Bill O’Brien will always be remembered fondly at Penn State.
At Boston College, it’s not trending in that direction.
Perhaps O’Brien’s response to a reporter’s question during his weekly presser Tuesday is a sign that he’s feeling the heat that comes with starting 1-8.
Here’s what happened.
“Coach, I’m wondering, do you have a message for the fans?” the reporter asked. “Obviously, losing to Notre Dame, a Catholic school rival, 1-8 now in the season at BC. I’ve heard from a lot of fans…”
“At this point, O’Brien cut the reporter off.
“I’m really glad,” O’Brien said sarcastically. “I’m glad you’re down. I’m not down. Nobody’s down. We’re fighting. We’re competing. It’s the second year of this program, Mike.”
O’Brien then made it personal with Mike Gualtieri, the reporter who asked the question.
“You always come in here with these ‘down’ questions,” he said. “You show up like once a month or something like that. You come in here with these ‘down’ questions. I’m not down. I don’t know what year you graduated from BC, but this is a program that we’re building. Nobody here is down. We’re positive. We’re gonna show up and play our asses off against SMU.
“You can go out there in your dark-clouded world or whatever it is and do what you wanna do,” he said. “We’re not down. The sun is up, and we’re fighting. That’s my message to the fans.”
O’Brien had some success in his first season at BC, going 7-6. Now, to avoid double-digit losses, the Eagles will have to beat two of SMU, which just upset No. 9 Miami, Georgia Tech, which was undefeated until the past weekend, and Syracuse, which is a more winnable game.
