HC of BC football Bill O'Brien joins! Does O'Brien like the current College Football Playoff format?

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HC of BC football Bill O'Brien joins! Does O'Brien like the current College Football Playoff format? What would he change?

Transcript

00:00Bill, good morning, happy new year.

00:03Morning guys.

00:04Happy new year to you guys.

00:05How's it going?

00:05How were your holidays?

00:08Everything was good.

00:08Yeah, we were in New York city, you know, so we had Christmas

00:11down there in Times Square, so it was good except for the game.

00:15But, uh, yeah, you know, we live to see another day.

00:18That's correct.

00:19On to 2025.

00:21Am I right about that?

00:22Yeah.

00:23That's right.

00:24Uh, Ohio state suddenly looking like the, the best team in the

00:28country, I would say.

00:30Yeah, they, um, they, they took that Michigan game and, uh, they,

00:36they've turned that into motivation.

00:38They, they look like a very, very good team.

00:40No doubt about it.

00:41Is, is, is, can you argue that Jeremiah Smith is the best wide

00:45receiver in college football?

00:47Yeah.

00:47I mean, I was, you know, I was there for a month and I will tell you that kid

00:52for a freshman, um, is probably one of the hardest working young guys I've ever seen.

00:57I mean, he was in the building every day.

01:00You know, this was like, you know, whenever in January work in, um, you

01:05know, great kid, pretty humble kid.

01:07You know what I mean?

01:07Like quiet.

01:08Uh, yeah, he's, he's, uh, he's an amazing player.

01:12Bill, do you like the expanded playoff format and what would you

01:15change maybe going forward?

01:19I would, you know what, I would probably change the way they seeded

01:23the, the, the teams or, or, or at least reseed it.

01:26I mean, not, you know, look, I don't know.

01:28I'm not trying to take anything away from anybody.

01:30I mean, you know, we got another game today at four, but, uh, the

01:36teams are very deserving, but you know, you look at Penn state, you

01:39know, playing SMU and, uh, and Boise state, you know, look, those are

01:44two good teams, but Penn state's an excellent team.

01:47So, you know, I guess at the end of the day, you've got the right teams

01:51probably going to end up in the final four, but maybe the seating would change.

01:54I've always said too, I think 16 teams would be, would be the perfect, the

01:58perfect number, but maybe that's too long of a season, but I think

02:0116 teams is a good, is a good, good number.

02:04Well, they can change that after this next season, after 2025, they can add teams.

02:11I think it's, I think it's 12 through next season.

02:13They, but they are talking about the buys going to the four highest ranked teams

02:20as opposed to conference championship.

02:21Uh, you're that's what you're saying, right?

02:23You'd rather that.

02:24Yeah.

02:24And I think, yeah, and I think you might want to do away with like the conference

02:28championship games and try to get, you know, look, try to try to do the best

02:32you can to get, you know, the 12 best teams, um, you know, regardless of, you

02:40know, regardless of what, if they've won 11 games or 10 games or more or whatever

02:44it is, I think you've got to try to get the 12 best teams, you know, the game

02:47yesterday, the best game yesterday was, you know, the, uh, Arizona state,

02:52Texas school and that was an awesome game, that was an incredible game.

02:55You know, that kid scataboo for, for Arizona state, what an amazing game.

03:00But, but yeah, if they, if Bill, if they could revote the Heisman,

03:03would he get it after yesterday?

03:05I mean, he should, I mean, he wasn't even invited.

03:08I mean, Oh my God, he did everything.

03:10He ran, he threw, he caught, I mean, he did everything for that team.

03:14And I think he had a nasty hangover.

03:16I mean, it was, uh, he was up on the side.

03:18Well, I mean, I was nervous about concussions with the way

03:21you looked on the sidelines.

03:23Yeah.

03:23Was he, I don't know.

03:24Was he sick or was he throwing up?

03:28And then my, my question, my question in that game is what is targeting?

03:33Like, I don't know.

03:34I don't know what targeting is.

03:35I mean, that, that, that hit that the Texas kid had at the end of the game.

03:40I mean, I don't know.

03:42I think that was helmet to helmet, but I mean, I guess

03:44the evidence was inconclusive.

03:46Not sure.

03:47Is being a college kicker, maybe the worst job in the

03:50entire world's like, I looked at that game yesterday and I can't

03:53imagine being that boy's parent.

03:55Like I, if I have a son one day, God willing, he can't be a kicker.

04:02Yeah.

04:03They always say that when you, when you look at the specialists, um, you know,

04:07there's not a lot of pressure on the punter, but there's a whole lot of

04:10pressure on the kicker, you know what I mean?

04:11So it is a tough, tough position to be in, uh, for that kid.

04:15But, you know, in the end they won, you know, Texas one.

04:18And that was a, that was an unbelievable game.

04:21So Quinn yours, it seems like has a $6 million offer waiting to go to

04:30the portal as opposed to the NFL.

04:33I, there seems like there's so much wrong with this.

04:38Where do you stand on that?

04:40Season's not even over.

04:43Yeah, no, it's, it's, it's, uh, it's incredible.

04:46It's ridiculous.

04:47Like to, first of all, you can't even prove that, you know what I mean?

04:52Like there, there's gotta be a system in place where, um, you

04:58know, each team has a salary cap.

05:01Um, there there's gotta be documentation contracts.

05:06I mean, there has to be, and to me there does, like, I think I've

05:10said this to you guys before that there's gotta be some type of college

05:15commission with a, with a college football commissioner, with a, you

05:18know, a cabinet of people underneath them that, um, is made up of, you

05:23know, retired coaches, retired athletic directors that understand football.

05:26Because, you know, who knows if that's true?

05:28Quinn yours is a great college quarterback.

05:30I mean, no doubt about it, but I mean, $6 million to, to, and

05:35who knows if that's true?

05:36It's not fair to the kid, you know?

05:37Right.

05:38But, um, yeah, it has to be changed.

05:40It has to be fixed in some way.

05:42Uh, Bill, do you think though, that there's a chance that something like

05:45this could actually help in the long run, the NFL product, like you look

05:49at the quarterbacks in this year's draft, like every guy that touches

05:53the football field can actually play.

05:54I mean, Michael Pennix, uh, Jaden Daniels, Bo Nix, we're all in college.

05:58It seems like forever.

06:00And those reps help them in the long run.

06:02And then you're always going to have the uber talented kids.

06:04Like, you know, you're Drake Mays and you're Caleb Williams.

06:06So could this theoretically in the long run help the NFL quarterback product?

06:12There's probably, you know, you probably make a good point there.

06:15I don't know.

06:16I just think that like every year is a little bit different.

06:19I think when you look at this year's NFL quarterback class, you know, possibly

06:23it could go down as one of the best ones, you know, as we, as we see it play out

06:27over the years, because, you know, those guys were well-coached in college.

06:31They, they came into the league.

06:33They understood how to, you know, run an offense, read coverage,

06:37um, lead a huddle, things like that.

06:39You know, some years are different.

06:40You know, I'm not sure how much of it has to do with, you know, staying in school,

06:44getting paid NIL and getting all the reps, like you said, but, you know,

06:48you probably have a point there.

06:49Um, I do think, I do think when you look at like Jaden Daniels, I mean, that guy,

06:55he, he's, he's one of the better players I've seen a long time in that league,

06:59you know, to be able to come in there and play with the poise that he has.

07:02And, and to play with the ability to read coverage, it's such a different,

07:06it's so different shine in the NFL, um, than college when it comes to, you know,

07:11defensive scheme and the speed of the game and all those different things.

07:14But, you know, you probably have a point.

07:17You give a guy the opportunity to design one play and he suddenly thinks he's

07:20a head coach in college football.

07:23I mean, how far along, how far along are you on designing your play for bill?

07:27Uh, I need to run some stuff by Wiggy.

07:29Uh, Wiggy, Wiggy wants to give us a genre action pass, baby.

07:34Oh, it is.

07:35Oh yeah.

07:35Okay.

07:37Um, best playing football, Bill, is that okay?

07:40Is that fit in offense wise?

07:42Absolutely.

07:43Absolutely.

07:44We'll, we'll, we'll get it.

07:45We'll get it in the first game.

07:47No question.

07:47I have a name for it yet.

07:48Shine.

07:49Uh, yeah.

07:50Mashed potatoes.

07:50Okay.

07:53Bill, what's life look like for you right now?

07:56After the bowl game, you have guys that are starting to declare for the draft.

07:59What, what's the future for BC and how do you get there starting now?

08:04Good future.

08:05You know, really, really feel good about this program.

08:08Um, we recruit we're recruiting, right?

08:11So we, we actually have a guy coming in this weekend, um, a transfer portal,

08:16tight end coming in to visit us.

08:19Um, and then we head out on the road on Monday and, you know, recruit.

08:24And so I think that's the main gist of it for the month of January.

08:27And then February we come in back off the road and we start our

08:31off season program with our kids.

08:33You know, look at the end of the day, you know, like I was saying in the

08:36beginning, we lost to Nebraska, but you know, our guys fought, our guys

08:41fought hard and a lot of guys played in that Nebraska game that had

08:43not played a lot in, in, in the season.

08:46And so, you know, I think that bodes well for the future of the program.

08:51The majority of the kids that played in that game will be back for us next year.

08:54So, and with the addition of freshmen and transfers and things like that.

08:58So I feel really good about the program.

09:01We've got to have a great off season.

09:02We've got to do a really good job of kind of going back to the beginning

09:05and kind of start all over again.

09:07But, uh, we'll do that and we'll be back.

09:10If you were Gerard Mayo, would you be starting Drake May on Sunday?

09:17That's a very, very, very difficult question.

09:19I would tell you, Greg, that I would, um, because I believe that the kid is a

09:25competitor and you never want your team or your organization to, to think that,

09:31you know, what, when we go into the white lines that we're not trying to

09:35win at the, at the very highest level.

09:38And so I would play Drake May.

09:40Um, you know, if I felt like during the game that, that it was, it wasn't going

09:45well, that he was taking a bunch of shots, I'd probably take them out.

09:48But you know, going into the game, I think you've got to say to

09:51your team, to your organization.

09:53You got so many people in your organization.

09:55You can never give a cross or give the feeling that you're not trying to do

09:59your level best to, to, to win the game.

10:03Okay.

10:04If you were Robert Kraft, would it be tough to say no to

10:07Mike Vrabel if he wants this job?

10:11That would be a difficult question for me to ask.

10:14I think, well, this is what I would say, Greg, I'm, you know, I'm, I'm full

10:19disclosure, Mike Vrabel is one of my closest friends.

10:21Um, he's a great football coach.

10:24Um, he worked for me in Houston for a long time, uh, did an unbelievable job.

10:30And you know, he's, he's a hot commodity, right?

10:33But the question you have to say to yourself, I think is, do you

10:36give a guy more than a year, right?

10:38The guy's only been there for a year, right?

10:40And so do you, do you say, Hey, look, we've got to give this guy, you sign

10:44him to whatever, a four or five year contract, like we got to give him more

10:48than one year, uh, to, to see what he can do to see if he can, you know, get

10:53get the place on the right track.

10:55That's the question I have to answer in my, in my opinion, but Mike's a great

10:58coach, um, and Mike's going to have, you know, every one of these teams are

11:03going to, I believe are going to come after Mike to, to, uh, hire him.

11:07And he's, and he's going to have a bunch of options.

11:10You'd think he'll be coaching in the NFL though, this, this season.

11:13Yeah, no, no, no question.

11:15All right, Bill.

11:16Well, um, I appreciate you taking the time.

11:19Are we, are we taught?

11:20I think we're talking to you again next week.

11:21Cause we'll, we'll talk all things, college football and NFL and everything.

11:26So I appreciate you taking the time.

11:28Oh, you guys are great.

11:29Thanks for having me on.

11:29I appreciate it.

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