Boston College Head Coach Bill O'Brien Speaks On Thomas Castellanos Entering Transfer Portal
It’s been an eventful week for the Boston College football program.
After snapping a three-game losing streak with a 37-31 victory over the Syracuse Orange on Saturday, Eagles head coach Bill O’Brien decided to make a quarterback change and name Grayson James the starter for the team’s matchup on Saturday against the No. 14 SMU Mustangs.
On Wednesday, one day after the announcement, a report came out that quarterback Thomas Castellanos was planning on entering the transfer portal.
Castellanos, who was expected to have a standout season, went 99-of-161 for 1,366 yards, 18 touchdowns, and five interceptions as well as 93 rush attempts for 194 yards and one touchdown in eight games with Boston College this year.
O’Brien spoke about the decision on his weekly appearance on The Greg Hill Show on WEEI 97.3 FM Thursday morning.
“Yeah, I mean look, I think one of the things that I try to do is make decisions in the best interest of the team,” said O’Brien. “I always have to look at the team, that’s the biggest part of my job. I can’t look at individual guys, I have to look at the team and we felt like, going into this week and after [the] last game and over the whole year, the body of work that Grayson James really has earned the opportunity to start.”
The 55-year-old shared how he told the two players.
“I brought both guys in on Sunday, talked to them about it, and Tommy, obviously, was not real thrilled about that and he’s decided to leave,” said O’Brien. “We wish Tommy the best. We think very highly of him and we wish him the best but we’re going to rally around Grayson and we have a lot of confidence in Grayson.”
When asked about a possible position change for Castellanos, O’Brien stated that the idea was never mentioned in the conversion.
“I didn’t bring that up to him,” said O’Brien. “All I said was ‘Look, at this point in time, we feel Grayson has earned the right and has given us the best chance to continue to win,’ and I told Tommy ‘You gotta be ready because knock on wood if there’s an injury or something happens that you’re a heartbeat away from playing quarterback again.’ So, I didn’t bring up anything about a position change. Tommy feels strongly in his ability as a quarterback and he was not happy with what I said and he’s moving on. I have nothing but positive things to say about Tommy. Tommy made a decision based on who advises him, his family, and we’re moving forward at BC.”
The Eagles will take on the Mustangs on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
