Boston College's Jeremiah Franklin, Neto Okpala Share Thoughts on Quarterback Change
Boston College Eagles football head coach Bill O’Brien made the announcement that quarterback Grayson James will start against No. 13 SMU over Thomas Castellnos after practice on Tuesday.
“I brought both guys in on Sunday and talked to them about the position,” said O’Brien. “Look, I have to make decisions in the best interest of the football team. I look at the team and try to do what’s best for the team. I think what’s best for the team right now is for Grayson James to be the starter. Tommy has done a great job for us. He is an awesome competitor, we have a lot of respect for Tommy. Obviously he wasn’t real thrilled with that so he’s taken a couple days. I’ll get back to you on that one but Grayson James will be the starter for SMU.”
Eagles tight end Jeremiah Franklin and defensive end Neto Okpala also spoke to the media and shared their thoughts on the change from a players perspective.
“We found out, it was the first thing that coach said when we was in the team meeting room right after the game,” said Franklin. “He addressed it, he said it’s hard being a head coach, you gotta make tough decisions. He told Tommy first and then he told us all in the team meeting and we all understand that coach has to make a decision. It’s just another game. Whoever’s in at quarterback, whoever it’s going to be whether it’s Tommy or Grayson, we still going to go in like we gotta win, play hard, play as hard as we can and I expect this transition to be seamless.”
The junior also talked about what he’s seen from James since training camp to this point in the season.
“I’ve really noticed his leadership increase, especially the practice directly after the game,” said Franklin. “I saw him with so much confidence and I already like the guy so much, we all do. We all hang out with him like after football. We’ll just go out and chill. We’re such a tight-knit group with both QB’s, that’s why it’s such a seamless transition because we like both the guys so it’s nice.”
Okpala emphasized the next man up mentality when asked about the switch.
“Really just next man up,” said Okpala. “Obviously, as we all know, Grayson’s a guy so moving on with Grayson, planning to keep going forward with that.”
He also talked about what he thinks the defense can do better to help with the transition.
“Honestly, just play how we did last week,” said Okpala. “Just put a lot of pressure on the opposing offense, get them off the field and help our offense be in the best position to win.”
The Eagles take on the Mustangs on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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