Several sources tell FootballScoop that Boston College is completing initial rounds of calls and Zooms with potential candidates to replace Jeff Hafley atop the Eagles football program, with an intent to host in-person interviews with select finalists as soon as Tuesday.
Per sources, those sessions will not take place in Boston to protect the privacy of coaches who are advancing in Boston College’s search.
But a couple of elements make this Eagles search, the program’s first since firing Steve Addazio and hiring Hafley in December 2019, potentially more significant than if this was unfolding during the more typical coaching carousel window of December-January.
Numerous sources tell FootballScoop that while BC is talking about its vacancy with candidates who have no FBS head coaching experience, Notre Dame’s Al Washington and Florida State's Adam Fuller among them, the school’s leaders are prioritizing head coaching experience.
Enter Bill O’Brien. He owns perhaps the most extensive head coaching experience of the known candidates, with his work reviving Penn State on the heels of its NCAA hammering from the Jerry Sandusky scandal to a long run atop the NFL’s Houston Texans somewhat separating O’Brien.
Sources indicate he very much is a frontrunner in the search. There is, however, some nuance to the situation.
O’Brien is less than a month into his new job as offensive coordinator for Ryan Day’s Ohio State Buckeyes. And Day made the hire after he waited the requisite time for the NFL regular season to end.
O'Brien was at Ohio State Monday, leading offensive staff meetings and operating "business as usual," sources told FootballScoop.
Day talked with a myriad of candidates, including those at the collegiate level, but he prioritized and targeted a coach with deep experience running an NFL pro-style offense.
If O’Brien leaves in short order, does Day perhaps turn to Tommy Rees, the former Alabama and Notre Dame offensive coordinator now on staff with the Cleveland Browns? Rees has NFL experience and runs an pro-style system with various wrinkles he utilizes to maximize his current personnel.
Or might Day again seek out an NFL play-caller? Brian Johnson is a coach whose name surfaced repeatedly in the Ohio State search that culminated with O’Brien; Johnson has since been fired by the Philadelphia Eagles and did not get the Washington Commanders offensive coordinator post that went instead to Kliff Kingsbury.
The timing would not be unprecedented for a major program to need an offensive coordinator; it was at this exact same timeframe a year ago that Rees was exiting Notre Dame to be Nick Saban’s last-ever offensive coordinator at Alabama. Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame interviewed multiple candidates, including Collin Klein and Andy Ludwig, before promoting Gerad Parker from within after Klein and Ludwig remained at Kansas State and Utah respectively.
If Boston College does not hire O’Brien or if O’Brien elects to remain in Columbus, Ohio, it could mandate the Eagles turn to a sitting head coach – if they are adamant about head coaching experience being a necessity, understandable given the late nature of this move and the unprecedented flux throughout the sport and college athletics in general.
Toledo’s Jason Candle is another name getting significant traction in this search from numerous sources, and Candle’s been on the verge of just landing a Power 5 job in multiple coaching cycles.
Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun and former Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst (now an analyst at Texas) both are believed to be on BC's list as well.
There’s an additional sitting head coach in the mix as well, sources shared.
Hiring a sitting head coach then automatically would generate a ripple effect, even if a program elects to promote from within. There still will be staff changes; coaches could accompany the sitting head coach to a new destination or not be retained by whomever is selected as next leader at the current school.
Whichever path Boston College officials choose, it is expected to be clear by this weekend. Several sources told FootballScoop that the school’s leadership is conducting those in-person interviews in the next 24-48 hours, could then bring the top candidate or candidates to campus near the end of the week and then have the hire complete by week’s end.