It’s finally almost time to write and talk about real football.

Before that, here’s everything Bill O’Brien said during the ACC Kickoff press conference on Thursday morning:

Opening statement

“Good morning everybody. Very excited to be here. Brought four great representatives of our program. Lewis Bond (wide receiver), KP Price (safety), Bam Crouch (linebacker) and Logan Taylor’s in the other room doing an interview right now an offensive lineman for us. Four great guys that you guys will get a chance to know. Again, excited to be here. Excited for the season. These guys have worked extremely hard since the season ended – last season. Started winter conditioning which transitioned into spring practice and then into summer workouts. It’s a full time job. These guys work very hard. They’re six days a week. Getting after it. Coming together as a team and now we report on Tuesday and start practice on Wednesday. Very excited about the season. With that, I’ll open it up to questions.”

On which defensive guys he expects to replace those that left

“Yeah, you know…I think in college football, you know, there’s graduation, right? Guys move on, move on to the NFL. We’re proud of those guys. Donovan and Cam and those guys that played for us last year. Every year is new, right? So, when you look at our team this year on defense, you’ve got some guys that have been around for a while like KP and Bam, Q Hutchins, Owen Stoudmire. You know, Amari Jackson, Max Tucker, Cam Martinez. But, then there’s other guys that maybe you haven’t seen play yet for BC. Whether they’re high school recruits that haven’t played yet or they’re transfers. I don’t want to go down the list of names, but I feel very confident in our ability to play good defense this year. It’ll be different. It’ll look different. You know, I think every year you have to evolve on both sides of the ball and on special teams and try to make sure that strategically and schematically you’re doing things that accentuate the positive strengths of your players.

“We have a lot of versatile players. We have guys that can play safety, that can play corner, we have linebackers that can play in the box. They can walk out on receivers. We have nickels that can play safety, they can play corner. We have defensive linemen that can play inside, they can play off the edge. You know, I think over the course of 30 practices in training camp, that’ll all come together and we’ll be ready to go when the season kicks off.”

On playing Frank Reich this year and more NFL coaches joining the ACC

“I think it’s great. You know, I have a lot of respect for Frank. I’ve known Frank a long time. I coached at the University of Maryland for Ralph Friedgen who coached Frank in college. Obviously, coached against Frank in the NFL for many years, especially when I was with the Texans and he was at the Colts. I think we got him a couple times, he got us a couple times, but I think he’s a tremendous coach. I think it’s fantastic for Stanford. It’ll be a big challenge for us. We open up against Fordham, we go out to Michigan State, we come back from Michigan State and we’ve got to go back out to Stanford. It’s a big challenge for our coaching staff and our players. But, we’re looking forward to it.

“I think as far as NFL coaches in the ACC, you know, look…I’m not going to go into all the things I think about when I think about the ACC, but the one thing I will say is the ACC is a very strong conference when it comes to coaching and playing. We have great players, we have great coaches that have coached at both levels. It’s an exciting conference and I think it’s a great thing for the ACC to have NFL coaches in the ACC. It says a lot about the players in our league and it says a lot about the programs and the coaches in our league.”

On trying to win 8 games for first time since 2009

“I think it’s a fine line. I think there’s a small margin of error for all the teams. I think we have to figure out how to be on the right side of that margin, right? Whether it’s turnovers or missed opportunities on defense, you know…maybe a lack of communication here and there. My point is, it comes down to seven or eight, maybe nine plays in a game that make a big difference. Can we kick better this year? Can we tackle better? Can we take care of the ball better? I think we did a great job last year with the discipline of our team. That has to continue, right? We decreased our penalties, went down from the year before. We have to continue that. I do think the difference between one game over .500 and 10 or 11 wins, it’s a small margin. That’s something I preach to these guys all the time about understanding the difference between lack of communication here or a bad read here, or a dropped interception here, that can go a long way towards winning or losing a game. So, I think that’s something we’ve really harped on this year and these guys have done a good job of buying into that, taking it one play at a time.”

On the GM role expanding in college

“I think it’s a lot different. We just talked about this outside. I think that there’s such a huge difference between the NFL and what’s going on in college football right now. The NFL, there’s a collective bargaining agreement, there’s an enforcement body over 32 teams. Obviously, it’s a very uniformed system. It’s a system that’s very equal, right? If you don’t do well, you get a higher draft pick. If you manage your salary cap correctly, you can participate in free agency better, you know? There’s all different things that go into the NFL, but it’s very uniform. There’s rules.

“That’s something that I believe eventually has to happen in college football. There has to be an enforcement. And I know there’s some things going on that are going to help, but in the end, right now, it’s just a little bit of the wild, wild, West. So, relative to BC, we do a good job of making sure the players understand that it’s an earn it philosophy so everybody coming into BC as a freshman, they’re going to make a certain amount of money. From that point forward, they’re going to earn everything they’re going to get by going to class, being on time for meetings, you don’t have to be an All-American right away. You’ve just got to be a good guy. Be a good locker room guy, good teammate, somebody that’s a contributing member of the team. If you do that, you’ll earn more and more as you go through your career at BC.

“So, Berj Najerian and I handle NIL at BC along with the administration, Blake James and Colin Schafer, so I think we’re on the right track and we’ll see how it goes from here on out.”

On the strides he’s seen from the offense this offseason & expectations

“Look, I like our offense. I think when you look at the guys that we have returning, obviously Logan and Lewis here. We have a lot of other guys returning. I really like the diversity of our offense. Our ability to be in 12 personnel, 13 personnel, 11 personnel. I think our offensive coaches led by Will Lawing do a great job. I’ve seen a lot of strides made. These guys have worked extremely hard to get better. I’ve seen a lot of improvement. I would say the same thing about defense. I think we have a very versatile defense. We can play 3-4, 4-3, we can play nickel, we can play dime, all different kinds of packages. I think we have versatile players and I’m excited about both sides of the ball. I’ve seen a lot of improvement because of the work these guys have put in, so I’m excited for training camp to start.”

On ranking 12th in fewest penalties allowed in 2024

“I think the credit goes to the players on that. We as coaches, we guide them and we and we talk to these guys a lot about being disciplined and what that can do for you, right? If you win the penalty battle, you win the turnover battle, you tackle well, you play just good, clean football. You eliminate bad football and then you take advantage of bad football when it happens, that can help you win. I think we need to continue to do a better job of that, but I give a lot of credit to the players. They hold each other accountable on that now. We instilled that when I got here with our staff. They hold each other accountable on that now relative to the discipline on each side of the ball and on special teams, so I give a lot of credit – and that has to continue. That’s going to be a big part of our winning formula.”

On balancing local & national recruiting & what the pitch is during the NIL Era

“When I’ve said local, obviously I meant New England, but also New Jersey, New York, Ohio (Cleveland and Cincinnati) Pennsylvania. We definitely go national though. We go out to California, we go to Texas. We go down to Florida, we do that. But, I think one of the keys to BC is making sure that you have a number of guys on your roster where they come from places where their parents can come watch them play. We recruit every Catholic school in the country. We go into every Catholic school in the country whether they have a player right there immediately for that year, or if they have a future player. We’re definitely going to do that because we’re a Catholic, Jesuit institution.

“Relative to NIL – I think I answered it before – these guys that are sitting up here right now, I’m excited for them and many of their teammates who have earned what they’re making right now. Then, when the new guys enter BC – especially the freshmen – they all basically make the same amount and then they earn it from that point forward. That’s how we sell it. ‘Hey man, you’re going to earn it. You’re going to have an opportunity to get an incredible education, play great football here and on top of that, make some money. I think we have a total package at BC that we talk to our recruits a lot about. You know, I think we’re doing ok. I don’t really put much stock into stars and all that stuff. I want to see what they do on the field when they get there.

“We have a process of how we evaluate prospects and I think we’re on the right path.”

On how recent revenue share developments will affect BC

“I think when you think about it, if you look at last year’s stats relative to actual eyeballs on our games, people watching our games, I think we were pretty high up in the ACC relative to the games that we played. A lot of people watch BC. A lot of people are interested in watching these guys play. We play in a great conference. We play in a fantastic city and the city of Boston. We have really good players. I think that’s a big part of it. As you move forward down the road, obviously you’ve got to win. We understand that.

“When you look at our schedule this year, we’ll have a lot of national games. We’ve got SMU at home, we’ve got Clemson at home, we’ve got Notre Dame at home, we’ve got Michigan State on the road. So, we have a lot of marquee games that I think a lot of people will be interested in watching. I’m excited for that and excited for these guys, excited for our season.”