00:00the head coach of Boston College Football, Bill O'Brien.
00:03Good morning, Bill.
00:04Good morning, everybody. How are we doing?
00:06Well, we were just talking about Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum and the beef,
00:11and I wanted to ask you, because you've been in sports for a long, long time,
00:16and you've had what could appear from the outside to be serious beef,
00:22like Tom Brady, Brock Osweiler, J.J. Watt.
00:29J.J. Watt.
00:30So I want to ask you, is it possible for the beef to ever be, to go away,
00:36for the beef to ever be put behind two players like Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum?
00:42First of all, first of all, I did not have a beef with Tom Brady.
00:47That's like two brothers, like, that lasted 30 seconds.
00:51Okay.
00:51That was like two-fifths, and I had no beef with J.J. Watt.
00:55Okay.
00:55That is – no, I don't know.
00:59But, no, I don't know.
01:00Wait, wait, wait, wait.
01:01What about Brock Osweiler?
01:03Well, we won't go there.
01:06Okay.
01:07But I don't – you know, that's an interesting deal.
01:10You know, I don't know – obviously, I love the Celtics.
01:14I follow the Celtics.
01:15We actually – well, I'm not supposed to really say this,
01:17but have a connection to Coach Mizzoula, you know, with one of his children is – you know,
01:25we're recruiting, basically.
01:26Awesome.
01:27Come to Moscow.
01:29But anyways, yeah, I'm not sure about all that.
01:32That's an interesting deal.
01:33I think that's so competitive at the highest level, and they won a championship together,
01:37so I'm not sure what the deal is there.
01:39Bill, can we talk about beefs quickly?
01:40Billy, because we never get to talk about this with you.
01:42During the demise of the relationship of Brady and Bill, were you ever a peacemaker?
01:49Were you ever brought in by either side?
01:51And what was your reaction to all of that when it happened in 2020?
01:56You know, I think that – I'm being honest.
02:00I want to be really, really honest with you.
02:02When I was there, there was no beef.
02:06I'm going to tell you exactly how it went during the week.
02:09I think it was Tuesdays, Tom would come in, and Bill would show him the DBs that we were about
02:16to play,
02:17like in detail, like the strengths and weaknesses of every defensive back.
02:20It was an amazing meeting.
02:22And then on Saturday mornings, Bill had a tape that he would show the quarterbacks,
02:27obviously Tom especially, like just things around the league, practice clips.
02:33Those were two amazing meetings.
02:34And so I saw them – a great chemistry between them when I was there.
02:40Again, I only coached Tom for three years, so I wasn't there in 20.
02:44I was in Houston.
02:45So, you know, I didn't witness anything like that.
02:49I witnessed a great chemistry and a lot of wins.
02:52Well, Bill, congratulations on the win last weekend.
02:55399 rushing yards, 500 total yards in that win.
03:00The highest scoring game you guys have had in your tenure against a Power 4 team.
03:04Is this finally the offensive identity that you personally have been building towards?
03:09I think everything we do is – you know, an offense is always going to be centered around,
03:16you know, the quarterback – it's a quarterback-centered offense.
03:20And so, you know, we try to do the things that Mason's really good at.
03:24And he's good at a lot of different things.
03:26So, I think the guys around him played really well.
03:29And it was a game where, you know, we basically ran a similar type play like 40-plus times
03:36and just kind of dressed it up and ran it different ways.
03:40And Bo McCormick, another Massachusetts guy, did a great job.
03:44Mekhi Dodd, another Massachusetts guy, did a great job in the game.
03:47The O-line, the tight ends, had a great game.
03:50So, you know, it was just the way it was for that game.
03:52This Duke game will be a lot different.
03:55Duke's a different team.
03:56Duke's a really, really good team.
03:58And so, the game plan will be different.
04:01I was just going to say, because Duke's defense, they've been known, I think,
04:05maybe the top of the ACC, where they give up, like, 16 points,
04:09a little over 100 rushing yards a game.
04:12So, how do you prepare coming off of an offensive game like that to prepare them for this?
04:17Yeah, I think it's important to really turn the page from Georgia Tech.
04:20It's going to be a different challenge.
04:22You're exactly right.
04:24I mean, Duke is, I think, one of the best defenses in the ACC, if not the best.
04:29And they stop the run.
04:31They only give up, in college football, if you only give up less than 110 yards,
04:35rushing per game, you know, the way that the stats are kept, that's really, really good.
04:39That's excellent.
04:40So, you know, we've got a plan.
04:42We've had a good couple days of practice.
04:43Need to have a great practice today.
04:45And our guys, you know, they're playing with a rhythm,
04:47and they're excited for the game, but they know that it's going to be a very difficult challenge.
04:52Bill, I know those kids are focused.
04:55They're engaged.
04:57But when I watch college football and I look at, you know, teams throughout,
05:02and with the 12-playoff system, you know, if a team has lost two games,
05:06you kind of look and go, ah, the chances of them making the postseason
05:11or getting to the conference championship to even have an opportunity to get in there
05:16is going to be extremely difficult.
05:18How do you, like, coach the kids knowing that, all right, you're just playing for a bowl,
05:23and maybe are these kids, are they still, like, super engaged when it comes to, you know,
05:29going to a bowl game?
05:30Or is it all about, you know, trying to get to the college football playoffs?
05:34I think that when the college football playoff deal expands, I mean,
05:39I think that's going to be big for Boston College.
05:41But, I mean, I would say, Wig, everybody should come to practice and watch us practice.
05:46Our guys are fired up.
05:48They look forward to every Saturday.
05:50I think it – I look at it – look, Wig, I agree with you.
05:53I mean, it's all about – I understand the goal of winning, and I really do.
05:57I've been doing this 35 years at every different level.
06:00So, I understand how important winning is.
06:02But I also think there's something to be said about the process of improvement
06:06and watching your team get better.
06:09And this team that we have at BC this year is very connected.
06:12They're a team that enjoys, you know, practicing.
06:14They enjoy the travel.
06:17They enjoy the games, the competition together.
06:20And I think that's something that I enjoy.
06:23And, again, you know, none of us came to Boston College to go 6-6.
06:26That's not our goal.
06:28We want to win.
06:29But in the process of what we're doing here, you know,
06:34I think it's really cool to be a part of this team
06:36and watch them get better and better every week.
06:38Well, and correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you say prior to the start of the season
06:42one of your goals was to get to the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl?
06:48Hey, I got – so, when I was coaching the Texans, we played the Chargers.
06:54Remember when they played in that soccer stadium for a year or whatever?
06:58Yes.
06:58So, Snoop Dogg, like, he was the honorary captain for the Chargers.
07:04So, he came out for the coin toss, right?
07:07And then DeAndre Hopkins, like, he knew him.
07:10Somehow he knew him.
07:11So, we won the game.
07:13We won the game.
07:14And Snoop came into our locker room with his Chargers jersey on.
07:17It was, like, jumping around with us.
07:19It was awesome.
07:20So, yeah.
07:21I mean, if we can go to the Snoop Dogg, you know, Cocoa Puffs Bowl, that would be fantastic.
07:28Why not?
07:28Did you guys share a little gin and juice?
07:33Yeah, I'm not a gin and juice guy.
07:36Bill, there was a recently released yesterday BU study on brain trauma in football where they studied death certificates for
07:472,362 NFL players who died in a 15-year period.
07:51And their study showed them that three-quarters, about 75% of all former NFL players who died during the
08:00study period, likely had CTE.
08:04How concerning is this for you and the future of football in the NFL?
08:09Yeah, I think it's very concerning.
08:11I remember back to, again, my experience in the NFL, I was very fortunate to be on a committee called
08:19the Madden, John Madden subcommittee.
08:21And John Madden would always talk to us about player safety because he had lost, after he retired, you know,
08:31over the course of however many years,
08:32he lost eight to nine players that had played for him at the Raiders, you know, at that time didn't
08:39know it was CTE, but he knew it was more about player safety than people were letting on.
08:44And I do think, Curtis, that the equipment has become a lot better.
08:50I believe that the practice rules have really helped.
08:53I really do believe that.
08:54I think we're coaching things a lot better.
08:56I think there's a trickle-down from the NFL, you know, like when you talk to Mike Vrabel about how
09:02they teach tackling and how they teach, you know, the different techniques to keep your head out of there.
09:09Doug Marone, you know, when I talk to him about, you know, when an offensive lineman pulls and how he
09:14really needs to keep his head in the technique of how they do that,
09:17I think that all of the coaching has improved, and I believe that the game has improved when it comes
09:23to safety, but that's a horrible stat.
09:25Bill, good luck on Saturday down there against Duke, and we will talk to you again next week.
09:30Thank you, guys.
09:31Bill O'Brien.
