Bill O'Brien Had 'No Doubt' About Returning For Boston College's 2026 Season

The Eagles head coach spoke to the media about the program's offseason, staff changes, and the transfer portal.

Sep 13, 2025; Stanford, California, USA; Boston College Eagles head coach Bill O'Brien gestures after a touchdown by running back Jordan McDonald (not shown) during the second quarter against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The second year of Boston College’s rebuild did not go as expected. 

In 2025, the Eagles went 2-10 overall and 1-7 in ACC play. BC won its season opener against Fordham 66-10 on Aug. 30 and its season finale at Syracuse 34-12 on Nov. 29, but had a ten-game skid in between. 

One of Bill O’Brien’s key messages throughout last season’s campaign was that it takes time to build a program.

While there were numerous staffing changes for Boston College so far this offseason including at defensive coordinator, running backs, offensive line, wide receivers, and most recently offensive coordinator, O’Brien stated that there was never a question about him potentially leaving the program.

“No doubt,” said O’Brien. “No, no, no. I mean, I have a five year contract so yeah. I have three years left on a five year contract and I'm gonna work my butt off to try to get this thing right. Got a lot of great people in the administration. Blake's been great to work with. Reggie Terry like I just said, obviously Father Leahy has really helped us with the rev share component. 

“Father Jack is a huge advocate for football and for sports,” said O’Brien. “So we're looking forward to when he takes over. But no, I'm here. I really love these kids. And working with these guys has been awesome so far. So really excited to get into winter conditioning, then spring practice and kind of go from there.” 

O’Brien also talked about the transfer portal additions to the roster after BC’s 2-10 season and emphasized that he does not believe that is what the new players were focused on when deciding to come to Chestnut Hill. 

“I don't think these guys looked at that,” said O’Brien. “I think they looked at it more as the opportunity to come in here and play for a good coaching staff, go to a great school, in a great city. I'm not sure they looked. I think every year's different. I don't think they look at that year and say ‘okay, we're just gonna base our decision all on one year.’ You know what I mean? So I don't think they really looked at it that way. They said, ‘hey this is a great opportunity for me to come in here and try to play.’”

Boston College’s third year into its rebuild officially starts in March. 

“I think it's right after spring break, so I don't know what the date of that is,” said O’Brien. “So they're going on spring break and then we'll start spring practice right after that when they get back.”