00:00Saturday, unbelievable win. Jeremiah Franklin, who I know has been with you guys since 2022,
00:06but he was a star on Saturday. And I liked him even more listening to him speak to media after
00:12saying that you guys can't stay complacent. It was 66 points on the board for you guys, but
00:17you know, week one against Fordham moving forward. How do you make sure that these guys don't stay
00:22complacent as you get ready for Michigan State? Yeah, Jeremiah is awesome. And I appreciate you
00:28pointing that out because he's a great guy and he stayed loyal to Boston College. He really could
00:34have gone to a few other places after last year and he stayed loyal to us. Yeah, we, I really,
00:39I like this team. They showed up to practice. You know, we practiced on Sundays, the day after the
00:44game, they were ready to go. Tuesday was decent. Yesterday was really good. So I can only go by
00:51what I see. We, we, we try to approach it as, you know, 12 one game seasons and try to teach each
00:58game plan in a way that, you know, is specific to that opponent. And so I, I feel like these guys
01:03are on the right track, but this is going to be a tough game. I mean, we, we have to, we're on the
01:07road. It'll be loud. It'll, it'll be a great environment for college football and we got to show up
01:13ready to go. Billy, you talk about being on the road this week. I, you know, you think about a team
01:19like Fordham, you know, it's a game where I think you go out there, your expectations are to do what
01:23you do. When you go into a game like Michigan state, how, like, how do you make sure that guys,
01:32or what do you take away from beating a team like Fordham and the expectations and then trying to
01:36carry that over to an opponent like Michigan state, where, you know, it's going to be a much harder
01:41test. I mean, you, you, you show them the tape, you know, you, you, you really do. I think you show
01:47them obviously the Fordham tape where I know we, I know what the final score was, but there were
01:52times in the game where we, we have to play better. And I think our guys realized that, especially,
01:57you know, the running game on offense, you know, Fordham was able to do some things that, you know,
02:02stopped the run. And so we, we showed them the tape and then we, we quickly transitioned to
02:08Michigan state and show them that tape. And they can tell like nothing against Fordham. I have great
02:13respect for Joe Conlon. I, you know, Fordham is, I think going to do a good job in the Patriot
02:18league, but you know, this is the big 10 team. This is Michigan state. I think our people, I mean,
02:22excuse me, our players really understand that. And, you know, we showed to them on tape and they got
02:27to go out there and execute. Like I said, yesterday's practice, I thought was really, really good. So
02:31hopefully this carries over to today, which carries over to Saturday. Obviously you guys get that win,
02:36but as a head coach, there's always things that you specifically want them to improve on.
02:40What do you hope that they do better in week two?
02:44We have to run the ball better on offense. I think that's part of who we are. We have to be
02:49able to run the football to set up the play action game, which I think is a really good part of our
02:54offense. But if you can't run it, then they're not going to respect the play action game. So we've
02:58got to be able to establish the running game. And then I think defensively, I like a lot of the
03:02things that we did, but we've got to start the game better. I really think that these early season
03:07games come down to like taking care of the ball, your ability to take the ball away and then
03:13tackling. And I thought early in the game, we didn't tackle as good as we did as the game went
03:18on. It got a lot better. So I think tackling is going to be big on Saturday night. We got to be
03:23able to do a good job of getting these guys on the ground.
03:27Billy, did you see, I'm sure you did, the Florida State upset over Alabama over the weekend?
03:32I didn't see it, but I saw highlights of it. I didn't see the game.
03:38Right. A lot of backlash against BC with Castellanos. Success there at Florida State,
03:46obviously, didn't end well here. He seemed unhappy. What do you make of the ending with
03:53the Eagles and his big win in week one?
03:56Yeah, no, look, I understand it. I mean, look, we supported Tommy. You know, we really did. We had
04:05a quarterback situation here where we felt like Grayson gave us the best chance to win
04:10at that point in the season. And we supported Tommy all the way in many different ways. And,
04:17you know, look, we wish Tommy the best. And, you know, he had a good football game against Alabama.
04:21And, you know, we, like I said, we wish him the best. It's a great fit for him at Florida State.
04:27And we feel like we're doing the right things here at Boston College. So,
04:30you know, wish him the best, like I said, and congratulations on that win.
04:36We spent some time yesterday because Ryan Clark had suggested it on Arch Manning. Do you,
04:41do you think that the media plays a role in too much hype around players like that at times?
04:48I think, I think the media is, is awesome. It's a huge part of college football. I mean,
04:53the interest in the game right now is incredible. The thing that I think is,
04:57is it's only one game. So whether you're talking about us over Fordham or Florida State over Alabama,
05:04or, you know, Ohio State over Texas, there's 11 games to go. So like, it's just one game. So,
05:13you know, the biggest thing that you can do, and I learned a lot about this, like,
05:16in my career is a lot of times there's a big jump from week one to week two. You know,
05:21you guys know better than anybody, you know, in new England, a lot of times we started out,
05:25you know, two and two or three and two. And, you know, we're trying to find out who we were.
05:29And, and, and all of a sudden we hit a hot streak and we get going. So, you know,
05:33I think that, that it's only one game. That's, that's all I say. But I think the media coverage of
05:38college football, just the fact that you guys have me on the show, like just all of it is awesome for
05:44college football. And I think that's why it's, it's such a great game right now that people love
05:49watching.
05:49Bill, you've been at college football a couple of different times as a head coach,
05:53obviously Belichick, his first go at it. What are some of the things I, and I, I'm with you,
05:59it's only week one, so I'm not hitting the eject button on UNC or Arch Manning, but what are some
06:04of the difficulties that Bill is going to have to figure out because he's been in the NFL and the
06:12difference with college football for him to understand, to be able to turn things around
06:17down there at UNC?
06:20Yeah, I think like it would never be me to really give Bill Belichick advice, right? I mean,
06:26it's just not, that's not really the, the, where I'm at, but, but I will say this. First of all,
06:31TCU is very good. They have a program that, you know, has been built up over time. Gary Patterson did
06:38a great job there. Sonny Dykes is doing a great job there. They were in the final four, I think,
06:42only a couple of years ago. They've had, you know, great success over the years, very good
06:47recruiter, recruiting philosophy there, and so that's a tough opener, and I think what you find
06:54in college football is there's a big difference between college football and professional football,
06:59like these guys go to class, there's different rules, there's different time elements during the,
07:06during the week that you can spend with these guys. You can't meet with, you know, when you're
07:10coaching in the pros, you know, your team meeting starts at eight, you got probably an hour and a
07:15half, two hours to install a game plan, whereas in college football, you have 20 minutes, you know,
07:21on a daily basis, 30 minutes, because you got to get them out of, out of practice so they can go to
07:26lunch and go to class, and so like, you know, that's kind of, it's a, there's a big, big difference
07:31between college and pro, and I'm sure, you know, he'll figure it out, and again, you said it best,
07:35it's one game, that's what I'm trying to say, it's, it's one game, and you know, it's a, it's a long
07:41way before the season's over. I have an idea though, but now that you're 1-0, and he's 0-1,
07:46BC, the 33rd NFL team, what do you think, Billy?
07:52I, I never, that, this is just my opinion, I mean, I would never go down that road.
07:57You've got, you've got these teams in college football that, you know, are really excellent
08:05teams, I mean, you know, so who are we to say that, I'm just speaking for Boston College, who
08:10are we to say that we're the 33rd, we have 94 years of NFL coaching experience on the staff, but
08:15we're not going to tell people that we're the 33rd NFL team, that's for sure, you know, it's just not
08:20really the, the road that I'm going to travel down. Is, is, is Mrs. O'Brien ever out there on
08:26the sideline with you, you know, during warm-ups or? No, no, Mrs. O'Brien is, she's tailgating,
08:34and then she sits up in her, she sits up in her seat, she's a 92 grad at Boston College, so she has a,
08:41she has a lot of buddies that come back to these games, and she, she's seen a lot of games,
08:47so she's kind of a veteran football wife, so she's, she's up in the stands watching the game.
08:53Is, I mean, you know, you know Bill better than we do, there are, I think it's ridiculous,
08:58there are some who are suggesting that if it goes this way, rest of the season, or at times during
09:05the season, he is one and done, and there are some saying he might be done mid-season, like,
09:10where are you on that, knowing him as well as you do? Yeah, no, I totally agree with you, I,
09:16there's just no way, I mean, he, he's in fantastic health, he's, he looks good, he's, he's, I know I
09:23saw him at the ACC meetings, and, you know, before the season started, he's excited, you know, look,
09:28again, like, you know, it's tough, it's, it's hard, your first game, I mean, I remember my first game
09:33at Penn State, you know, I was replacing Joe Paterno, we, we lost the game, I, I told my wife when I got
09:39home that night, this is 2012, I said, look, we're not going to be here very long, like, if we don't figure this
09:44out, but we, but we figured it out, and we, we won some games there, and I think that's the big
09:50thing, is like I was saying earlier, it's just one game, it wasn't, it wasn't a good game, just like
09:55our game, yeah, it looks great for us, but I don't know, like, nothing against Fordham, but like, the
10:00competition is going to get a lot better here very quickly, so it's just one game, and, and we got to,
10:06we all have to be ready to go in week two. You should write a book about that Penn State job,
10:10because you undersell it, what you walked into there, and to turn that around was
10:13unbelievable. Thank you, yeah, I mean, we had awesome people there, Curtis, we really did,
10:19we have great kids, it's, it's a little bit like this here, like, we had awesome kids that
10:24loved the school, and got a really good staff, a lot of great people around me there, it was
10:28awesome. What do you like Sunday at Gillette? I like the Patriots, man, let's go, yeah, you
10:35know, it's a home, home opener, I think it's great to start off at home, you know, I think
10:41they, they got a good thing going, and Mike's, Mike's gonna have those guys ready to play,
10:45and, you know, you guys know how I feel about the staff, and I don't know the players very
10:50well there, and most of those guys, except for, like, Pop Douglas, you know, they're, they're,
10:55the guys that I coached when I was there, they, they're gone, but the, you know, they've got
10:59some really good guys, it seems like, and excited for them to get off to a great start.
11:03We, we refer to the ones that are gone as the Elliot Wolf pics on this show.
11:11But, listen, it is always, it's always great to talk to you, I am, I will be sending over
11:19a contraband dropkick song with important meaning to BC, and so, let's, let's try to make this
11:27moonshot happen.
11:29And I'll, I'll get Bears to give you my, my burner phone, he'll give you my burner.
11:33No, no, no, no, no, no, I want the, I mean, you and I have, we've never had dinner, like,
11:38I mean, I, I, I want the, I want the number, I mean, I, I, honestly, I, I wouldn't mind
11:43throwing you an occasional strategy text mid-game.
11:45Oh, Lord.
11:46Absolutely, you know, I, I hear you talk about all your, you know, the seaport, where you go
11:50to dinner, and I'm like, and nobody, if you, if you know me, nobody likes to eat more
11:54than me, so, someday we'll go to dinner.
11:56Yeah, dinner on me, all right, I'll pick up the tab.
12:00You two can battle it out.
12:04I mean, if, if you can, can you expense it?
12:07Like, you probably can expense it with Boston College.
12:09Oh, you don't know too much about Boston College.
12:13That's a recruiting violation.
12:15Yeah.
12:16No, I'm sorry, I won't be able to expense it.
12:18That's a violation right there, buddy.
12:21All right, Bill O'Brien, you are the best.
12:22Thanks for taking the time, and we'll talk to you again next week, and good luck.
12:26Good luck.
12:26You guys.
12:27All right.
12:27All right.
12:28That is the great Bill O'Brien.
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