Bill O'Brien and a new world of football at Boston College - ESPN

RYE, N.Y. — On a sunny evening in early June, Boston College coach Bill O'Brien pulls out his iPhone and starts filming.

He catches a panoramic view of the Shenorock Shore Club, a private club for swimming, tennis and pickleball in Westchester County, a few out-routes from Manhattan. He captures a scene like something out of East Egg — water lapping on the shore, Adirondack chairs at the ready and an American flag rustling gently in the breeze.

He sends it to his wife, Colleen, and chuckles as he reads her response: «I thought you were working!»

This is all part of the work of the modern coach, a window into the new-age challenge for an old-school mind. O'Brien's appearance at the Shore Club includes more than an hour of glad-handing, introducing himself to graduates and students of all ages. It comes amid a jam-packed multistop trip through Westchester and Manhattan that includes meetings everywhere from Winged Foot to the Downtown Athletic Club — old haunts for a new era.

The role of coaches as fundraisers isn't new, as they have been passing the leather helmet long before NIL, NCAA lawsuits and conference television networks. But as O'Brien sips on a Miller Lite and presses the flesh, the scene marks a compelling intersection of coach and moment.

O'Brien arrives at Boston College as the most qualified coach in the school's nine decades of football. He led the Houston Texans to four playoff bids — and two wins — in seven seasons and went 15-9 in two seasons as Penn State's coach.

He's worked under the two modern GOATS — Bill Belichick in the NFL and Nick Saban in college football. He's called plays in the Super Bowl and for both a Heisman winner (Bryce Young) and an NFL MVP (Tom Brady).

He's also been around long