It is with great pleasure and enthusiasm that we welcome Coach Bill O’Brien to Boston College as our storied institution’s new Gregory P. Barber ’69 and Family Head Football Coach! Born in Dorchester and having grown up in Andover, Coach O’Brien is again home.
Coach O’Brien is incredibly accomplished and well-equipped to take on the many challenges of competing in the rugged ACC. From his collegiate coaching experiences at Brown, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Duke, Penn State, Alabama, and Ohio State, to his professional tenures with the New England Patriots and the Houston Texans, Coach O’Brien possesses an elite football resume. Amid nearly impossible circumstances in 2012, Coach O’Brien won multiple Coach of the Year awards including the famed Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant College Coach of the Year Award.
More impressive though, is his unending dedication to the development of players and of people. At Boston College, Coach O’Brien will coach, teach, and be a servant leader to the women and men who work and compete with him. We are extremely excited that he will do this in the Jesuit ethos of “women and men for others.”
St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Founder of the Society of Jesus, is often credited with urging followers to, “go set the world aflame!” Whether he said this or not, it has become a common quote for Jesuit ministries. We at Friends of the Heights are committed and determined to help Coach O’Brien light the torch that sets the college football world on fire.
We join our talented student-athletes in welcoming Bill, his wife Colleen, and their sons Jack and Michael to the Heights. We look forward to supporting his many future successes, on the field and off. For Boston!