Pete Thamel reveals why Bill O'Brien 'fits in perfect' as Boston College's head football coach

Boston College lost their previous head coach, Jeff Hafley, to the Green Bay Packers in the NFL. Now, as of today, it looks as though the Eagles will be returning the favor by hiring a coach whose last job was in the pros in the form of Bill O’Brien, who served as the New England Patriots’ offensive coordinator this past season.

Pete Thamel joined SportsCenter on Friday afternoon to discuss the reported hire of O’Brien as the new head coach at Boston College. He thinks it’s a great choice on its own just considering O’Brien’s connections to the area and his past as a head coach and coordinator both in college and the National Football League.

“Bill O’Brien grew up in Andover, went to St. John’s Prep in nearby Danvers. His wife, Colleen, is a Boston College graduate. She lived with Helen Marrone, Doug Marrone’s wife, when they were at BC together. His son, Michael, is a baseball player at Tufts University, which is on the outskirts of Boston. The O’Brien’s have deep, deep roorts here,” Thamel explained. “Bill did two tints with the New England Patriots, one being last year as the offensive coordinator. Then, during the run with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, he was there for a handful of seasons. The O’Brien name is well-known locally.

“(O’Brien), obviously, has gone out and been the head coach of the Houston Texans. He was the head coach at Penn State,” Thamel continued. “He brings a robust resumé with plenty of experience.”

That experience also includes work with some significant names at quarterback in the past. That, according to Thamel, played a part in the Eagles’ decision. They believe that he could eventually attract talent at that position to their program.

“I really think one of the attractions to BC officials is that players will want to come from the portal, especially at quarterback, and play for Bill O’Brien,” Thamel noted. “He has had Tom Brady, Deshaun Watson, and, obviously, Bryce Young’s Heisman season at Alabama.”

O’Brien has been coaching for over two decades at this point. He has spent the past dozen years specifically going back and forth between college and the NFL.

O’Brien started his career in various jobs at Georgia Tech, Maryland, and Duke. That was before spending four years on the offensive staff with New England in his first professional stint. He then got his first shot as a head coach with the Nittany Lions for two years before leading the Texans after that from 2014-2020. Then, after Houston fired him, he spent two seasons in Tuscaloosa as offensive coordinator before returning to the next level with the Patriots again in the same role last year.

O’Brien was leaving New England anyways after the franchise moved on from Belichick as head coach. However, earlier in the offseason, he had originally agreed to be the offensive coordinator for Ryan Day at Ohio State. That agreement flipped quickly, though, when the job in Chestnut Hill opened up. He interviewed in-person this past week and now looks as though he’ll be their 37th head coach.

O’Brien would’ve been a quality hire at most places based on his background alone. With that said, the extra layer of him as a native of Massachusetts and the connections that come with that make it a hire which Thamel believes that Boston College nailed.

“I think he fits in perfect,” said Thamel.