Boston College coach Bill O’Brien didn’t bother softening his stance when asked this week about the direction of college football. On SiriusXM, he went straight at NIL, the transfer portal, agents and the whole setup around them.
“I’m not gonna be careful about how I say this, it’s a terrible system.”
That frustration comes with Boston College living inside the very reality O’Brien is criticizing. This offseason, the Eagles brought in 27 players through the transfer portal and lost 30.
Among the departures were running back Turbo Richard, who went to Indiana, along with Reed Harris to Arizona State, Omar Thornton to Miami and Eryx Daugherty to Louisville. O’Brien said earlier this week that the roster is currently about 50/50 between portal additions and recruiting, but he wants that flipped closer to 75% recruiting and 25% portal.
He made clear that his issue isn’t simply adjusting to the modern game. It’s the pace and the lack of guardrails.
“The transfer portal has to be regulated, because you have guys transferring every year, three or four times,” he explained. “This is not a sustainable model for college football.”
That tension is showing up all over Boston College’s roster build. O’Brien said this could be a particularly unusual year for the program, with both sides of the ball potentially heavy on transfers.
On offense, Mason McKenzie from Saginaw Valley, Evan Dickens from Liberty and Nolan Ray from Maryland are in the mix, while Javarius Green from UNC, Landon Wright from Wazzu, Reed Swanson from Colgate and Jackson Wade from Florida could all factor in. Cameron Kossman, who came from Florida, is at tight end, and O’Brien said at least three or four offensive linemen could also start after arriving from other schools.
The financial side is just as aggressive. Boston College has gone to “full revenue share,” using its maximum allotment of revenue sharing, which is somewhere around $21 million, to build the roster.
O’Brien told Pete Thamel earlier this week that BC “doubled” its financial commitment to football compared with last season. Even so, he pointed out that the spending race keeps climbing, with elite programs outpacing schools like Boston College and media rights money and NIL deals pushing the numbers higher.
“Look the players to some level should be compensated, but here has to be some sort of salary cap, CBA, anti-trust laws, because you have too much disparity,” said O’Brien.
The Eagles’ NIL push did help them compete more effectively this year, both in the portal and on the recruiting trail. O’Brien said Boston College won head-to-head battles in the Class of ’27 against programs it usually wouldn’t be in position to beat. Still, he said the market has gotten hard to understand, especially with reports that four-star recruits are asking for around seven figures.
“When you think about NIL, you think about the Joe Hams, the Doug Fluties, the Matt Ryans and Bo Jacksons.Those were the faces of the program, they had the jersey sales, they brought in the money.” But he did say that players should be compensated. “It's a little bit crazy, there are no rules.”
Agents are now part of the picture, too, and O’Brien said Boston College has had to adapt there as well. He noted that the school works with agents for players already on the roster as well as in the portal and recruiting process.
“Every guy has an agent, some of these guys are reputable some of them are not,” said O’Brien. “Other agents are doing a great job, every kid now in high school has an agent in recruiting.”
For O’Brien, the concern is bigger than one roster cycle. With national legislation still being discussed and the sport continuing to change, he said the current setup feels impossible to sustain.
“I love college football, I love my job at Boston College,” he concluded. “But how in the world is this a sustainable model.”
In Other News...
Boston College Just Sent A Clear Message With Two 2027 Specialists
Boston College kept building its future on special teams this week, announcing commitments from long snapper Aidan Field and kicker-punter Mateo Sanchez for its Class of 2027. Both prospects visited campus for the Specialists Camp and came away with offers from special teams coach Matt Thurin, a sign the Eagles are treating that part of the roster as a priority, not an afterthought.
Sanchezs pledge carries some extra weight because he drew interest well beyond Chestnut Hill, with offers from Duke, Army and Florida State. He also went through evaluation at the Kohls Kicking camp, while Fields decision gives Boston College another piece in a class that is starting to take shape around specialists who fit the programs long-term plans. [Read more 🡒]