Everything Boston College Head Coach Bill O’Brien Said After Day Five of Fall Camp
Boston College continued its fall camp on Wednesday as the team gets ready to open the season on Sept. 2 against Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla.
Head coach Bill O’Brien spoke to the media after practice to give an update on how things are going so far.
Below is a transcript of everything O’Brien said.
Q: It felt like your best practice of camp so far just overall in terms of competition and intensity. Do you feel the same way?
O’BRIEN: “I think we’re getting better. I don’t wanna get into rating the practices but I definitely think we’re improving. They’re approaching practice the right way. They show up every day with a good energy, good mindset, they’re trying to practice the way we want to practice and I’m really happy with how they approach things.”
Q: Bill, I wanna ask you about the 30,000 foot view right now of the operations here and your team. How are you feeling at this point going into your fifth day?
O’BRIEN: “Yeah this is five. I feel good. I think this football team really works hard. I think we’ve got a lot of good players, I really do. I think these guys have really bought into how we want to do things on and off the field. I really love the staff- the operations staff, the medical staff, the recruiting staff, the equipment staff, all the way around, everybody’s been very supportive and so as long as we can all just continue to try and get better every single day, I think we’re on the right track. We got a long way to go but I’m happy with where we are right now.”
Q: For yourself personally, leaving the NFL, coming here obviously this year. Just in terms of the differences it does seem like somewhat of a pro-system you’re putting in place here. Is that the case?
O’BRIEN: “We’ve been in the NFL for awhile, some of us, and so we have a lot of people that we know in that league that want to come spend some time with us. We have three former NFL head coaches on the staff- myself, Doug Marrone, and Rob Chudzinski so we’re all a member of the fired football coaches association. It’s been good. I think our guys are understanding again how we want to practice. The approach to it is a philosophy that’s been put together over many many years. These guys understand what we’re trying to do. They’re very smart kids. They come with the right mentality every single day so it’s been good. I’ve been really happy with how they approach it.”
Q: In terms of the practice schedule, five days, tomorrow’s the first off day and then you go every day next week or close to it. What went into the scheduling?
O’BRIEN: “What we did is when we reported, we had the day that we reported and we had a lot of administrative meetings and things like that. Then the next day, we had a day off from practice so that was counted as a day off so we could get some football installation done and then we started practice the day after that. So, we’ve already had a day off, it that makes sense, so I think the way we’ve laid this out is pretty good. Now next week, like you said, is going to be a grind but that’s what training camp is, it’s a grind. It’s about trying to get your body calloused to what the season is going to be so it’s about building a foundation with individuals and units and obviously the team. I think we’re on the right track with our schedule.”
Q: And the night practice on Saturday, if it doesn’t work or whatever, what went into that thought process?
O’BRIEN: “We play at night, the opening game is at night. I think when these guys get into that stadium with the lights on, we’ve had our walkthroughs at night in the stadium and that excites these guys, so I think it’s a combination of being ready to play at night, give them that experience, what that’s going to be like just from the lights and fielding kicks and catching passes and having to play at night with the lights on and then the overall excitement of playing at night. A lot of these guys played high school football, Friday night, Saturday night, so I think that’ll be a good night for us.”
Q: Coach, is is refreshing to be at a practice like this, college practice, just a different energy than what you see at an NFL training camp around this time of year?
O’BRIEN: “College is different than pro football. As you guys know, I’ve been in pro football for awhile and I love pro football but there’s a certain spirit in college football that’s really pretty cool and these kids are very spirited. They really understand what they’re trying to get done in practice but they do have fun doing it and so there’s a good energy on the team, s good enthusiasm, it’s not false enthusiasm. I think they’re really genuine in their energy and what they’re trying to do so it’s been good to be around that.”
Q: Five days in, how do you feel about the team right now?
O’BRIEN: “I feel good. Look, we got a long way to go but through five practices, I think we’re getting better. There’s definitely areas we have to continue to get better. Technically, we have to get better at understanding all three phases of the game scheme-wise. There’s individuals that need to continue to get better to really help us this year but I think the team as a whole is in a good spot. I think they’re in fairly good condition for this time of training camp, I think they’re understanding how we want to practice and our approach to practice and so we’re fairly organized out there which is a good thing, and so we just got to keep trying to get better.”
Q: This is not intended to be a whole conversation about the transfer portal but I look at this roster here and a lot of these guys I see other colleges next to their names. What percentage of these guys are your guys that you’ve been able to get here as opposed to were already here and are with the old system and now coming into yours?
O’BRIEN: “I would say that every guy that is on this team right now was here when we got here. Freshmen came in but they were recruited by the previous staff. To me, that’s something that I preach to these guys all the time- we’re one, we’re a family, we don’t really care where you came from, how you got here, we’re trying to build this Boston College football program relative to who you guys are and where we see guys being successful. Our recruiting is in the ’25 and ’26 class right now so these guys that are here right now were brought in by the previous staff and I think that’s even better when you think about these guys buying in and trying to do things the way the way we want to do them. It’s a new way of doing things and they’ve been really good about it.”
Q: What unit in particular has stood out? Defensive line, that front four is obviously good but there’s depth behind them too. What have you thought about that?
O’BRIEN: “Yeah, there is depth. I think that when you look at the first four guys with Donovan and Cam Horsley and George Rooks and Neto, I think that is a good front four. Those guys have worked hard to get better, they’ve definitely improved in the six months that we’ve been here. When you look at the guys that will play a lot, I don’t even want to list them behind them especially inside like Sed McConnell, Owen Stoudmire, these guys are really good players. You’ve got Josiah Griffin, Q Hutchins, Edwin Kolenge on the edge. You’re right, I think we have some really good depth there and I’m excited to see how these guys will play.”
Q: How many of these positions are essentially up for grabs? Are these guys at the position now, you’ve mentioned some names, guys who have been here and some starters right? Can they get pushed by some of these other guys?
O’BRIEN: “Absolutely. I think there’s a lot of competition on the roster. If you look at running back for example, there’s some guys that are really playing well. You’ve got Kye Robicahux from last year but then you have Treshaun Ward and you have DayDay Jones from right here in Boston and then we’ve got a freshman that just came in, Turbo, who’s really had a good training camp. So you’ve got four guys right there that are playing really well so that’s just an example, I could probably say that about a lot different positions. Will Ozzy Trapilo start at right tackle? Yes. Will Drew Kendall start at center? Yes. But there are other positions that are definitely in competition for, no doubt.”
Q: Health-wise, where are you guys at right now?
O’BRIEN: “I think it’s okay. We’ve had a couple bumps and bruises, nothing major, knock on wood, thank god. These guys have tried to practice on their feet and I think that helps when they understand how to practice, kind of like going back to the pro model that we were talking about, we’re trying to teach them about playing on your feet. We don’t do a lot of live things until we get full pads on so I think it’s been okay. Normal training camp soft tissue things and things like that but I think so far, knock on wood, it’s been pretty good.”
Q: Coach, how much does it help having all these pro head coaches around? Does it set more of a professional feeling with the program? Do you think that’s good for the staff, for the players?
O’BRIEN: “I think so. I think these guys look out there and there’s scouts here, we’ve opened up the practices to the NFL scouts as much as they want to come here, they can come anytime they want other than the day before a game. They can come anytime they want so that’s one thing. Then, we have a lot of guys that visit us, we had Mark Whipple here today, Jack Del Rio like you guys saw earlier, then we have guys with pro experience on our staff with Tim Lewis and Darrell Wyatt and Doug Marrone and Rob Chudzinski and Will Lawing, so we have a lot of guys on the staff with NFL experience so I think for our players to see that some of us have coached at the highest level, I think that’s good. It shows that we’re a competent staff, we know what we’re talking about, and these guys have followed our lead to his point which has been good.”
Read More From Fall Camp:
Boston College Running Back Kye Robichaux Says Room Will ‘Shock A Lot of People This Year’
Boston College Defensive End Donovan Ezeiruaku Shares Expectations For The Season
Jerand Bradley Shares Why He Chose to Transfer to Boston College
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