Sources: BC close to hiring Pats’ Lawing as OC

Pete Thamel, ESPNFeb 12, 2024, 10:01 PM ET

Bill O’Brien has zeroed in on his offensive coordinator hire at Boston College, as sources told ESPN that the school is working toward a deal to hire Will Lawing, a longtime O’Brien aide.

Lawing worked with O’Brien last year as the tight ends coach with the New England Patriots. He’s worked with O’Brien at three other stops: Alabama, the Houston Texans and as a graduate assistant at Penn State.

O’Brien was hired at Boston College on Friday, which is late in the college coaching cycle to put a staff together. He’s already set to hire another longtime assistant, strength coach Craig Fitzgerald, as Florida has announced that he’s resigned from the Gators to come to Boston College.

Lawing’s professional relationship with O’Brien spans back to 2013, when he came to Penn State as a graduate assistant after being the offensive coordinator at Juniata College.

From there, he worked with O’Brien in various roles at the Texans starting in 2014, including defensive quality control and offensive assistant. He worked as the Texans’ tight end coach in 2019 and 2020.

He followed O’Brien to Alabama, where he worked as an analyst for two seasons before joining him in New England in 2023. O’Brien served as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator last year.

ESPN’s Mike Reiss contributed to this report.