Bill O’Brien expressed gratitude to Ryan Day during his introductory press conference at Boston College on Thursday.
O’Brien was Ohio State’s offensive coordinator for only three weeks before becoming the head coach at Boston College, a job that opened up less than two weeks after Ohio State hired O’Brien when Jeff Hafley left the Eagles to become the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers.
While it quickly became apparent after the job opened up that O’Brien was interested in the job and that he was Boston College’s preferred candidate, Ohio State had hopes of retaining O’Brien until he officially accepted the job at BC last Friday. In turn, Ohio State hired Chip Kelly to replace O’Brien just hours later.
O’Brien was thankful that Day allowed him to go through the process while leaving the door open for him to remain at Ohio State if he did not ultimately get the job at Boston College.
“I really want to thank Ryan Day, the head football coach at Ohio State, for his patience and his understanding of why it was so important for me to pursue this job,” O’Brien said Thursday. “A lot of people here at Boston College are familiar with Ryan Day (who was previously an assistant coach at Boston College from 2003-04, 2007-11 and 2013-14); Ryan Day is an outstanding person, an outstanding coach and he was great during this whole process.”
O’Brien was not asked explicitly about leaving Ohio State during Thursday’s press conference. He responded affirmatively, though, when asked if he viewed Boston College as a destination job for him as a Massachusetts native.
“Growing up outside of Boston with my family as a lifelong BC fan, a lot of us went to Brown, but we were secret Boston College fans, I promise you,” O’Brien said. “I went into coaching in 1993 when I got out of Brown and went into coaching at Brown, and I always dreamed about being the head coach at Boston College. My career has taken some twists and turns and taken me down roads I never could have imagined, but as I stand here today, I couldn't be more grateful that the road has finally taken me back home to Boston College.”
In a breakout interview session with reporters after the press conference, O’Brien said he and his wife were in Columbus looking for a house when the Packers hired Hafley. His “phone blew up a little bit” that night, O’Brien said, and he had a phone interview with Boston College the following day, ultimately leading to a pair of in-person interviews before he was hired.
Bill OBrien answers more questions from the media following his introductory press conference @newftbj @BCEagleAction @TheFWAA pic.twitter.com/cLSOMrFZNq
— Kevin J. Stone (@kstone06) February 15, 2024
Because he is from the Boston area and his wife is a Boston College alumna, O’Brien said it wasn’t a hard decision for him to take the job at BC when it was offered to him.
“Being from here, my wife having gone to school here, everything that Boston College is about … it was definitely a no-brainer for me,” O’Brien said.
