Everything Boston College Football Head Coach Bill O’Brien Said Ahead of Week 3 Game vs. Missouri
The No. 24 Boston College Eagles football team has started preparations for its Week 3 game against the No. 6 Missouri Tigers in Columbia, Mo.
After practice on Tuesday, head coach Bill O’Brien spoke to the media about the team’s preparation for the contest.
Below is a transcript of everything O’Brien said.
Q: In the right position to be successful this weekend?
O’BRIEN: Yeah, I think that's the key, right? Certainly no question about it that you want to keep that going but we're only as good as our last practice and our next practice, you know what I mean? So this program's really got to really strive for consistency, gotta be able to sustain in every area. So whether it's red area efficiency or third down efficiency, doesn't matter overall. We've got to really look, to try to really, really focus on trying to get better every single day, every snap, every meeting. That's really what we talk about every single day.
Q: Think I know the answer to this, but what was your reaction when you found out you guys were ranked?
O’BRIEN: That’s great man, awesome. 24. That’s fantastic. Nah, I think it’s great for BC but really that’s really not our focus at all. It’s really about one day at a time, trying to get better, really. This is what I say to the team. Every day I go into the team meeting, ‘Can we get better today? Can we be better today than we were yesterday?’ You only have a few choices right, you either get better, you stay the same, or you get worse. So, we’ve got to continue to try and get better every day.
Q: Coach, back out on the road. Was there anything from the Florida State road trip, just logistically, that you might wanna change or maybe do differently that you saw that first time?
O’BRIEN: I mean, I hope the battery works on the plane on the way home, that would be the biggest thing. But no, I thought our trip was good. Hopefully we don't have to stay overnight in Columbia, Missouri.
Q: Grayson back today. What’d you like from him today?
O’BRIEN: Yeah, good. No good to have him back. Great guy, thought he made some good reads today, thought he definitely improved. Still on a little bit of a pitch count relative to his injury. Young guys, like when you're a quarterback, or you're a punter, or you're a DB or wide receiver, like you got to take care of the things that, you know what I mean. I talk to these guys all the time about taking care of their bodies. You’re a quarterback, you’re right-handed, let’s take care of your right arm, arm care. If you're a DB or a wide receiver, let’s make sure you take care of your soft tissue, your hamstring, your quad, your groin, your calf. So Grayson learned that lesson, and it was good to have him back.
Q: Just in terms of scouting Missouri, what have you seen from them in terms of their strengths and what are you kind of scouting for this week?
O’BRIEN: Yeah, no question. Not going to really get into what I'm scouting for, but they're a really good team. Offensively, very, very good offensive line, very athletic, tough quarterback, Brady Cook, very, very good player. Can throw and run. Two really good running backs and very, very good at wide receiver. I'd say at least three or four of their wide receivers will play in the NFL. So we got a big challenge ahead of us, big, big challenge. Defensively, they’re an aggressive defense. They can run. They swarm to the ball. Their DBS are very, very physical, good cover players, play a lot of man coverage, so we got to be ready.
Q: Bill, the SEC is just such a brand in college football. Is there any way, where you're at in your program, it’s kind of a barometer just in week three?
O’BRIEN: It’s definitely a brand. I'm not going to argue with you on that, but when you think about the conferences, SEC, Big 10 and ACC, those are the top three conferences. I think we spent a lot of time at the ACC meetings of talking about how we can market the ACC better. I think we're doing that and again, I'm just saying I think the ACC is a very strong conference. I really do. I mean, I look at the teams in the ACC, and I look at the competition that we have to get ready for week in and week out in the ACC, and I think we have a very strong, strong conference. But yes, the SEC is a great conference, been good for a long time, lot of great teams top to bottom, and it's going to be a big challenge for us.
Q: You were talking about their receivers. Burden, is one of the best in the country. With an experienced quarterback, what kind of challenge does that bring?
O’BRIEN: Yeah, big time challenge, he's really good. He can run all the routes. Got good size, good speed, great hands, big time challenge. They have other guys too that are very challenging. So it's going to be, I mean, it's the best team we've played, no question about it, probably best team we played, BC-wise in a couple years, to be honest with you. So yes, it’s gonna be a big challenge. These guys will bring good energy. Our guys are good. They're tough, and when I say they're good, they're good to go right. They're showing up every day, they’ll be ready to go, but it'll be a big challenge for us.
Q: Coach, the week after this, you guys got Michigan State now.
O’BRIEN: Don’t worry about Michigan State. Just only thinking about Missouri. Appreciate the question, but only thing about Missouri.
Q: Logan Taylor. What have you seen from him since he’s been back?
O’BRIEN: Good, yeah. Great to have him back. Tough guy, big guy, athletic guy, really important to have him back. He’s my type of guy, my type of guy. He's a tough, nasty, he's a BC offensive lineman. So it's really good to have him back.
Q: Reed Harris did play the other day, what’d you see from him?
O’BRIEN: Yeah, getting better. Since the day we walked in here, when we got here, he was a tight end. Still use him at tight end. You move him around a lot, though, to the perimeter of the formation and it's a guy that I think we have a lot of faith in. He's getting better every day. He's got great work ethic. I don't know if you saw the little story on him a couple weeks ago. I think he's got a great background and so really happy for him. Got to keep it going.
Q: Obviously, how you approach things doesn't change… but I do remember some players saying before the Florida State game that them being ranked and starting the season with that kind of made it easier to lock in. What is being ranked and also playing a ranked team in terms of, not how you approach things, but just the mentality?
O’BRIEN: Yeah, I totally understand what you're saying. I think that the thing is, when you win, no matter you know, so you win a couple games, every game gets more important. I think that's the cool thing about football, because, like I always say, you don't play 162 games. You don't play 84, you only have 12 opportunities. So if you're winning, every game becomes more and more important and I think that's what these guys have to understand. Like every game becomes harder, more challenging. You got to put more time into it. You got to balance that with your class schedule, take care of your body, you know, those types of things. So these guys, it's a challenging time for these guys, and we educate them a lot on those things, but they have to actually go do it. And today was a good example. I thought they showed up with good energy today and got off to a pretty good start.
Q: This isn't like, oh man, this is the Matt Ryan days. And BC was ranked when AJ Dillon was here, right? It’s not that distant. They know what it's like, but also they know what it's like to walk around campus, get the extra attention. Like, your approach might change, but how do they manage the external?
O’BRIEN: Yeah, no, it's a great point. This program's won, like you said. I mean, it's not like this program's never won. This program's won before. We've only won two games so my approach to these guys is like, you know what, look at the end of the day, it's pretty cool to walk around campus and your fellow students say, “hey, great game on Saturday.” I get that. I'm totally all about that. I understand that. But at the end of the day, what got you there? What got you to 2-0. Well, it was the hard work. It was taking care of your body, it was going to class. It was no false starts, no neutral zone infractions, taking care of the ball, take the ball away, the basics of football is kind of what got you to this point. So that's what we always have to remember.
Q: And you mentioned the quality of the ACC and marketing better. I think just by nature of playing in the conference, you're going to play 3-4 of these games a year on average, right? You might have more, you might have less. The opportunities, how do you make sure that the team values not just being able to win every week but like when these opportunities do come up, they matter?
O’BRIEN: Yeah. I mean, it's another great point. I mean, like, we talk to these guys a lot. In their young lives, you know, they don't realize that as they get older, they won't have as many great opportunities as maybe they have right now in front of them. And so it's really important to concentrate on what, again, what got you here, and what we have to do to get better. And so taking advantage of an opportunity in your life, that's a good life lesson. Like, can you take advantage of the opportunity in front of you? We'll see, we'll find out. We talk a lot about that, and hopefully it hits home with them. And like I said today, I think we're off to a good start. It's a great bunch of guys, I really do, like there's been teams that I've coached or I've been around that I didn't really like, not many, most of the teams I've coached, I've really enjoyed coaching. I love coaching this team. This team's a very fun team to coach. They pay attention, they're on time, they practice hard. It's a great team to coach.
Q: And if I got it right, I think, and I could be wrong so don’t yell at me too bad about it. This is your first time leading a ranked team, if I caught it right.
O’BRIEN: Yeah, probably, yeah, because at Penn State, we couldn't, we couldn't be ranked.
Q: So what does it mean to do it with this group? You like them, you’re back here. Like to do it and also to do it so quickly here?
O’BRIEN: Yeah, I think the big thing for us is like where are we ranked at the end of the year? I think for us it's, yeah, it's great for Boston College. Look, I'm not going to deny that. I think it's great for recruiting and everything and what we're trying to build here but in the end, does it really matter that we're ranked in week two? I mean, it does to a certain degree. I'm not saying it doesn't, but, like, doesn't really matter. It matters, did you get better today, are you going to get better tomorrow, and where are you going to be after Saturday's game?
Q: As the head coach, was there any type of a message or a teaching point of, like, hey, 24 that's that's good. That's not where we want to end up.
O’BRIEN: That's right. I think that that is something that we talk about every day. Like, we had a great homily in our team mass on on Saturday by Father Jack. He talked about, like yeah you've gotten off to a good start but where do you want to be when it's all said and done on Saturday? D you want to take a step back? Do you want to take it you want to stay the same? What's your standard? Can you keep raising the standard? I think that's the key here for us. Can we sustain, can we raise the standard? Can we get better? Are we are we going to rest on our two game Laurels, like that's not really something to rest on, and we have a massive challenge, right? You've pointed it out. We've got Southeastern Conference team that's a ripe ninth in the country. I mean, they're really good football team. Eli has done a great job with that program. They're ahead of us as a program so let's see. It's pretty good measuring stick for the early in the season of our first season. So we'll see how it goes.
Q: Two games in. How do you feel about where the team's at, health and conditioning-wise?
O’BRIEN: Pretty good. I like the conditioning. I really do. I know some people pointed out some cramps and things in the first game, but it was hot down there. I think that was more to do with how they, lack of maybe their own hydration before the game than it was being on it. I think they're in good condition. We've done a lot of running. I've been pretty happy with that. And the health is decent, getting Logan Taylor back, getting Grayson James back, getting Cam Martinez back. That’s good and so I think that's a huge key, kind of going back to some of the questions before, which are awesome questions is the key to any good season, one of the keys is the health of your team. If you start losing, guys it’s difficult, right, it's very difficult. So hopefully we can keep that going.
KIM RANKIN