SOTC Update: Boston College Eagles
Bill O'Brien's first season was a success overall. They didn't need a reset year and now look to build on that success and take the next step. They have the talent. They just need the breaks.
Boston College Eagles
State of the Chart™ Recap Edition
Live All-In Ranking: 56th
Offense: 41st
Defense: 47th
2024 Results: 7-6 (4-4 in ACC)
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|||||| STATE OF THE CHART™ SUMMARY
Bill O’Brien came in here and immediately coaxed a winning season out of the Eagles. They were led by a really solid defense as the offense found their footing. To call this team ‘overachieving’ would be supported by their aggregate performance against the spread, beating that by 73.5 points over the course of the season. Most will remember the Thomas Castellanos saga that unfolded after the offense stalled out a bit and O’Brien benched his starting quarterback in favor of backup Grayson James. That prompted Castellanos to leave the program. It was the right call as the Eagles took off and finished with two quality wins to close out the regular season. Tim Lewis’ defense molded together well and kept the Eagles in games. Looking forward to 2025, they get James back to run the offense under center and quite a bit of returning talent around him. They do have to replace a good amount of NFL-caliber talent, including two offensive linemen. BOB and his staff have a history of finding and developing players in the trenches. As long as they do, the realistic expectation here is a step up to 8-9 wins in 2025.
|||||| HEAD COACH AND COACHING STAFF
Bill O’Brien coaxing a winning season out of the roster he inherited from Jeff Hafley is one of the better coaching jobs in 2024. He can be relied on to do that — coach up. Now that they have a year under their belt, there could be another step to be taken. His ‘old school’ approach of player development will take center stage in 2025 as they did not bring in a huge, impactful portal class. In BOB we trust.
Coaching Staff Notes/Changes:
Defensive line coach Jeff Comissiong was let go following a one-year stint in the job. Jordan Thomas, 34, is his replacement and comes in from the NFL where he was an assistant defensive line coach for the Cleveland Browns the past three seasons. He played at San Diego State in 2010-13 before taking a role as a graduate assistant and eventually defensive line coach for two seasons (2020-21).
Defensive backs coach Ray Brown left for a job in the NFL with the 49ers. That opened the door for Cory Robinson to be hired after a five-year stint in the NFL, most recently as the cornerbacks coach for the Jaguars. He coached at the college level beginning in 2014 after a five-year run at the high school level.
Note: This is a “dynamic” article; meaning we will update any information that comes in this “off-season” and post a note when impactful moves are made or news breaks.
|||||| 2024 SCHEDULE / RESULTS ANALYSIS
This was a rough schedule and that is what happens when you have non-conference games with Mizzou, Michigan State and one of the better group of five schools, Western Kentucky. They got Syracuse, SMU and Louisville in the SEC slate as well. Getting bowl eligible was the goal here and they were well on their way after a 4-1 start, including an SEC opening win against what turned out to be a very down Florida State squad, the Spartans and Hilltoppers. They then hit a funk mid-season with three losses in conference, as the offense sputtered before the benching of quarterback Thomas Castellanos. They got on track with impressive wins over North Carolina and Pitt before a bowl loss to Nebraska. Our ‘deserved wins’ (dWIN) metric has them as an 8.2-win team, helped by their overachieving number against the spread (+73.5) throughout the season and that tough schedule.
||||||| POSITION GROUP CHECK-INS
OFFENSE: This run-heavy Bill O’Brien offense had its ups and downs throughout the campaign. They finished 22nd in FBS with 114.9 yards per game, averaging 3.62 yards per carry. They featured one of the better offensive lines in the ACC, with two starters likely to play in the NFL next year. When this is humming properly, the passing offense picks and chooses times to strike, and when that worked, the offense worked. Overall, averaging 7.2 yards per attempt in the passing game is solid (ranked 66th). Still, it lacked that killer instinct, and eventually, O’Brien turned away from Thomas Castellanos at quarterback in favor of Grayson James, the former FIU Panther. It ended up being the right move, and now they have their guy for 2025. They need to replace a lead in Ky Robichaux, who handled most of the duties running the football with 174 carries, but they have talent in that room. BOB’s reputation with building offenses will bode well for the program, and a step up in production can be expected if – and only if – they can find replacements on the offensive line.
||| QB
Thomas Castellanos came into ‘24 with high hopes of building on a really good ‘23 season. He was the starter for most of the season, but things stalled out a bit, and BOB turned to Grayson James. Castellanos left the team and now is vying to start at Florida State. James returns and does look like the answer here going forward. Alabama transfer Dylan Lonergan comes in with three years of eligibility remaining and may be groomed to take over in ‘26.
||| RB
Kye Robichaux was the lead back here, racking up 174 totes for just over 700 yards and ten touchdowns. FSU transfer Treshaun Ward saw some action and was just as good with those opportunities. We also got a look at true freshman Turbo Richard, who impressed. With Robichaux moving on, this will likely be a workload shared between Ward and Richard and should be dynamic. Jordan McDonald should not be ignored either, and he will be in the mix for backup carries.
||| WR
Lewis Bond was the clear go-to here with 93 targets. He turned in 66 grabs for just under 700 yards and three touchdowns. Jaedn Skeete showed signs of life early before injuries struck, and he didn’t record any stats after week eight. Reed Harris showed his explosive nature with his 17 catches, averaging nearly 30 yards (!) per grab. All three of these top options return and bring in VJ Wilkins from FCS Campbell as a potential slot option. This will work best if they can take some pressure off of Bond.
||| TE
Both Kamari Morales and Jeremiah Franklin impacted the passing game as they split snaps just about down the middle. Franklin graded out as a better pass catcher, but Morales turned in six touchdowns. Morales does move on, but Franklin is expected back. With Ty Lockwood coming in from Alabama, looking for an opportunity, they should be just fine here again, going with a two-tight end system.
||| OL
This was an impressive line, led by center Drew Kendall and RT Ozzy Trapilo. Both are going to the NFL, and RG Jack Conley is out of eligibility. They get back a really good LT in Jude Bowry, and Logan Taylor was solid at left guard. They have internal candidates who appear ready to step into a starting role to replace Trapilo, with both Ryan Mickow and Kevin Cline looking like solid options. They hit the portal to bring in Princeton’s Tommy Matheson to vie for a guard spot. BOB finds offensive line talent, and they will rally here despite big losses.
DEFENSE: This unit was really very good, and without them stepping up, this would not have been a winning first season for BOB here. Their calling cards included shutting down the run, limiting explosive plays, and tightening on both third down (36.4% opponent success rate) and in the red zone (56% opponent touchdown rate). That’s what good defenses do. The one wart was in the secondary with them giving up too many yards through the air — allowing 246 yards per game — ranked 110th in FBS. That’s slightly misleading, as teams had to go to the pass because they couldn’t get anything going on the ground, with the Eagles limiting them to 3.6 yards per carry (26th). They accomplished that without a top pass-rushing unit — outside of one guy, Donovan Ezeiruaku and his 14 sacks — which is a testament to the scheming and a notch on the belt of defensive coordinator Tim Lewis. They lose two key players on the defensive line but bring back a good amount here overall. This group is expected to return to form and perform at a high level again in 2025.
||| DL
Losing the top two here — Donovan Ezeiruaku and Cam Horsley — is going to hurt. Both are going to play on Sundays. Ezeiruaku was all over the place, including racking up 14 sacks. Horsley’s special was stuffing the run on the interior. They do get back a few solid contributors, including Quintayvious Hutchins on the end, but did go to the portal to supplement in this group. Getting it back to that ‘24 level will be tough, but they can still be well above average.
||| LB
Daveon Crouch led this unit in playing time, with Kam Arnold also playing a lot. Both were good against the run. Joe Marinaro was also graded out as a top run stuffer. Arnold and Marinaro run out of eligibility, while Crouch does return. Owen McGowan showed well in limited snaps and should take a more significant role in 2025. Same with now sophomore Omar Thornton, who played in eight games, gaining some needed experience as a true.
||| DB
They will get a good amount of returning talent back, led by the trio of SS KP Price, CB Carter Davis and CB Amari Jackson. Davis grades out as a true shutdown corner. Khari Johnson is the only player with significant playing time (over half snaps) that will not return. They were put to the test a lot as teams took to the air often, but they will be more seasoned and ready for that challenge in 2025.
SPECIAL TEAMS: This offense simply didn’t attempt field goals unless forced to. Liam Connor put 2/4 through the uprights and Luca Lombardo hit his only attempt. Both return for ‘25. Punter Sam Candiotti was not very good. They bring in a transfer from Yale, Shamus Florio, to compete for that job and provide some competition. They split up the return attempts with Isaiah Farris standing out of the group. Jayden McGowan returned both kickoff and punts and he is not returning. They will get back Johnathan Montague Jr. and Farris with Cameron Martinez also returning and providing a spark at times.
Reader feedback is requested and encouraged! Who knows these teams better than their passionate fan bases? We don’t pretend to know it all and would love your feedback. We will update/edit based (and credit) for anything that is brought to our attention. Let’s do this together…
|||||| TRANSFER PORTAL TRACKER
This doesn’t look all that great, especially with two highly-rated defensive backs heading out of town. But, neither really contributed much in ‘24 and were likely not expected to do so in ‘25. They bring in a few role player, but not any obvious immediate impact players from the portal. They did think ahead a bit by getting former Alabama quarterback Dylan Lonergan as a potential future under center.
Below is a screen shot of the full, live Transfer Portal Tracker over at CFBDepth.com. Click the image or the button below to view it in its entirety…
|||||| 2025 RECRUITING CLASS
O’Brien is good recruiter, but it doesn’t often show up in these types of rankings. They scout and develop. This 2025 class doesn’t include any consensus 4-star players, which may make some uneasy. Again, BOB finds the kind of talent he’s looking for and develops them into the type of player they can utilize in the future. That said, this is a bit lower than the expectation, even with that stated caveat. No reason to panic, but is is reason for pause.
Here is a snapshot of the 2025 Recruiting Class+ with a link to the live page with updates throughout the cycle:
|||||| 2025 SCHEDULE LOOK AHEAD
The schedule comes in slightly easier by early SOS+ numbers as they drop Mizzou from the schedule after a two-year stint playing them. Michigan State stays on for the second and they must go to East Lansing this time around. They get a tough UConn team and rekindle the Notre Dame rivalry in the non-conference.
There is a lot of movement and decisions to be made throughout the off-season, including more portal moves, winter workouts and spring ball. Get all caught up with the full-on State of the Chart Magazine coming in July. If you missed the ad before, get more information and give us your e-mail to stay in the loop on everything SOTC!
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