Defending O'Brien

Ever since Boston College's regular season ending loss to Miami, the rumblings of discontent at The Heights could be heard about BC coach Tom O'Brien.

Doesn't win the big game. Too conservative on offense. Yada, yada.

A web site calling for his firing comes to life.

Folks. Get a grip. Boston College is what Boston College is. A great academic school with a strong tradition that competes well nationally in most of the sports it plays. Are the Eagles going to win a national championship in football or basketball? Probably not. Most likely not. Will they compete well at the highest level? Absolutely.

Is Tom O'Brien the best coach in college football? No. But he's good. Very good. He's a builder. A Navy guy, an ex-Marine. Is there a lot of flash there? No, but that's not O'Brien's style. Nor is it the way his teams style.

Yes, the Eagles should have won games they lost the last three seasons. O'Brien knows that. But should they have won the Clemson or BYU games this year? Maybe not. But they found a way to win.

Stuff happens.

BC is going to a bowl game this year. Again. They will probably win the game against Navy.

Again.

Which means their final record for 2006 will be 10-3. Yeah, that stinks.

Maybe O'Brien will leave BC in the next few weeks to take one of the openings that now exist. He would be a nice fit for Stanford, although there is some hesitation of heading East by Stanford officials after Buddy Teevens and Walt Harris.

If he does leave, BC owes' O'Brien a thank-you. He built a foundation, brought respectability to a program that didn't deserve any 10 years ago.

The old line about BC lingers. The Eagles want to be an Ivy League school during the week and a jock school on Saturdays.

If you are on O'Brien's case, get off of it. He wins games, he wins bowl games and his football players graduate. And he makes less than money than 90 percent of the coaches in the ACC.