Everything Boston College Football Head Coach Bill O'Brien Said Ahead of Virginia
The Boston College Eagles (4-1, 1-0 ACC) football team is gearing up to start its ACC slate and it kicks off with a matchup against the Virginia Cavaliers (3-1, 1-0 ACC) on Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Va.
On Wednesday, Eagles head coach Bill O’Brien spoke to the media during his weekly press conference to discuss the game.
Below is a transcript of everything O’Brien said.
Q: So you guys have allowed just 26 points in the second half this season, what do you think has allowed you to hit your stride as the game has progressed as the year’s gone on?
O’BRIEN: It’s hard to pinpoint one thing. I do think that these guys, the coaches and the players together, have made adjustments at halftime and have been able to go out and execute at a better level. The thing is, again, it goes back to we have to start better. We’ve been behind at the half quite a bit and I’d like to try to get off to a better start, but give the coaches and the players credit for adjusting at halftime.
Q: [On sideline tablets at games]. I wanted to get your perspective as somebody who’s been in the NFL for a long time but now I think colleges are letting you watch all 22 on the sideline. What are your high level thoughts on that? How has that benefited you? How do you use it? Tell me a little bit about that if you can.
O’BRIEN: I think that over the course of 32 years of doing this, technology’s improved so much. The way that we watch film, the tablets on the sideline, the ability to film practice from a tower that’s controlled by the video guys in the office, there’s several other examples and I think we have to take advantage of that. I actually think, not on this subject and I’ll answer your question in a second, but we need to use technology when it comes to the spot of a first down, whether it’s a first down or not, or whether it’s a touchdown or not, a goal-line camera, things like that because we have those things now and so I think that when it comes to a tablet, it’s been a big improvement. I really think it helps the play of the game, it helps the rhythm of the game, the players have a better understanding of how to play, there’s less sloppy play, I really believe that. Whether it’s the coach to quarterback communication, coach to linebacker communication or the tablet on the sideline, I think it helps to clean the game up. So I think it’s a good thing.
Q: Just from a scheming standpoint, not getting into obviously one week game plan, but has the technology then helped you as a coach deepen your understanding of how things go versus what you might’ve seen from the old cameras?
O’BRIEN: Absolutely. I mean the way that you can break film down now, you can organize the film, look at it anyway that you want to, down in distance, explosive plays, tackles for loss, sacks, different areas of the field, different situations in the game. The big key to that is your graduate assistants, the guys that break the film down. They have to do a great job of labeling each play the correct way. Back in the day, you used to draw the plays on a pad so you padded all the games, took you four hours to do one game. Now, these guys entering the information into the computer, they have to do a good job of making sure the information is correct because if it’s not, it’s not good information. So, it all kind of works together but technology has helped a lot, no doubt.
Q: Coach, you mentioned starting off faster. Is that just an offensive thing? How does it pertain to defense and I guess for both sides, is that more of an execution issue, or coming up with better game plans, what do you think is the solution for that?
O’BRIEN: It’s a little bit of everything there, it's a little bit of everything. I think both sides of the ball, I think even special teams, we kicked the ball out of bounds on the first play of the game last week and we got a good kicker, Liam Connor, but he kicked it out of bounds. We can’t start the game that way, it’s the first play of the game. Then, offensively and defensively, can’t come out there and dip your toe in the water. You got to come out ready to play. Schematically, we got to adjust faster. It’s everybody together. Everybody works together to try to be successful so there’s no one part of it, there’s never going to be a finger pointing situation at all. If it’s anybody's fault, it’s my fault so we’ve got to really harp on it and preach it and try to get better at starting these games.
Q: What do you think it’ll take to create change so that we do see this technology utilized the way that it could be?
O’BRIEN: I think anytime when it comes to the game of football, I think there’s so many great retired coaches, coaches that are involved in different aspects of football right now. Right now, you’ve got two of the best coaches of all-time out there, Bill Belichick and Nick Saban. I always think that if you can put a group of eight former coaches together, pro and college, the best high school coaches, I’m telling you like a committee of eight and let those guys decide how the game should be ruled, let those guys talk about the technology and how the technology can be used because I think what happens is sometimes you have people making decisions that have never coached, have never played, and they’re great people, don’t get me wrong, but if you’ve never coached and you’ve never played, how do you really have a total understanding of what you’re talking about when it comes to the rules of the game, the technology of the game, and all that. So, I’m a big proponent of former coaches helping out relative to the game.
Q: And just on your team, you mentioned the fact that you’re obviously pleased the way you’re able to come from behind in games, want to get off to a better start. Can teams kind of fall into a pattern of knowing you can make plays late in the game and maybe not having the urgency earlier?
O’BRIEN: I think that’s a key, like you gotta get out of that pattern. You want to try and play a complete game. It’s very, very difficult to play 60 minutes of perfect football but that’s what we’re striving for. You’re striving for perfection on every single play. You’re never going to obtain it, it’s not anything that you’re gonna obtain but that’s why you talk to these guys constantly about one play at a time and understanding their job on that particular play call, what their job is, no role is more important than some other role. Every role is huge. We just keep preaching that and hopefully these guys will be ready to play because, again, going on the road against a really good team, if we’re not ready to play, it’s going to be a long day.
Q: I know when I look at these different depth charts on all these different teams, there’s always these hybrid names like you always see these different positions that aren’t just linebacker, they’re not just cornerback anymore. There’s all these different blended positions. How has that developed from what you’ve seen that you’ve seen all these different skill sets come along and now you’re seeing guys play linebacker/safety/hybrid or receiver/tight end/hybrid?
O’BRIEN: Yeah, I mean the athleticism of the game has changed so much over time that you have guys, like on our team, Carter Davis, he can play corner and safety. You’ve got guys like Kamari Morales, he can play tight end and full back. You’ve got Reed Harris. Reed Harris is a tight end and a receiver so it’s really the versatility of the game, the way the schemes have changed over time, especially in college with more of the spread, you’ve got obviously the best example is you’ve got guys that play like linebacker that can also be defensive ends. We use Bam Crouch in different ways, Donovan plays at the second level sometimes and then he plays off the edge, he plays inside, he plays outside so the versatility and the way the coaches have been able to adapt to the versatility. The most important thing about it is the players. What is the skill set, your ability to evaluate the player and use the player the right way is so important as a coach. That’s huge.
Q: Can you speak to the depth of the wide receiver room and just how those guys are coming along overall?
O’BRIEN: Yeah, look we have a lot of depth at wide receiver and I think that those guys, they practice really hard, they’re coached really well. We’ve probably got 8 or 9 games, I mean even to the point where today on the scout team, Ish [Ismael] Zamor over here on the offensive scout team, he was on fire today. And so, we have a lot of good guys in that room and we have to do as good of a job as we can as coaches of spreading the ball around and making sure they understand how valuable each one of them are.
