Anonymous ACC coach compares Boston College to Syracuse

The Boston College Eagles are heading into year two under head coach Bill O’Brien. After a solid first season, going to the Pinstripe Bowl, which caught plenty of people by surprise, the Eagles are hoping to make another major step forward.

The situation that Boston College finds itself in now is, seemingly, similar to that of Syracuse. Certainly, one ACC who spoke anonymously to Athlon thinks that both of those programs find themselves in a similar spot heading into the 2025 season.

“They’re a lot like Syracuse in that they exceeded the first-year expectations in a rebuild,” the ACC coach said. “But they’re suffering more losses now. This looks like it could be a season with fewer wins while they build for a more consistent long-term future.”

Syracuse, like Boston College, had a first-year head coach in Fran Brown last season. Similarly, the Orange also overperformed on expectations in 2024, though to more of an extreme than the Eagles. Syracuse would end up going 10-3, to the 7-6 record Boston College put up. Still, there are similarities.

Both schools also have similar issues going into the 2025 season. That’s a decent amount of roster turnover. Boston College lost 19 transfers from the program, including former starting quarterback Thomas Castellanos. Another three Eagles would be drafted, alongside the other outgoing seniors. Syracuse, for its part, lost 22 players to the Transfer Portal. Another four, including quarterback Kyle McCord, would be selected in the NFL Draft.

“Before they were hit by the portal, they were in pretty good shape,” an ACC coach said. “And right now they still look like a really effective run-based offense. They were really effective at working downhill last year. They have to keep that going specifically because of the QB change.”

Bill O’Brien and Boston College will now turn toward Dylan Lonergan, who is connected to O’Brien from Alabama. There, O’Brien would have recruited but never coached him until meeting again in Chestnut Hill.

“They need [Dylan] Lonergan to click in that system quickly,” an ACC coach said. “And they also need to build a more consistent defense. They were really opportunistic and created a lot of turnovers, but they’re not deep or really talented in one particular unit.”

Boston College will look to open up their season on August 30th against Fordham, out of the FCS ranks. The schedule heats up after that on the road against Michigan State before traveling again cross country to take on Stanford in the Eagles’ ACC opener.