Bill O'Brien picks Nick Saban over 8x Super Bowl-winning coach to "save" him in do-or-die football game of his life

Boston College Eagles coach Bill O'Brien has worked with some of the best football coaches across the country. He had stints under Bill Belichick with the New England Patriots and Nick Saban at Alabama.

O'Brien appeared on the "OVIES & GIGLIO" podcast on Wednesday after his team's ACC Media Day appearance and faced one of the toughest questions of the day. The Boston College coach had to pick between Belichick, who has the most Super Bowl wins in NFL history with eight, or Saban, who has seven collegiate national championships, as the coach to save his life in a do-or-die situation.

"I'm going with Nick Saban for the Thanksgiving neighborhood football game," O'Brien said. "Because I think Nick would be very straightforward. This is how it's gonna do it. This is how we're gonna attack it one way or the other."

O'Brien also explained why he opted to go with Saban for the highly important virtual game:

"Bill might be a little bit, you know, it might be difficult for the guys to understand how exactly Bill wants it."

Saban was a head coach at the collegiate level for 28 seasons. He had stints at Toledo, Michigan State and LSU before spending 17 years at Alabama. Saban won his first national title in 2003 while at LSU. He also won six more national championships at Alabama before announcing his retirement in January this year.

Meanwhile, Belichick was a head coach in the NFL for 29 seasons, including five years with the Cleveland Browns. He also served as the New England Patriots coach for 24 seasons, winning six Super Bowls with the franchise. He left his coaching role with the Patriots after the 2023 season. Notably, Belichick won two more Super Bowls while working as an assistant coach for the New York Giants.

A look at Bill O'Brien's tenure under Nick Saban at Alabama

Bill O'Brien worked as an offensive coordinator under Nick Saban at Alabama (Source: Imagn)

Bill O'Brien worked under Nick Saban at Alabama for two seasons from 2021 to 2022. He served as the program's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. While O'Brien was with the Tide, the team posted a 24–4 record in two seasons and averaged over 41 points per game.

O'Brien returned to the Patriots as their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2023. It was his second stint under Belichick, having previously worked with the New England team from 2007 to 2011.

In February this year, Bill O'Brien was hired as the head coach of the Boston College Eagles.