Image courtesy of New England Patriots
Some college coaches may look at former Patriots tight ends coach Will Lawing and wonder if he has a screw loose.
These days, leaving the NFL to enter the wild, Wild West that is college football is a pretty risky decision. The amount of college coaches flowing to the NFL because they can’t stand what the college product is turning into is growing rapidly, seemingly by the day.
On Wednesday afternoon following BC’s second spring ball practice under new head coach Bill O’Brien, the new Eagles’ offensive coordinator explained why he wanted to come to Chestnut Hill.
“No. 1, talking about this place, I feel like it’s a great opportunity,” he said. “We can do some things, we can do some good things here. Obviously, getting a chance to be a coordinator is a good opportunity there. But, I was excited…you look at BC and I mean, we can build off what they did last year. That excites me and this is a great city, I love this city. Obviously, lived here last year, but made this jump and don’t have to move too far.”
Of course, his long time relationship with O’Brien didn’t hurt the cause either.
“Shoot, I’ve been coaching with Coach O”Brien since…I think this is Year 12? Coach O’Brien has been extremely important in my growth as a coach and a person, he’s helped me a ton along the way,” said Lawing. “I’ve learned so much from him and the other coaches he’s put around myself on staffs we’ve worked on. We’ve got a great relationship and it speaks for itself since we’ve been working together for so long.”
Recently, O’Brien said he’d like to combine what he did at Alabama and with the Patriots offensively. Lawing talked about the challenge of blending it all together while making sure the players are comfortable with what the plan is.
“It takes time,” he said. “Any time you…terminology is one thing. Football, you’re speaking a different language out here, so you’re trying to get on the same page with these guys. Learn what they know. Sometimes adjust to what they know too. At the end of the day, ball is ball and sometimes you’re saying the exact same thing with different words. So, I’m able to adjust. It doesn’t just have to be what I know there. I can learn some things they know. As far as putting it all together, that’s fun to me and to the rest of the staff. It’s not just me. The rest of the assistant coaches do a great job helping me and we collectively put it all together.”
Everything is new at BC right now and Lawing acknowledges that he’s learning on the fly a little bit too while transitioning from position coach to OC, but the Eagles should be in good hands.
“It’s good. It’s certainly a transition, but it’s going good,” he added. “I’m really enjoying my time with the guys. Teaching these guys, we’ve got a great staff here. The other position coaches on offense are awesome to work with, so it’s going well.”