What one piece of advice would HC Bill O'Brien give to first year #NFL HC Jerod Mayo?
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00And he joins us this morning bright and early.
00:02Hey, Bill.
00:04Hey, Greg.
00:05Hey, guys.
00:06How we doing?
00:07Good.
00:07How are you?
00:09I'm doing all right.
00:10Yeah, I mean, it's been a tough week.
00:12We've gotten after it this week in practice.
00:15And we got to be ready to go Friday night.
00:18So it's been an interesting week.
00:20But we're on the right track, I think.
00:22Well, I noticed that you said this week
00:25that you essentially need to, as the kids would say,
00:30take control of the Ox, or play DJ, or MC,
00:37or musical director.
00:38And you are not pleased with the musical selections
00:41at Alumni Stadium.
00:43Is that accurate?
00:45So when we came out for the last home game,
00:49there wasn't any in the warm-ups.
00:51I'm talking about pregame.
00:52And there wasn't really anybody in the stands.
00:54And the music, it felt like I was at an opera.
00:59You know what I mean?
01:01Ave Maria.
01:02And so, yeah, Ave Maria.
01:03You know what I mean?
01:04And so we're getting ready for a football game.
01:06I'm not blaming anybody.
01:07I'm just saying, so maybe we can get some people
01:10in the stands at 7 PM instead of right after kickoff.
01:13And we'll play some decent music.
01:15And if the music doesn't work this time,
01:17we'll try something else for the next home game.
01:19But I just try to get it going a little bit in the warm-ups.
01:24You know who could put together a fantastic playlist
01:28and essentially be your musical director at Boston College?
01:33Chime.
01:34No, Matt Patricia would be interested.
01:36If you're hiring.
01:46Here we go.
01:49Bill, when you look at your team,
01:52you have your past couple of weeks,
01:54you have a game where you have the lead.
01:56And then you have a game where you basically
01:58fight back and score 21 points in the third quarter,
02:00have an opportunity, fourth and one for midfield,
02:04and get a turnover on downs.
02:06With your team, you show the ability, all right,
02:09we can take a lead, but we got to be able to hold on to it.
02:11Then you show the ability, we were down,
02:14we were able to get back, but we weren't able to finish.
02:16What are some of the messages that you can take away
02:20that might be positive from, you know,
02:24situations where past couple of weeks look pretty bleak?
02:29Yeah, definitely, we're a streaky team, you know,
02:31and so what we have to learn is that's not what you want to be.
02:36You want to be a consistent team,
02:37and we want to try to make sure these guys understand
02:41how important it is to play 60 minutes.
02:43When you look at these games in college football
02:46around the country, you know,
02:47these games, a lot of them go down to the wire.
02:49It doesn't matter who's playing each other.
02:51It doesn't really matter.
02:52So we've got to deal with the adversity better.
02:55We've got to deal with the success better.
02:57And so I think that's one thing that we've really tried to,
03:00you know, we've talked about it a lot this week,
03:02but we've also worked on it in practice, right?
03:04Like sudden change things and, you know,
03:07things that come up in games where,
03:08hey, man, look, we got to play the next play.
03:11And so that's what we're trying to do.
03:12These guys, man, they work hard.
03:14They're trying to do it the way we're doing it.
03:16We want them to do it.
03:17And, you know, along the lines of coaching too,
03:19we've got to coach better.
03:20We've got to adjust better during a game
03:22and things like that.
03:23Bill, a big difference from the beginning of the season
03:26when you guys were performing really well
03:27to the last three weeks with the buy in the middle
03:30is turnovers have kind of become your Achilles heel.
03:33What's been the difference there?
03:34Is it just going against harder defenses
03:37or is it something that you guys
03:39have struggled with internally?
03:43Yeah, it's ridiculous.
03:44I mean, we can't, we cannot put the ball on the ground.
03:49We can't throw interceptions.
03:51You know, some interceptions are going to happen,
03:52you know, if a ball bounces the wrong way
03:54or something like that.
03:55But, you know, we have to be,
03:59when we carry the football, Courtney, for Boston College,
04:02when we handle the football,
04:03we're carrying the hopes and dreams of everybody
04:05in the school, in the team.
04:08And so like, we have to understand that.
04:10Like the possession of the ball,
04:11there's nothing more important than that.
04:14And I believe really strongly that if we,
04:17you know, take care of the ball better,
04:19then we'll be in position to win games.
04:21But we turn it over,
04:21we turn it over on Virginia Tech's five yard line.
04:24We're going in to score.
04:25You know, we can't do that.
04:26And we've emphasized that this week
04:28and hopefully it gets better.
04:30Hey, Billy, I know it's a pet peeve of mine,
04:33but it's my, you know, my own problem.
04:35However, it's obscene to me that Notre Dame
04:38is expected to be one of the 12 playoff teams.
04:41They lose at home to Northern Illinois,
04:43who's mediocre at best.
04:46Is there, I don't know, I mean, I guess it's just,
04:48you know, it's good for the sport, but have you,
04:51does it irk you as much as it irks me
04:53that every year Notre Dame finds itself in a conversation
04:57it doesn't deserve to be in?
05:00Something happened, you know, a long time ago
05:02when Notre Dame was allowed to be,
05:05you know, I get it, it's money.
05:06I'm not, I understand what happens
05:08when they sign their NBC TV contract
05:12years and years ago and they became their own entity, right?
05:14So like they were on their own.
05:16Like even in the ACC, they're not really in football.
05:18They're really not a part of the ACC.
05:20It's just the other sports.
05:22So I'm not smart enough to really understand
05:24how that all happened, but like, you know,
05:26just because they're Notre Dame
05:27and because they're on their own
05:29doesn't mean they're automatically qualified
05:31for certain things.
05:32And so I think like, and I have a lot of respect
05:35for Marcus Freeman and how he runs his program.
05:37I'm just talking about Notre Dame as a football program,
05:40you know, shouldn't they be in a conference?
05:42I don't know, you know, what do I know?
05:46Bill, you keep talking about how hard
05:47this team is working in practice.
05:50Would you say that your team is not soft?
05:55Our team's not soft.
05:56No, I love our team.
05:59Our team plays hard.
06:01That's the least of our problems.
06:03Our team has to learn how not to lose
06:08before we can learn how to win.
06:09Meaning like, you know, the question you asked before
06:11about, you know, we gotta take care of the ball.
06:12We gotta stop the run, you know,
06:14meaning we gotta be in our gap.
06:16We gotta be in the right gap.
06:17The coaching wise, we gotta make better adjustments.
06:19You know, we're all in this together.
06:21Everybody at Boston College is in it together.
06:23When we lose, we lose as a team.
06:24It's not one side of the ball loses,
06:26the other side of the ball wins.
06:28That's just not the way it is in football.
06:30And so we've talked a lot about this week,
06:32like, you know, a lot about that.
06:34You know, how we can come together,
06:35play complimentary football
06:37and play together as a team.
06:39But no, this is a tough football team.
06:41This team will play hard.
06:42I think every time I go out there before the game
06:45or even after the game, the opposing coach always says,
06:47man, you got a tough team.
06:48Well, that's good.
06:49I mean, it is good, but we gotta learn how to win
06:51and to stop, you know, losing games by making mistakes.
06:56But toughness is not our problem.
06:58Courtney's alluding to it,
06:59but Gerard Mayo may have stepped in it here or there
07:03a few times recently.
07:04If you, having been a first year head coach
07:08in the NFL, if you could only give,
07:09if you could only give one piece of advice to Gerard Mayo,
07:13what would that be?
07:15You know, first of all, Greg,
07:17I understand the question, I really do,
07:18but I'm not in the place to give advice to Gerard Mayo.
07:21I mean, I coached seven years in Houston.
07:24You know, I know Gerard, you know,
07:26I coached with Gerard for a year.
07:28I was on the staff when he was a player.
07:30You know, look, I think just generally speaking though,
07:33answering your question,
07:34I think it's really important for, you know,
07:37all younger coaches to understand,
07:40like it is very, very difficult to be a head coach.
07:42When you get into that seat and, you know,
07:46maybe you don't have a whole lot of experience,
07:48like it's just a different world, you know,
07:51to go from being a position coach
07:52to being the head football coach, you know, it's hard.
07:55And there's gonna be some learning experiences
07:59that take place.
07:59And, you know, to me, it's like all about
08:03keeping the team together,
08:04especially when you're in a situation.
08:06It's very difficult.
08:06I was there last year, we were terrible.
08:08I mean, it was hard, man.
08:10And we had a lot of good guys on the team,
08:12but, you know, there was just a brutal situation.
08:14And it's important to try to keep them together
08:17and keep them playing as good as they can
08:19and try to get them to improve every week.
08:20That's the hardest thing.
08:21But being a first year head coach
08:23in the National Football League is, you know,
08:26you're well compensated, like no doubt about it.
08:28Nobody's feeling sorry for you,
08:30but it's a very, very difficult job.
08:33Given how difficult the job is,
08:34were you surprised that Bill Belichick
08:36was so public in his critique of Jerron?
08:40Well, I think Bill, you know, Bill's,
08:42the one thing about Bill is, you know,
08:43he's a very honest guy.
08:44Like he's very, very smart.
08:45He's gonna tell you what he sees
08:47and that's what his role is right now.
08:49He's in the media.
08:51And, you know, I haven't talked to Bill
08:53in a long time since the summertime,
08:55but, you know, he's doing what he believes
08:57is right for his job, right?
08:59So he's in the media and he's,
09:01he's, you know, he's honest in his assessment
09:04of every team, you know, when I've listened to it.
09:06I haven't listened to it a whole lot,
09:07but, you know, it's not just the Patriots.
09:09I mean, I think he assesses every team
09:12the way he sees it.
09:13And, you know, that's what his role is in the media.
09:16Do you think you'll make the wedding guest list?
09:20The wedding?
09:20What's that?
09:22Do I think I'll make it?
09:23Yeah.
09:24No, no, I don't think I'll be on the wedding guest list.
09:27I'm not, but the thing of it is like,
09:30I'm not a big wedding guy.
09:31You know what I mean?
09:32Like, I don't, I'm not sure that I,
09:34I would politely probably decline the invitation anyways.
09:37Well, you're like Wiggy.
09:38Wiggy can't stand destination weddings.
09:40He doesn't want to spend to go to your wedding.
09:42Do you feel that same way?
09:44Yeah, I'm with Wiggy.
09:45Like, I'm not into weddings.
09:46Like, I don't, I'm not, you know,
09:48my favorite things to do are like, you know,
09:504th of July, you know, Christmas, Thanksgiving,
09:54but weddings themselves, like not a big, not a big wedding.
09:58Yeah.
09:58I don't want to waste my vacation
10:00going to your destination wedding
10:02at some place I might not want to go to.
10:03You just lost Courtney, by the way.
10:05It's her favorite thing.
10:06If she could have 70 of them, she'd have 70 weddings.
10:09It's her favorite thing in the world.
10:12My wife loves weddings.
10:13So like, I get it, but like, I don't,
10:15I'm not a big wedding guy.
10:17Bill O'Brien, it is always a pleasure.
10:19Go get them tomorrow night.
10:21I think Courtney's going tomorrow night.
10:22Courtney's going to be there tomorrow night
10:24and get that playlist ready.
10:27We will, we'll talk to you again next week.
10:29Yes, sir.
10:30Thank you guys.
10:31Appreciate it.
10:32There he is.
10:33The great Bill O'Brien.
10:33So they need some boss man D-Lo and Big X to plug
10:36at music for the alumni stadium.
10:39Yeah, he's great.
10:40Oh, why don't you send them a text message?
10:41Well, I mean, you know, I mean, he, he,
10:44my name came right out of his mouth,
10:45so I'd be happy to step in.
10:48I think, I think Billy-O's tired of DJ Father Lahey.
10:52Sean, they're going to pay you in meatballs
10:54and a cup, if that's okay.
10:55Honestly, I dig that.