When Bill O’Brien officially landed quarterback Mason McKenzie from Saginaw Valley State during the offseason, there was a bit of pushback from both the Eagles’ fanbase and those covering the program on whether it was the right decision or not.

But after going 2-10 and losing former starter Dylan Lonergan to the portal, O’Brien needed to acquire someone fast, and he had his eye on McKenzie from the jump.

Seven games in, and it’s looking more and more evident that O’Brien hit a grand slam with the signing of the former Division II signal caller.

On Thursday, when the Eagles’ head coach was asked if he felt any sort of satisfaction about his decision to bank on McKenzie entering his third year at the helm, he responded affirmatively that this was not his way of thinking on the matter.

“No, no, no, no,” O’Brien said. “I don’t think like that at all, I really don’t. I thought the guy was a hell of a player, and I knew that that conference had produced some really good players, [like] Trinidad Chambliss. I’m not trying to compare anybody to anybody. I’m just saying, like that conference had produced some really good players. It’s a really good conference.”

Thoughtful answer from O’Brien about taking a chance on Mason McKenzie during the offseason and putting all his eggs in one basket on a player from the Division II ranks:

“I knew that there was a guy there that really loved football, came from a great family, was a humble guy.” pic.twitter.com/PETLZhhQDg

— Graham Dietz (@graham_dietz) October 29, 2026

It was obvious that McKenzie possessed talent — he left his former program after receiving the conference’s Player of the Year award — but doubts of whether or not he could translate it from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) to the ACC dominated much of the offseason discourse around the program.

With more than half a dozen starts under his belt now, in which the Eagles have gone 4-3 with promising signs even during their losses, that skepticism has completely vanquished, and McKenzie has increasingly become a fan favorite in Chestnut Hill.

McKenzie has opened up the Eagles’ offense in a way that O’Brien felt he could with his dual-threat abilities, and he’s quietly entering territory as one of the most exciting players to watch in recent BC memory.

“I knew that we needed somebody that was mobile, that could make off-schedule plays,” O’Brien said. “I think that’s the deal in college football. … When I met him, I knew there was a guy there that really loved football, that came from a great family, that was a humble guy, that was going to work at it, was a smart guy that wanted to win, that was very, very tough.”

O’Brien said “I also knew that we needed somebody that was mobile, that could make off-schedule plays.”

“I think that’s the deal in college football.” https://t.co/CgYVO6hFvu

— Graham Dietz (@graham_dietz) October 29, 2026

“I don’t think you really understood the toughness of Mason until that very first game in Cincinnati, where you saw that toughness. You know, that’s one of the things that makes him who he is. He’s a very, very tough kid.”

From both inside and outside of the facility, that is above all what defines McKenzie the most — his grit and tenacity.

In sports, these are known as intangibles, and most of the time it boils down to certain physical traits, like speed or size.

But for McKenzie, it’s the heart that he plays with — the willingness to do whatever it takes on the field to put BC in a position to succeed — that trumps all else.

“He’s an outstanding competitor,” senior captain Michael Crounse said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been around someone with that level of competitiveness in them, and that amount of willingness to go out there and make a play.”

“I mean, obviously against Cincinnati, when he got hit like that and pop back up and play the rest of the game, like that was like, ‘Okay, like he’s a competitor.’ But he’s done it every single game no matter what. … I just love that about him.”