Bill Belichick says Boston College made a "great choice" with Bill O'Brien as new head coach

BOSTON -- Bill Belichick has broken his silence. He just isn't talking about his 24-year relationship with the Patriots coming to an end.

That day should come soon enough, but for now, Belichick is instead going to bat for one of his former assistants. And Belichick cannot wait to see what Bill O'Brien does as the new head coach of the Boston College Eagles.

O'Brien, who worked two different spans under Belichick in New England, will be formally introduced as the new head football coach at Boston College on Thursday. Belichick raved about O'Brien on Wednesday, saying he's a "great choice" as the next head coach of the Eagles.

"My relationship with Bill spans nearly three decades. Of all the coaches I have worked with, few possess Bill's experience and success at both the college and NFL levels. As he has proven each step of his career, Bill is a leader of young men and an outstanding communicator. He is tough, passionate, and a great choice to lead the Boston College football program while also serving as an outstanding representative of the entire BC community," Belichick said in a statement posted by Boston College on Wednesday.

An Andover native, O'Brien got his first coaching job in the NFL as an offensive assistant with the Pats under Belichick in 2007. He worked his way through Belichick's staff and was the team's quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator by 2011, before leaving to become the head coach at Penn State. He also had a fairly successful run as head coach of the Houston Texans, and a two-year stint as offensive coordinator at Alabama under Nick Saban before returning to the Patriots in 2023.

The Patriots' offense was one of the worst in the NFL last season, and O'Brien left to become offensive coordinator at Ohio State after New England parted ways with Belichick. But the head coaching job at Boston College opened up, and O'Brien now hopes that Chestnut Hill is the final stop in his coaching career.

Maybe such a glowing comment on O'Brien was Belichick's way of asking for a job, since there are no more openings in the NFL. But Belichick clearly believes that O'Brien has what it takes to lead the Eagles to new territory and envisions some big things at The Heights in the coming years.