Notre Dame Set to Face Off Against Former Coach - No, Not That One

Boston College head coach Bill O'Brien was a part of the fumbling of George O'Leary over two decades ago

Sep 13, 2025; Stanford, California, USA; Boston College Eagles head coach Bill O'Brien yells before the game against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Notre Dame is set to face off against a former Fighting Irish offensive coordinator on Saturday when it travels to Boston College.

Boston College head coach Bill O'Brien was once a Notre Dame assistant coach. He just never got to actually coach while holding the title.

Bill O'Brien's Role in George O'Leary Fiasco

Oct 17, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; UCF Knights head coach George O'Leary walks off the field at halftime against the Temple Owls at Lincoln Financial Field. The Temple Owls won 30-16. | Derik Hamilton-Imagn Images

The year was 2001 and Notre Dame had just wrapped up an incredibly disappointing season. Fresh off its first BCS berth in program history a year earlier, Notre Dame went just 5-6 in 2001, and fired head coach Bob Davie at its conclusion.

We all know that Tyrone Willingham wound up coaching Notre Dame in 2002, but for a few short days, former Georgia Tech head coach George O'Leary was in charge of the Fighting Irish football program. He would be forced to resign just four days later, though, as it was found out that he lied on his resume.

The offensive coordinator who O'Leary was going to bring with him from Georgia Tech to South Bend?

None other than Bill O'Brien, who is now the head coach at Boston College. O'Brien spoke briefly about those 48 or so hours earlier this week.

Bill O'Brien on Respect for Notre Dame

Dec 28, 2024; Bronx, NY, USA; Boston College Eagles head coach Bill O'Brien on the field before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Yankee Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

“I have great respect for Notre Dame. I worked at Notre Dame for 48 hours. So. A long time ago. A very long time ago. No, I have great respect for Notre Dame. I mean, I’ve been there. I’ve coached in a game there when I was at Georgia Tech. I worked out guys there. We drafted Will Fuller when I was in Houston. We had Nick Martin, was our center in Houston.

“I have great respect for Notre Dame. The history of college football is awesome, and Notre Dame is a big part of the history of college football. So is Boston College. So, again, it’s two of the only two Catholic schools that play Division I football. So it’s just a great rivalry, and it’s a great—it’s an event, especially for the fans, and our players are excited about it.”

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Takeaway:

I don't really know how to describe the shock when O'Leary was fired all those years ago. There was already talk of Notre Dame's demise after Bob Davie's struggles to run the program, but I always thought that was a blip on the radar.

When the O'Leary news broke and he was forced to resign, that was the first time I had doubts about Notre Dame football in the modern day. Years of inconsistencies under Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis only fueled that, and it took Brian Kelly more than half a decade to become an annual winner.

O'Brien and Boston College are struggling mightily this fall as they've yet to beat an FBS opponent. While O'Brien went on to be an NFL assistant coach under Bill Belichick and the head coach at Penn State, it's quite a mind trip to play the "what if" game about his career had O'Leary not been forced to resign.