Nick Saban or Bill Belichick? Bill O’Brien put in tough spot with fun question at ACC Kickoff
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Nick Saban and Bill Belichick are recognized as two of football’s greatest coaches. They are not only long-time friends, but have also worked together and employed some of the same assistants, such as Bill O’Brien.
After spending the past three seasons as offensive coordinator for Saban (Alabama, 2021-22) and Belichick (New England Patriots, 2023), O’Brien is a head coach again at Boston College. This week, O’Brien traveled to Charlotte to represent his program at ACC Kickoff, the conference’s media days event.
Joe Giglio, a contributing writer for Saturday Down South sister site Saturday Road, put O’Brien in a tough spot with a fun question: If his life depended on a football team winning a game, would he rather have Saban or Belichick coaching the squad?
O’Brien questioned if it was a college or professional game. Giglio clarified that the game in question is a Thanksgiving neighborhood football game. Only coaching the team is to be considered (not recruiting). The team would have 24 hours to prepare with the coach.
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Without much hesitation, O’Brien chose his former Alabama boss.
“I’m going with Nick Saban for the Thanksgiving neighborhood football game because I think Nick would be very straightforward: this is how it’s going to do, this is how we’re going to attack it one way or the other,” O’Brien said. “Bill might be a little bit difficult for the guys to understand exactly how Bill wants to.”
When Giglio brought up that Belichick has struggled without Tom Brady, O’Brien chuckled but declined to pile on.
“I’m not going there.”
O’Brien was last a college head coach at Penn State for the 2012 and ’13 seasons, logging a 15-9 record. He posted a 52-48 record as an NFL head coach in seven seasons with the Houston Texans.
Boston College opens its season on Monday, Sept. 2 at Florida State. The game is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff, airing on ESPN.
.@giglio_OG hit BC’s Bill O’Brien with his favorite question: Which coach would he pick to win a football game if his life depended on it – Nick Saban or Bill Belichick?
: https://t.co/ZY7qQY7Ws9
: https://t.co/qaawYtvmmO pic.twitter.com/nvVE4eTVa0— Joe Ovies (@joeovies) July 25, 2024
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
