BC faces Virginia Tech tonight! How is BC dealing with Jackson and other injuries? How is their depth right now? Thoughts on game tonight?
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00:00He joins us this morning from Blacksburg, Virginia.
00:03Good morning, Bill.
00:05Morning, Greg.
00:05Morning, guys.
00:06How are we doing?
00:07I was looking at the local attractions,
00:11and may I suggest the coal mining heritage park.
00:16Looks like it might make a good field trip for the fellas
00:20later on today.
00:23Yeah, I think the field trip will
00:24exist of a couple of meals, some meetings, get on the bus,
00:28and go play the game.
00:29That'll be a field trip.
00:30I like that attitude.
00:32We don't have time for that other nonsense.
00:33Am I right?
00:34It's football.
00:35That's right.
00:36Will you guys be eating a turkey leg
00:39while you were down there?
00:40Because they sell those at concession.
00:42Weird eating your mascot.
00:44Yeah, I told the team yesterday, I said,
00:47I'm not into radioactive turkey legs or anything like that.
00:50So no, we will not be partaking in turkey legs down here.
00:55Crab cakes and football, that's all we need.
00:58Bill, Virginia Tech, very hostile environment.
01:02I've been in that stadium before.
01:03It seems like a great place to play.
01:06They're a scrappy team.
01:08They constantly bring out the sand man, I think it's called.
01:11They have the seismology meter or whatever.
01:14They bring that out to test how the effect of the crowd
01:17on the Earth's rotation or whatever.
01:22What's always the message to your team when you play
01:24a conference opponent in a place
01:28where it's going to get rowdy and then it's a team that's
01:31going to be very scrappy?
01:32What's the mindset for you to the kids going into this game?
01:37We should embrace this.
01:39These guys should embrace going into a place
01:43that prides itself.
01:45I think it's like what Greg was saying.
01:47It's the fifth loudest stadium in the country.
01:51They've measured it however they measure the decibels.
01:55We should love this.
01:56This is what college football is all about.
01:59We've had a good week of practice.
02:00These guys are very excited.
02:02You can tell sometimes when you get on the bus
02:06or you're in the hotel last night in the meetings.
02:09These guys are ready to go.
02:11We've got to play good football.
02:12We've got to play very sharp, focused football.
02:14We've got to take care of the ball.
02:16But we believe that we're ready to go, no doubt about it.
02:20Bill, having all that time off in between the loss,
02:23two weeks ago, and now this game,
02:25what have you learned about your guys?
02:27How different are they going into this game
02:29than they were coming off the field against Virginia?
02:32I think that these guys showed up.
02:34We had some time here.
02:35So last week, we had three very difficult practices,
02:38very physical practices.
02:40The coaches, we spent a lot of time on cell scout.
02:44Here's some things we can do better as coaches.
02:46And the guys, the team, they approached it the right way.
02:49We had a good week this week.
02:50We have really good leadership.
02:51I've talked to you guys about that.
02:53We have six captains that really lead this team the right way.
02:57And so I think they've approached it really well.
03:00Like I always tell you guys, I enjoy coaching the team.
03:03They show up every day to go to work.
03:05And I think we've had a good week,
03:07and now we have to go do it.
03:09What did you like or not like about what
03:14you saw from Drake Mays' debut as an NFL starter?
03:19I mean, I think that the guy's going
03:22to be an excellent football player in the NFL.
03:24I mean, the guy, he's got an excellent arm.
03:28He's very accurate.
03:29He's very instinctive.
03:30He can run.
03:32The throw that he made, the booty, the deep ball to booty
03:36was a great throw.
03:37That's not an easy throw.
03:39You have to help the receiver down the red line.
03:42And he made a great throw on that.
03:44He scrambled.
03:45I saw where he hit Hunter on a scramble,
03:48and that was a big play.
03:49I think he handled the offense well.
03:52So I think the guy's got a great future.
03:54And again, it's not going to happen overnight.
03:57They'll play.
03:58The thing about Houston is Houston's
04:00really good on defense, but they really don't do a whole lot.
04:03They do what they do.
04:04And so it's going to be the teams that spin the dial
04:06that you never know really what's coming next.
04:09Those are the teams that are going to be difficult for him.
04:12And he'll just have to keep battling.
04:14But I think he's a really good player.
04:17Bill, you guys have reached a point of the season
04:19where all college football teams are going to deal with injuries.
04:22But you guys are dealing with that with Amari Jackson
04:25out for the season with a torn ACL.
04:26How are you guys?
04:28How do you feel prepared for that?
04:29Do you have enough depth to be able to fill that gap?
04:34We do.
04:35We do.
04:36It's hard to replace Amari.
04:37He's an excellent player.
04:40But we have a few guys.
04:42We have a freshman named Ashton McShane.
04:44We have a grad transfer named Brykeese Brown
04:49that we feel can go over there and play.
04:51Ryan Turner is another guy transferred in here.
04:54Bill, isn't that the guy you gave the $150,000 verbal guarantee to?
04:58On the transfer?
05:02No.
05:03I want to clearly state, as Greg Hill leads me down this road,
05:08that I don't make verbal guarantees.
05:10No, no.
05:11No, it's an earn it philosophy.
05:13Hashtag earn it.
05:14That's an IOU.
05:17Yeah, an IOU.
05:18I owe you this later on when you graduate.
05:21No, but I feel good about the guys that are playing out there.
05:24We'll mix it up, and we'll have to help.
05:27These guys, Virginia Tech, have some really good receivers.
05:31So we'll have to help those guys.
05:33But I think we're in pretty decent shape with the depth.
05:36Speaking of NIL, we had an interesting discussion,
05:40I think it was last week, about this company
05:42that Kendrick Perkins started, which essentially offers loans
05:48to college athletes in advance of getting NIL with the hope
05:55that they get it and then can pay the loan back.
05:56Is that, in your mind, a good thing or a bad thing?
06:04It'd be hard for me to, I don't really know about that.
06:06I'm sorry I'm not read up on what Kendrick Perkins is doing.
06:10I don't know.
06:11I think that eventually, this is what I believe,
06:14I think it should be regulated eventually.
06:17Eventually, it has to be where people in Congress that
06:22have an interest in college athletics, especially
06:25football and basketball, they help regulate it.
06:30And so what does that mean?
06:32Well, what it means is maybe there should be a cap.
06:37You can only spend this much, and then it goes.
06:39I don't even know.
06:40I really don't even know.
06:42It is wild right now.
06:45There was one where you just saw maybe
06:47where a guy was committed to Clemson, a quarterback,
06:50and then he flipped to go to Notre Dame.
06:54I don't know this for a fact, but that involved money.
06:57And I think that before they've even stepped on campus,
07:02I think it's just very difficult to say
07:04to a guy who hasn't done anything for your program yet,
07:07hey, man, we're going to give you this amount of money
07:10before you've even put on a BC helmet.
07:13I don't know, man.
07:14I'm not into that.
07:16Maybe the loan would help.
07:17I don't know.
07:17There was a kid, Blake Heber from Central Catholic.
07:20He was teammates with my son, Billy.
07:22I love the fact that we get to talk to you,
07:24because you give us a world that we don't get to see,
07:27that I'm fascinated with, because I have two kids that
07:30play college football.
07:32What's the communication like?
07:34Because you brought up Donovan, I
07:37don't want to mess up his last name, the defensive end,
07:40who's having a great year.
07:42What's your communication with these guys that are obviously
07:46trying to do everything they can to help you guys win,
07:49but they're also trying to get to the next level?
07:53How do you incorporate them understanding,
07:57OK, you can do both, and the help that you can give them
08:00because you've been at that level?
08:02I mean, is that something that you really
08:04have a great advantage of when you are recruiting and saying,
08:07hey, I got a pipeline to the NFL?
08:09Because that's what every kid who puts on a helmet
08:12is ultimate dream is.
08:15Yeah, that's definitely one of our selling points, Wig.
08:17And his name is Donovan Azaraku, and he will play in the NFL.
08:21And so on our staff, besides myself,
08:24we have Doug Marone, who is the head coach of the Buffalo
08:27Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
08:29And then we have Rob Chudzinski, who
08:31has a lot of experience in the NFL,
08:33who's the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
08:35Obviously, we have Baird here.
08:37Actually, Matt, Patricia was wondering if you have
08:40any room for him over there.
08:41Oh, I need a lot of room.
08:43We're filled up.
08:45We're filled up.
08:46No room right now.
08:47On the offensive staff?
08:48I mean.
08:50But we do have different educational programs
08:55that we try to implement throughout the year.
08:57And one of them, we haven't done it yet.
08:59We're going to do it probably in our next bi-week.
09:01But we'll be to educate these guys on the National Football
09:04League and what it takes to make it to that league.
09:07We've already talked to one-on-one
09:08with guys like Donovan and Ozzy Trapillo and guys
09:12that are in there last year.
09:13But I think that that's one of the things we can do.
09:15And I think if you look at the history of Boston
09:17College in the National Football League, it's very, very good.
09:21Teams want guys in that league.
09:24They want guys that are going to be accountable,
09:26that are going to be focused and smart and be good teammates
09:31and understand the work ethic that it
09:32takes to make it that level.
09:34And I think that's one of the things
09:35that we sell here at BC.
09:37You can do both.
09:38You can be a really good student.
09:40And you can play in the NFL.
09:41We have the experience to help you get there.
09:43And so that's kind of how we communicate it.
09:45And Billy, just on the one last one, Greg, if I could.
09:48So there's a lot of Patriots in the news this season
09:52for the wrong reasons off the field.
09:54Some issues don't need to break down individually.
09:56What is the role that you had when
09:58you were with the Texans as the head coach?
10:01And how much responsibility falls
10:03on the people that run the organization when
10:05you have players that are not doing what they're supposed
10:09to do away from the facility?
10:11Yeah, so basically, most of the years I was at the Texans,
10:16it was a partnership and running the team
10:17with the general manager.
10:18So you and the general manager ran the team together.
10:22And I think that's one of the issues, too,
10:24sometimes in the NFL.
10:25I'm not saying with the Patriots.
10:27I'm saying just in the NFL in general
10:28is that you have so many situations
10:30where the general manager and the head coach
10:32are not on the same page.
10:33They don't come from the same background.
10:36They don't believe in the same things.
10:39But that's how it's handled.
10:40And then obviously, the owner, at the end of the day,
10:43has the final say.
10:44And so if something happens, we didn't
10:47have too many things happen at the Texans when I was there.
10:50But if something happens relative to discipline,
10:54then the owner steps in.
10:55Obviously, the NFL is involved.
10:56But as the head coach, you're just part of a team.
10:59You're not the final decision maker on discipline.
11:01That's not really your role.
11:03You're just part of a team that you can give your input.
11:05Hey, we should suspend this guy, or we should give him a chance,
11:08or whatever it might be.
11:10It's just your opinion.
11:12You're not the final say in most NFL organizations.
11:16All right, Bill O'Brien, we will let you go and get to work
11:18and get ready for a hostile environment tonight.
11:21Go Eagles.
11:22Good luck.
11:22We'll be watching.
11:23Can't wait for that game.
11:24We will be watching this evening.
11:26And we'll talk to you again next week.
11:28Thank you, guys.
11:29I appreciate it.
11:30Appreciate it.
11:30All right, thank you.
11:31That's Bill O'Brien.
11:33Always a great interview.
11:34Yeah, it's always interesting to kind of like,
11:36you can get both worlds.
11:37You can get the NFL world, and you
11:38can get kind of what the college football world is like,
11:41and so forth.