Boston College tied for their worst record in a season, since going winless in 1978. Bill O’Brian enters his 3rd season in Chestnut Hill with a record of 9-16 and 5-11 in the ACC.
Offense
Terrible seasons lead to wholesale changes in the Portal Era. Starting QB Dylan Lonergan has moved on to Rutgers. The Eagles brought in Mason McKenzie from Saginaw State, where he was conference player of the year.
Running back was another position the Eagles dived into the portal to replace players leaving the portal. Evan Dickens, a former Yellow Jackets, comes in after a great season at Liberty, where he was top 10 nationally in yards and touchdowns. They also added Nolan Ray, who is coming off two solid seasons at Maryland.
Boston College lost their top three pass catchers last season, Lewis Bond being drafted in the 6th round to the Texans, and Reed Harris hitting the portal to Arizona State. Sophomores Johnathan Montague and Dawson Pough will join portal addition Javarius Green to round out the receiving corps. Sophomore tight end Kaelan Chudzinski is the leading returning pass catcher and will be an integral part of the Eagles offense. The offensive line is undergoing a complete overhaul, losing two starters to the NFL. The only returning starter is redshirt junior center Michael Crounse, who started nine games last season.
Defense
Tech fans will be surprised to see that their old friend Ted Roof is the new defensive coordinator at Boston College.
Looking at the portal is a common practice in this era of college football. The Eagles brought in defensive ends Kris Jones from uga and Demtrius Ballard from Buffalo to pair with senior Onye Nwosisi to try and develop more pass rush. Junior Chris Marable Jr returns at defensive tackle, logging 22 tackles last season.
The linebacker rotation will be three more portal additions. Anthony Palano comes over from Washington State, having played in 12 games last season for the Cougars. Bodie Kahoun and Justin Medlock from Notre Dame and SMU respectively, will look to have a larger impact at BC than they did at their previous stops.
Looking for the strength of a defense that ranked 120th or worse in most defensive categories is usually a fool’s errand, but BC returns solid pieces that could develop into a competitive secondary.
Three sophomores return to corner looking to build on their freshman seasons. TJ Green and Ashton Cunningham played in 19 games last season between them. Syair Torrence had a solid freshman season in 2024 but missed almost all of 2025 with an injury.
Safety is the one position group where the Eagles didn’t need to go fishing in the portal to replace production. Senior KP Price and Junior Carter Davis both return after finishing first and third on the team in tackles.
Special Teams
Senior Luca Lombardo returns after making 16 of 17 field goals last season. Junior Bryce LaFollette comes over from Towson to do the punting.
Schedule
Boston College opens at Cincinnati, before having a three game homestand with Rutgers, Maine, and opens the conference slate with Virginia Tech. A trip to SMU ends the first part of the schedule before a bye week October 10th. They host Pitt before the trip to Atlanta, where they have upset the Jackets the past two trips. They alternate home away to end the season; at Duke, FSU, @ Notre Dame, Syracuse, ending the season with a trip to preseason pick to win the conference Miami.
Conclusion
Boston College was picked to finish 16th in the ACC in the preseason poll. They were not helped by the schedule makers, they play one of the teams picked in the bottom 5 and the top two teams, Miami and SMU, both on the road. The third year might be the last year for Bill O’Brian in Chestnut Hill.