06How are we doing?

00:07I was looking at the local attractions,

00:11and may I suggest the coal mining heritage park.

00:16Looks like it might make a good field trip for the fellas

00:20later on today.

00:23Yeah, I think the field trip will

00:24exist of a couple of meals, some meetings, get on the bus,

00:28and go play the game.

00:29That'll be a field trip.

00:30I like that attitude.

00:32We don't have time for that other nonsense.

00:33Am I right?

00:34It's football.

00:35That's right.

00:36Will you guys be eating a turkey leg

00:39while you were down there?

00:40Because they sell those at concession.

00:42Weird eating your mascot.

00:44Yeah, I told the team yesterday, I said,

00:47I'm not into radioactive turkey legs or anything like that.

00:50So no, we will not be partaking in turkey legs down here.

00:55Crab cakes and football, that's all we need.

00:58Bill, Virginia Tech, very hostile environment.

01:02I've been in that stadium before.

01:03It seems like a great place to play.

01:06They're a scrappy team.

01:08They constantly bring out the sand man, I think it's called.

01:11They have the seismology meter or whatever.

01:14They bring that out to test how the effect of the crowd

01:17on the Earth's rotation or whatever.

01:22What's always the message to your team when you play

01:24a conference opponent in a place

01:28where it's going to get rowdy and then it's a team that's

01:31going to be very scrappy?

01:32What's the mindset for you to the kids going into this game?

01:37We should embrace this.

01:39These guys should embrace going into a place

01:43that prides itself.

01:45I think it's like what Greg was saying.

01:47It's the fifth loudest stadium in the country.

01:51They've measured it however they measure the decibels.

01:55We should love this.

01:56This is what college football is all about.

01:59We've had a good week of practice.

02:00These guys are very excited.

02:02You can tell sometimes when you get on the bus

02:06or you're in the hotel last night in the meetings.

02:09These guys are ready to go.

02:11We've got to play good football.

02:12We've got to play very sharp, focused football.

02:14We've got to take care of the ball.

02:16But we believe that we're ready to go, no doubt about it.

02:20Bill, having all that time off in between the loss,

02:23two weeks ago, and now this game,

02:25what have you learned about your guys?

02:27How different are they going into this game

02:29than they were coming off the field against Virginia?

02:32I think that these guys showed up.

02:34We had some time here.

02:35So last week, we had three very difficult practices,

02:38very physical practices.

02:40The coaches, we spent a lot of time on cell scout.

02:44Here's some things we can do better as coaches.

02:46And the guys, the team, they approached it the right way.

02:49We had a good week this week.

02:50We have really good leadership.

02:51I've talked to you guys about that.

02:53We have six captains that really lead this team the right way.

02:57And so I think they've approached it really well.

03:00Like I always tell you guys, I enjoy coaching the team.

03:03They show up every day to go to work.

03:05And I think we've had a good week,

03:07and now we have to go do it.

03:09What did you like or not like about what

03:14you saw from Drake Mays' debut as an NFL starter?

03:19I mean, I think that the guy's going

03:22to be an excellent football player in the NFL.

03:24I mean, the guy, he's got an excellent arm.

03:28He's very accurate.

03:29He's very instinctive.

03:30He can run.

03:32The throw that he made, the booty, the deep ball to booty

03:36was a great throw.

03:37That's not an easy throw.

03:39You have to help the receiver down the red line.

03:42And he made a great throw on that.

03:44He scrambled.

03:45I saw where he hit Hunter on a scramble,

03:48and that was a big play.

03:49I think he handled the offense well.

03:52So I think the guy's got a great future.

03:54And again, it's not going to happen overnight.

03:57They'll play.

03:58The thing about Houston is Houston's

04:00really good on defense, but they really don't do a whole lot.

04:03They do what they do.

04:04And so it's going to be the teams that spin the dial

04:06that you never know really what's coming next.

04:09Those are the teams that are going to be difficult for him.

04:12And he'll just have to keep battling.

04:14But I think he's a really good player.

04:17Bill, you guys have reached a point of the season

04:19where all college football teams are going to deal with injuries.

04:22But you guys are dealing with that with Amari Jackson

04:25out for the season with a torn ACL.

04:26How are you guys?

04:28How do you feel prepared for that?

04:29Do you have enough depth to be able to fill that gap?

04:34We do.

04:35We do.

04:36It's hard to replace Amari.

04:37He's an excellent player.

04:40But we have a few guys.

04:42We have a freshman named Ashton McShane.

04:44We have a grad transfer named Brykeese Brown

04:49that we feel can go over there and play.

04:51Ryan Turner is another guy transferred in here.

04:54Bill, isn't that the guy you gave the $150,000 verbal guarantee to?

04:58On the transfer?

05:02No.

05:03I want to clearly state, as Greg Hill leads me down this road,

05:08that I don't make verbal guarantees.

05:10No, no.

05:11No, it's an earn it philosophy.

05:13Hashtag earn it.

05:14That's an IOU.

05:17Yeah, an IOU.

05:18I owe you this later on when you graduate.

05:21No, but I feel good about the guys that are playing out there.

05:24We'll mix it up, and we'll have to help.

05:27These guys, Virginia Tech, have some really good receivers.

05:31So we'll have to help those guys.

05:33But I think we're in pretty decent shape with the depth.

05:36Speaking of NIL, we had an interesting discussion,

05:40I think it was last week, about this company

05:42that Kendrick Perkins started, which essentially offers loans

05:48to college athletes in advance of getting NIL with the hope

05:55that they get it and then can pay the loan back.

05:56Is that, in your mind, a good thing or a bad thing?

06:04It'd be hard for me to, I don't really know about that.

06:06I'm sorry I'm not read up on what Kendrick Perkins is doing.

06:10I don't know.

06:11I think that eventually, this is what I believe,

06:14I think it should be regulated eventually.

06:17Eventually, it has to be where people in Congress that

06:22have an interest in college athletics, especially

06:25football and basketball, they help regulate it.

06:30And so what does that mean?

06:32Well, what it means is maybe there should be a cap.

06:37You can only spend this much, and then it goes.

06:39I don't even know.

06:40I really don't even know.

06:42It is wild right now.

06:45There was one where you just saw maybe

06:47where a guy was committed to Clemson, a quarterback,

06:50and then he flipped to go to Notre Dame.

06:54I don't know this for a fact, but that involved money.

06:57And I think that before they've even stepped on campus,

07:02I think it's just very difficult to say

07:04to a guy who hasn't done anything for your program yet,

07:07hey, man, we're going to give you this amount of money

07:10before you've even put on a BC helmet.

07:13I don't know, man.

07:14I'm not into that.

07:16Maybe the loan would help.

07:17I don't know.

07:17There was a kid, Blake Heber from Central Catholic.

07:20He was teammates with my son, Billy.

07:22I love the fact that we get to talk to you,

07:24because you give us a world that we don't get to see,

07:27that I'm fascinated with, because I have two kids that

07:30play college football.

07:32What's the communication like?

07:34Because you brought up Donovan, I

07:37don't want to mess up his last name, the defensive end,

07:40who's having a great year.

07:42What's your communication with these guys that are obviously

07:46trying to do everything they can to help you guys win,

07:49but they're also trying to get to the next level?

07:53How do you incorporate them understanding,

07:57OK, you can do both, and the help that you can give them

08:00because you've been at that level?

08:02I mean, is that something that you really

08:04have a great advantage of when you are recruiting and saying,

08:07hey, I got a pipeline to the NFL?

08:09Because that's what every kid who puts on a helmet

08:12is ultimate dream is.

08:15Yeah, that's definitely one of our selling points, Wig.

08:17And his name is Donovan Azaraku, and he will play in the NFL.

08:21And so on our staff, besides myself,

08:24we have Doug Marone, who is the head coach of the Buffalo

08:27Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

08:29And then we have Rob Chudzinski, who

08:31has a lot of experience in the NFL,

08:33who's the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

08:35Obviously, we have Baird here.

08:37Actually, Matt, Patricia was wondering if you have

08:40any room for him over there.

08:41Oh, I need a lot of room.

08:43We're filled up.

08:45We're filled up.

08:46No room right now.

08:47On the offensive staff?

08:48I mean.

08:50But we do have different educational programs

08:55that we try to implement throughout the year.

08:57And one of them, we haven't done it yet.

08:59We're going to do it probably in our next bi-week.

09:01But we'll be to educate these guys on the National Football

09:04League and what it takes to make it to that league.

09:07We've already talked to one-on-one

09:08with guys like Donovan and Ozzy Trapillo and guys

09:12that are in there last year.

09:13But I think that that's one of the things we can do.

09:15And I think if you look at the history of Boston

09:17College in the National Football League, it's very, very good.

09:21Teams want guys in that league.

09:24They want guys that are going to be accountable,

09:26that are going to be focused and smart and be good teammates

09:31and understand the work ethic that it

09:32takes to make it that level.

09:34And I think that's one of the things

09:35that we sell here at BC.

09:37You can do both.

09:38You can be a really good student.

09:40And you can play in the NFL.

09:41We have the experience to help you get there.

09:43And so that's kind of how we communicate it.

09:45And Billy, just on the one last one, Greg, if I could.

09:48So there's a lot of Patriots in the news this season

09:52for the wrong reasons off the field.

09:54Some issues don't need to break down individually.

09:56What is the role that you had when

09:58you were with the Texans as the head coach?

10:01And how much responsibility falls

10:03on the people that run the organization when

10:05you have players that are not doing what they're supposed

10:09to do away from the facility?

10:11Yeah, so basically, most of the years I was at the Texans,

10:16it was a partnership and running the team

10:17with the general manager.

10:18So you and the general manager ran the team together.

10:22And I think that's one of the issues, too,

10:24sometimes in the NFL.

10:25I'm not saying with the Patriots.

10:27I'm saying just in the NFL in general

10:28is that you have so many situations

10:30where the general manager and the head coach

10:32are not on the same page.

10:33They don't come from the same background.

10:36They don't believe in the same things.

10:39But that's how it's handled.

10:40And then obviously, the owner, at the end of the day,

10:43has the final say.

10:44And so if something happens, we didn't

10:47have too many things happen at the Texans when I was there.

10:50But if something happens relative to discipline,

10:54then the owner steps in.

10:55Obviously, the NFL is involved.

10:56But as the head coach, you're just part of a team.

10:59You're not the final decision maker on discipline.

11:01That's not really your role.

11:03You're just part of a team that you can give your input.

11:05Hey, we should suspend this guy, or we should give him a chance,

11:08or whatever it might be.

11:10It's just your opinion.

11:12You're not the final say in most NFL organizations.

11:16All right, Bill O'Brien, we will let you go and get to work

11:18and get ready for a hostile environment tonight.

11:21Go Eagles.

11:22Good luck.

11:22We'll be watching.

11:23Can't wait for that game.

11:24We will be watching this evening.

11:26And we'll talk to you again next week.

11:28Thank you, guys.

11:29I appreciate it.

11:30Appreciate it.

11:30All right, thank you.

11:31That's Bill O'Brien.

11:33Always a great interview.

11:34Yeah, it's always interesting to kind of like,

11:36you can get both worlds.

11:37You can get the NFL world, and you

11:38can get kind of what the college football world is like,

11:41and so forth.

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