Grayson James on Time at Boston College 'I'm Going to Remember This Forever'

The redshirt senior reflected on his career at Boston College and talked about the team's win over Syracuse.

Nov 29, 2025; Syracuse, New York, USA; Boston College Eagles quarterback Grayson James (3) passes the ball as Syracuse Orange defensive lineman Denis Jaquez Jr. (11) defends during the first half at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

Grayson James has had an interesting career at Boston College. 

After transferring from FIU in January of 2024, he dealt with an injury that sidelined him during training camp and the start of the season. 

Once back at full strength, he ended up being the backup to Thomas Castellanos until BC’s game against Syracuse on Nov. 9, 2024, where he led the Eagles to a win off the bench and was named the starter for the following game against SMU. 

Castellanos left the program after the decision was announced and James led the way for the remainder of the 2024 campaign. He helped Boston College become bowl eligible and aided the program in hitting seven regular-season wins for the first time since 2018. 

Following that season, James lost the starting quarterback job to Alabama transfer Dylan Lonergan for 2025 during training camp, but made multiple appearances off the bench until getting the call to start against UConn in October. 

Since then, James and Lonergan have gone back-and-forth between being the starters, but the honor this week went to Lonergan for Saturday’s game against Syracuse. 

However, after Lonergan suffered a finger injury on the first possession of the game, James came in off the bench and led Boston College to its second win of the year 34-12 to end the season and his collegiate career on a positive note. 

“Yeah, this is great,” said James. “Great for this team, great for the guys. I love my teammates. So, just [to] go out with a winning note is awesome. My last college football game. Nice to have a good taste in your mouth afterwards, but it means a lot. This season's definitely been a wild ride, like you said, but I mean, I know all these guys in the locker room are excited.” 

James also spoke on how he would remember Boston College throughout the next chapters of his life. 

“I mean, I'm going to remember this forever,” said James. “Even this season and the ups and downs it's been, but just the person you can become being here. It just makes you stronger. Adversity hits, how you respond. That's all about life is, how you respond to adversity. Things are going to be tough, but got to stand up and bounce back.”

Eagles head coach Bill O’Brien spoke highly of James after the game, calling him one of the best teammates he has seen in his career. 

“He did a great job,” said O’Brien. “I mean, I'm very proud of Grayson. He's shown up. He's one of the best teammates I've ever been around. 33 years. He's just an awesome guy. He deserves to go out a winner like this. He's shown to be a hell of a relief pitcher. Comes in, he's ready to go. And just can't say enough great things about him. He's a great BC guy, and we're going to miss him.” 

James commented on the praise from O’Brien and his mindset as a teammate. 

“It's huge,” said James. “I mean that's always something that I would say I pride myself on is who are you remembered as in the locker room. At the end of the day, that's kind of what matters is the things keep rolling and the future unfolds and stuff like that is the relationships, connections you can make in that locker room. So how can I be the best teammate possible? How can I bond with these guys? Get them to play as hard as possible? And nobody knows the work that we've put in this year, the year before that. So just being in there with those guys, putting in all that extra time, and getting a dub today makes it all worth it.” 

James leaves Boston College with 13 games under his belt where he amassed 2,398 passing yards and 13 touchdowns, earned four wins as a starter, and played in a bowl game.