Is Bill O’Brien on college football’s shortest leash? The Boston College Eagles head coach is currently overseeing a campaign of epically disappointing proportions, falling to 1-8 with a Saturday loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. While no one expected an Eagles win, it’s just the latest defeat in a lost season that has already seen the program miss out on bowl eligibility.
It gets worse. Under O’Brien, Boston College has yet to secure a win in the ACC this season, one of just two teams in that situation after the North Carolina Tar Heels secured a Friday night win in Week 10. The team is staring down the barrel of its worst season since 2015. If the Eagles decide the situation is unsalvageable, who could they look to hire to replace O’Brien?
Al Washington, DL Coach, Notre Dame
Although Al Washington doesn’t have head coaching experience, he’s got something arguably more valuable: deep roots in the BC community and a fanbase that would rally behind one of their own. The Ohio native was a three-year starter for the Eagles (2002-2005) before coaching on both sides of the ball in Chestnut Hill from 2012 to 2016.
After his BC stint, he climbed the ladder at Cincinnati, Michigan, and Ohio State before Marcus Freeman brought him to South Bend as Notre Dame’s DL coach. Washington was a legitimate candidate when the BC job opened last time around, and he should receive serious consideration again.
Mike Reed, Special Teams Coordinator, Clemson
Like Washington, Mike Reed is a former BC player (1991-1994). He’s spent the last two decades climbing the coaching ladder and proving he belongs at the highest levels of the game. Reed landed at NC State for six years before Dabo Swinney brought him to Clemson in 2013.
He’s been in Death Valley ever since, coaching defensive backs before adding special teams coordinator duties in 2022, which means he’s helped develop some of the ACC’s best secondary talent while also mastering the chaos of the third phase.
The Boston College ties run deep, and he’d instantly have buy-in from alumni and fans. The concerns? He’s never been a coordinator on the defensive side despite decades in the profession, and special teams coordinator isn’t exactly the traditional launching pad for a Power Four head coaching gig.
Mike Tressel, DC, Wisconsin Badgers
Mike Tressel, nephew of former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel, has been Luke Fickell’s defensive coordinator since 2021 at Cincinnati, before following him to Wisconsin. Before hitching his wagon to Fickell, Tressel spent over a decade under Mark Dantonio at Michigan State, serving as DC from 2018-2019 and earning a brief stint as acting head coach when Dantonio retired in 2020 before Mel Tucker swooped in.
Tressel has been universally praised everywhere he’s coached over his three-decade career, spending nearly all of his Division I time working for either Dantonio or Fickell, with a brief stint on his uncle Jim’s staff at Ohio State mixed in for good measure.
He represents a safe, fundamentally sound hire who could stabilize BC’s defense and bring much-needed discipline to Chestnut Hill. The question is whether the program wants someone who can inject genuine excitement and recruiting juice into a fanbase that’s been starved for relevance.
Scot Loeffler, QBs Coach, Philadelphia Eagles
A familiar face to BC fans, Scot Loeffler ran the Eagles’ offense from 2016-18 before taking the Bowling Green head coach job, and he quietly put together a respectable track record with the Falcons: back-to-back bowl appearances in a MAC that’s notoriously difficult to navigate consistently, plus a statement win over Georgia Tech.
Loeffler’s familiarity with the program’s infrastructure and recruiting footprint in the Northeast could accelerate Boston College’s rebuild. If BC wants a known commodity who won’t torch the program to the ground, he’s a legitimate option.
Jason Candle, HC, Toledo
Jason Candle has been the man in Toledo since taking over in 2016, and for good reason: four straight bowl appearances, two 11-win seasons (2017, 2023), two MAC titles, and a pair of MAC Coach of the Year awards.
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The Ohio native is a bright offensive mind who knows how to score, evidenced by Toledo leading the MAC in total offense (419.1 yards per game) and scoring (32.3 points per game) in 2023 before falling in the Arizona Bowl. He’s a Toledo lifer who climbed the ranks from TEs coach in 2009 to OC to his current role. Candle was tied to the position before O’Brien was hired, so why not dip back into the well?
