Following the triumph, the Eagles’ first-year head coach spoke with the media. On Monday night, the Boston College Eagles football team defeated the No. 10 Florida State Seminoles 28-13 in the season opener.
Following the game, head coach Bill O’Brien spoke with the media about what he witnessed. Here’s a transcript of everything O’Brien stated.
Q: It’s a significant deal to win your first game as head coach at Boston College. How does it feel to come up against the defending ACC champions?
O’BRIEN: Yes, it is good. I mean, look at these guys in that locker room; they’ve put in a lot of effort in the offseason, from winter conditioning to spring
Practice leads to summer practice and then training camp. So, I’m quite proud of these folks. They were resilient tonight, coming down here against a team that, in their thoughts, I’m sure, needed to win. That’s a huge message for BC, but it’s only one win. It’s only one, so we have to recognise that, and we have to be able to handle victory in the same manner that we handled adversity tonight, so, but we’re on the right route, for sure.
Q: Treshaun Ward, certainly, will return here. You saw this two years ago. Was it significant for him to enter the game and want to play an important role in it?
O’BRIEN: Yes. I mean, he’s from Florida State and then Kansas State. He’s found a home here at BC; he’s a grad, grad student, extremely brilliant guy who works very hard, takes a very business-like approach to everything he does, and volunteers a lot in the community, just like many of these guys do. So, I believe he’s an excellent fit for BC. We wished we could have him for longer. We only have him for this season, but he had a great day today behind beyond an
The offensive line led the way tonight. Q: Coach, 263 yards on the ground, averaging five yards per carry. What was it about the offensive line, in particular, that allowed three guys to get 70 yards each individual?
O’BRIEN: Yes, I believe they communicated well. I believe they had a good understanding of the game plan. They were expertly prepared by Matt Applebaum and Will Lawing. They did an excellent job. The offensive staff, defensive staff, and special team staff all did an excellent job, and the players were able to execute it. They executed, which was essential, and, again, Boston College has
to be known for its offensive line. We have a great tradition of offensive linemen here and hopefully these guys can keep that going. They started off on a good note tonight. Q: Hey, Coach, congratulations. The drive after Florida State made it 21 to 13. You guys responded right away. What’d you see in that drive and just how important was that it felt like the turning point in the game?
O’BRIEN: Yeah, that was a drive. You’re right. That was a drive where we had to answer. They were on a little bit of a roll there. And that’s always a big drive. That type of drives big in every football, every close game I’ve ever been associated with, you have to have an answer drive and our guys did a good job. We ran the ball quite a bit on that drive, and I thought the offensive line really established themselves during that drive, and give those guys a lot of credit.
Q: Hey, Bill, you’ve really preached poise and consistency throughout camp. Just how about the ability to not turn the ball over and only have one penalty all night?
O’BRIEN: Yeah, I thought they did a good job. Even the penalty was, I think it was on JJ. He just got a little too close to the returner. He was down there very fast, which was a good thing to see. We’ll fix that. But yeah, I thought they played with poise, you know, even at the end there, I thought Neto Okpala did a great job of not retaliating against something that happened to him. So, I think that’s got to be a big key for us moving forward. We’ve got to be a disciplined football team. We’ve got to be a team that plays with poise, a resilient team. I believe, I have a very strong belief that that helps you win football games.
Q: You talked about quick decision making, quick throws for Tommy all off season. What do you think about Tommy tonight?
O’BRIEN: I thought he managed the game very well. He’s a very dynamic player. I think the key for us this year with him, you know, in the off season, was to say, look, here’s some things you can improve on, footwork, taking care of the ball, reading coverages, understanding, obviously our offensive scheme, protections and things like that. He’s done a really good job of that. And he has to stay consistent with that throughout the year, because, like I said in the very beginning, it’s only one game. It’s only one game. Look, I’m not trying to take anything away from the win. It’s a very important win for BC and where we’re at, but it’s just one game, and he really played well in the game. He’s got to keep that going.
Q: Coach, congratulations on the win tonight. So you keep talking about it’s one game, it’s one game, but you’ve mentioned to us before for the city of Boston to really buy in on BC football, you need to win, and you need to build a winner, and to get this just one game in this environment, in this spotlight, it’s just a huge win for the program. So how do you build off this momentum? I know you have the short week for Duquesne, but then you have Missouri shortly after that. How do you harness what you got here in this big win and keep moving?
O’BRIEN: think that’s the key, right? How do we do that? And I think what we do is we take it basically one process at a time, really, I’m being honest with you. We got to get on the bus here, get on the plane, get back at 4:30 in the morning, get some sleep, make sure that we recover tomorrow and understand that we got to get back to class on Wednesday. We got to get back to a lot of different things and just take it really, I know it sounds cliche, but really, that’s what I preach. It’s one day at a time doesn’t matter. Got to take it one day at a time and really just be disciplined enough in every facet of your life, whether it’s academically, football wise or in the community, we’ve got to be able to get back and get back to work and have a good couple of days before you know, Duquesne comes rolling in here.
Q: Coach. I know this is not something that is concerned with what’s going on on the field, but one thing that was really noticeable to us reporters tonight was the just absolutely overwhelming support from alumni of the BC football program on Twitter and social media tonight. We saw people from Doug Flutie to Matt Ryan, Zay Flowers, Christian Mahogany, AJ Dillon, Justin Simmons, you name it. Anybody just tweeting out pretty much constantly throughout the game. I know that’s not something you’re necessarily concerned with at all right now, but does this surprise you? For the program, getting all these people to come back and really reach out and that sort of respect. And have you heard from these guys more often?
O’BRIEN: I’ve spoken to a lot of guys in the offseason. I think pretty much every guy that you just mentioned, I’ve spoken to. Well Zay, I actually met when I was with the Patriots getting ready for the draft. We brought them in for a pre-draft visit, and all those guys are awesome. We have great alums at BC. I have great friends. I got text today from, good luck text from Mike Panos, from Stephen Boyd, from Tom McManus, guys from my era that there were awesome players here at Boston College when they won. These guys take a lot of pride in BC and I think that’s part of what we have to do. We’ve got to play to that pride and BC’s had a lot of good football players over the years and we have to be consistent in our approach every single day and try to keep, continue to make them proud.
Q: Congratulations on the first win. I’m sure that’s exactly how you drew it up. Can you kind of talk about you guys come out the second half, get the get the interception, and then turn that into a touchdown to extend the league. Can you talk about, kind of what your guys thought process was, kind of coming out?
O’BRIEN: Yeah, I think we did a good job. We talked a lot about halftime in our halftime process over the last couple weeks in preparation for the season, making sure that the coaches we meet first talk about the adjustments we need to make. Maybe a call sheet for the second half in all three phases, present that to the players, talk to the players about what they need to go to get done on the first drive, what plays they can expect, things like that. And then, Max Tucker comes up with a huge play, and that was probably one of the biggest plays of the game, because that that really got us going in the second half. And I think, again you talk about a guy like Max Tucker, Catholic Memorial, Boston guy, really tough, good football player, really what BC is all about. I was really happy that he got that thing because he’s a very, very hard working guy that just has a lot of pride and play for BC.
Q: Hi, Coach O’Brien. Here, your first win being a huge upset against Florida State, a team that was, considered by some to be snubbed out of the playoffs last year. How do you feel about that being your first win as a head coach at BC?
O’BRIEN: Yeah, look, I think it’s a really good win. Zach. I’m proud of the guys. I’m very proud of them, but it’s really just one game, really is like we have 11 games left, and we have to divide it up. We talk to these guys a lot about 12 one game seasons. That’s how we have to approach it. I talked to him a lot about, it’s not like baseball, where there’s 162 games or basketball, there’s 82 games hockey. 82 games in the pros. There’s not, there’s not, there’s only 12 opportunities. So we have to do a good job of trying to take advantage of every single day, every single preparation, and then every single game. And I think that’s that’s going to be very important for us. But I’m very proud of the guys and the way they played tonight. No doubt about it.
Q: Hey coach, congrats to you and your team. Just did you talk about the physicality of your team? I mean, it really was evident you’re able to dominate on both sides of the ball. And really it looked like you guys had the experience of a couple games not being your first game, being able to get you know, tackle really well and get to the ball. Can you just speak to the physicality of your team, and being prepared.
O’BRIEN: Yeah, that was a big part of the game plan. I think the number one key on on defense was to be able to tackle in space and I thought our guys did a great job of that. The first guy in got these guys on the ground. There’s some great athletes at Florida State, and I thought our guys did a really good job of tackling in space. And that was, that was a big key. That’ll be a big key for us the rest of the year, ball security, taking care, to ball on offense, which we did a decent job of that, and then tackling on defense, that’s going to be a big deal moving forward. And I thought they started off doing a good job of that.
Q: Coach, the Florida State offense came in with its issues, for lack of a better term, from last week. But what was it that this defense from you were able to do that that really forced them into a box, made them one dimensional, and forced them, obviously, with the long drive to get going?
O’BRIEN: I thought our front played really well, and I think that in combination with the pressure we were able to get and then our coverage was good and Tim mixed the calls up, which was really good. And then I thought we did a good job stopping a run, right? I don’t think they might have rushed for maybe 30 or 40 yards. So we did a great job of that and again, that’s something that we have to continue to do. That’s my biggest concern, guys. I’m just be honest with you, this is a great win. It’s an awesome win for BC, but we got to turn the page because we got to keep it going. It’s only game one, and I think that’s a big, big point that I’m going to stress to these guys as we travel back to Beantown.A
Q: My inquiry was going to be about Tim Lewis and the game plan he developed. Obviously, the defence came up big tonight. You seemed to be very focused on pushing DJ to throw the ball out to the boundary, and it appeared that they were struggling to get that offence going. Just talk about how vital it is to have someone like Tim Lewis on your team as you work to develop a new culture at Boston College.
O’BRIEN: Yeah, Tim is a fantastic guy. He does an excellent job of connecting with the guys. He is a good teacher. They are quite confident in him. As a staff,
Danny O’Brien, Ray Brown, and Jeff Comissiong are his assistants, followed by the general managers and analysts. You know, we have Tito Pasqualoni, Tom Jurkovec, and Will Blackmon. We have a great defensive staff and talented defensive players, and we need to keep that combination continuing. Tim’s leadership has been crucial in improving communication between coaches and players in a variety of areas. And we have to keep that up week after week.
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