Head Coach of BC football Bill O'Brien joins! What happened with Castellanos?

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Head Coach of BC football Bill O'Brien joins! What happened with Castellanos? Thoughts on Grayson James at QB?

Transcript

00:00Morning coach. Hey Greg. Hey guys. How we doing? Great. How are you? I'm doing great. I'm doing

00:07great. You are, it seems, down a quarterback over there. Yeah, I mean, you know, look, I think,

00:15you know, one of the things that I try to do is make decisions in the best interest of the team.

00:21You know, I always have to look at the team. That's the biggest part of my job. I can't look

00:25at individual guys. I've got to look at the team and, you know, we felt like, you know,

00:31going into this week and after last game and over, you know, the whole year at the body of work that

00:36Grace and James really has earned the opportunity to start. And so, you know, I brought both guys

00:42in on Sunday, talked to them about it and, you know, Tommy obviously, you know, was not real

00:48thrilled about that and he's decided to leave. And, you know, we wish Tommy the best. You know,

00:55we think very highly of him and, you know, we wish him the best. But we're going to rally

01:00around Grayson and we have a lot of confidence in Grayson. You know, Grayson was hurt earlier

01:06in the year. He had a labrum surgery, missed a month, came back, took a while to come back and,

01:13you know, like I said, he's earned the right to start and we're going with Grayson.

01:17Is this, we've gone back and forth a little bit at times about the portal and NIL and how that

01:24is affecting specifically with you college football. Is this one of those things you've

01:30been in football your whole life where this is what's going to happen because there are

01:34other options that may not have been available prior to this for guys?

01:38You know, it's funny. I think each case is different, Greg. You know, I think,

01:44you know, just like everything, everybody's unique to their own situation. But I do think that,

01:51you know, in the general sense of things that like, you know, you and I could probably sit

01:56down and talk forever about the adversity that we've all been through in life and,

02:02you know, how you have to deal with adversity, right? Whether you've been fired or, you know,

02:07knocked down or whatever's gone on in your life. Life is about dealing with adversity. That's

02:12really what life is about. In my opinion, you know, life is not always a bed of roses.

02:17And so, you know, I think the transfer portal and, you know, some of the things that are

02:21happening in college football, they are what they are. We're, look, we embrace it at BC.

02:26We're in it. We feel really good about our place in college football. And we're going to recruit

02:34kids that understand what Boston College is all about. And, you know, hopefully that philosophy

02:42works and we move forward. But life's about adversity and how you deal with it.

02:48Bill, when you had this conversation with both of them, was there any

02:52talk of maybe Castellanos getting a different position at BC so he could stay with the team?

02:59His build, 5'9", he's not really built like a quarterback. Was there any talk of him

03:05and his athletic ability being able to be helpful elsewhere for your team?

03:11I didn't bring that up to him, Courtney. All I said was, look, at this point in time,

03:17we feel Grayson has earned the right and has given us the best chance to continue to win.

03:24And I told Tommy, you got to be ready, you know, because if, you know, knock on wood,

03:29if there's an injury or something happens that, you know, you're a heartbeat away from

03:33playing quarterback again. So I didn't bring up anything about a position change. You know,

03:39Tommy feels strongly in his ability as a quarterback and, you know, he was not happy

03:43with what I said and he's moving on. And I have nothing but positive, you know, things to say

03:50about Tommy. You know, Tommy made a decision based on who he, you know, who advises him,

03:56his family, and we're moving forward at BC. Bill, how important is it to make sure that

04:06you're completely transparent and honest and clear with, you know, guys you recruit,

04:13players as they come in each year? Because I feel like that, to me, is the most important

04:18thing as a former player. The guys that I respected, like Belichick and Parcells,

04:23there was no sugar coat. And from day one, you knew where you stood. When you got your opportunity,

04:28if you did something with it, you were going to play. And if you didn't, they were going to look

04:32to move in a different direction. How important is that for you to be honest and transparent

04:37with these kids? That's a great question, Wig. And I will never, ever, you know, I'm not putting

04:46myself in the same sentence as Coach Parcells and Coach Belichick, but I will tell you that

04:52there's nothing more important than being upfront and honest with the player.

04:56And if the, after collecting, you know, a lot of information and watching things and,

05:02you know, whatever position the guy plays, you know, being able to show it to him on film,

05:06not just tell him, talk to him, including off the field, right? Like going to class,

05:11doing the right things. There's nothing more important than being honest with the player.

05:16If you're not honest with the player, you have no chance at having a winning football team,

05:20absolutely no chance. And sometimes, you know, these guys, they don't like what they hear.

05:26And, but at the end of the day, that's my job is to make sure that I'm telling them what I

05:30see, what the coaching staff sees, to put them in the best chance to succeed, not only on the

05:35football field, but off the field. There is absolutely no more important thing than telling

05:40guys the truth. And, you know, we think about that every day and we, and we try to adhere to

05:46that philosophy every single minute of the day. Yeah. Billy, Ken Laird does a great job of that

05:51here. I got to say great, fearless, legendary. How important, when you came to this decision,

06:00was it to you that you did not have any division in the locker room and how has it been received

06:06since Sunday's news? You know, our guys have shown up in practice, you know, Sunday we

06:12practiced, we practiced Tuesday, Wednesday, we practiced this morning. These guys are practicing

06:17hard. You know, it's not a, you know, like I said to the, the three or four people that cover us

06:23yesterday, you know, media wise, I said, it's not a big dramatic thing. Like it's, it's, it is what

06:29it is. It's football. I've made a determination that this guy's playing better than the other

06:34guy and I'm doing what's best for the team. And so like, it's not like, you know, this isn't like

06:39a soap opera. This is what it is. It's football, it's competitive and you have to earn your right

06:45every single day in the foot, in the BC football program to go out there and play. And, and you

06:50know, so far these guys have shown up and been ready to go and we're excited about our opportunity

06:54to go play a really good SMU team. On a different note, do you agree with Kirk Herbstreet and others

07:01who say that fan behavior specifically with what happened at LSU or Texas this,

07:08this season is worse than ever before? So I'm, you know, I, I really like Kirk. He and I have

07:18known each other a long time. I, I didn't really hear exactly what he said, but I will tell you,

07:22like from being in the SEC for a couple of years and, and you know, having to be escorted out of

07:30the press box at several visiting locations by law enforcement, you know, look, these fans are

07:37passionate. I mean, it's what makes the game, but in the end, I mean, I mean, good Lord, like,

07:43you know, at some point in time, your team's not always going to win. And, you know, I do

07:47understand a little bit of what you're asking and, you know, but these fans are excited, man.

07:51They're passionate about their teams. Look at our Syracuse game last, last week. I'm not sure if you

07:56guys saw it, but like, no, it was a passionate crowd. I mean, there, there were, it was a good

08:00crowd and people are counting on Boston College to win. And we're very aware of that. But at the

08:06same time, you know, sometimes you got to relax. I'm hoping for a win on Saturday, obviously,

08:12but focusing on Grace and James different in stature when it comes to Castellanos,

08:17what's been the difference maker when it comes to him and his receivers?

08:20What's the biggest change that we should be expected to see on Saturday?

08:24I think Grayson does a good job of understanding what we're trying to do. He's very, very bright.

08:30He can, you know, he can get us, you know, out of a bad play into a good play. You know, I believe

08:36in his ability to throw the football down the field. He's an athletic guy. He's a big guy.

08:43He plays with good poise. Nothing really ever affects Grayson. I mean, like I said earlier,

08:48I mean, this guy, I don't think anybody knows, you know, because it's not a pro football team.

08:53So we're not, you know, we don't have to give out an injury report all the time. But this guy had

08:57surgery earlier in the year, missed a month. And so, you know, that's part of this, right?

09:03We've got two, at that time, we had two good quarterbacks. And we feel like, you know,

09:08as he's come back from his injury, he's played better and better every week. He helped us beat

09:12Western Kentucky. He went into the game against Syracuse in a very, very tough spot and helped us

09:19win the game. So, you know, we're excited about Grayson and, you know, we're excited about going

09:24to SMU. All right, Bill O'Brien. I was just going to ask one real quick question. Bill,

09:28do you like use a team like SMU, who was in the American Conference last year and saying,

09:34look at what they've been able to accomplish in such a kind of short period of time in the ACC?

09:40Now it looks, you know, they're the number one team in the ACC. Do you kind of use that as a

09:44blueprint to show that, hey, put it together on the field and anything is possible, especially

09:49with this new 12 playoff team system? Absolutely. I mean, I think if you look around the country,

09:55you know, SMU is a great example. They're a really good academic school. They've got a good coach.

10:01They've got a good philosophy as to how they run the program. Look at BYU. I think BYU is

10:07undefeated, right? Everybody's got their own niche. And I think at Boston College, we have a

10:12very unique product, a product that, you know, is built on a Jesuit education where, you know,

10:21these guys can come get an unbelievable degree and they can play, you know, Miami, Clemson,

10:26you know, Notre Dame next year, SMU this weekend and be developed to have a shot to play in the

10:32NFL. And I think, you know, we have to continue to find guys that fit that criteria. And that's

10:37what we're trying to do. Speaking of anything being possible before you go, I don't want to

10:43jinx this, but I heard from the subject of our mutual moonshot and was guaranteed, guaranteed

10:52that next season is a go. And there is a song, there's a song on the new album that makes a

11:01certain game apropos and perfect for that performance at Boston College. So if you and

11:09I both survive, I mean, work-wise, not in the living world, if we both survive until next

11:17season. Is this Megan Thee Stallion? It's not Megan Thee Stallion. It's not. Bill wanted Eminem,

11:24but it's not, it's not Eminem. Father Leahy loves Megan Thee Stallion. It'll be a real

11:31battle. No question. That'll go over well. They have agreed in principle and it's going to happen

11:38next season. All right. So you and I, we need, we need to plan this out and make it happen

11:43specifically for that game. Okay. Yes, sir. Thank you, Greg. All right. Bill O'Brien,

11:50tonight over at the Stockyard for the coaches show. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Six to seven. All right.

11:57Stockyard. Go hang out with Bill O'Brien over at the Stockyard tonight. And we appreciate,

12:01as always, you being on and we'll talk to you again next week. Thank you guys. Appreciate it.

12:06All right. That's Bill O'Brien, the head coach of Boston College football.

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