Aer Lingus Classic College Football Diaries: Andy Quinn Boston College Eagles Pt.3

It’s now a very cold December here in the picturesque grounds of Boston College as I reflect on my first season as a D1 College football player, playing for Boston College in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

For me, the season started on the 5th of July when my mum dropped me off at Shannon Airport for a direct Aer Lingus Flight to Boston. I didn’t know then that the next time we’d see each other would be nearly two months later – the Friday night before playing in my first ever college football game on August 29th!

I had spent the previous 9 months adjusting to college-level football, which is no easy feat. The speed of the game, the intensity of practices, and the mental demands of special teams responsibilities were huge. The first few weeks were a crash course in adaptation. Film study sessions, gruelling weight training, and endless repetitions of kick-offs and punts tested both my physical and mental stamina.

But I was ready and really looking forward to getting on the field!

We opened our season at home in Alumni Stadium with a confident win against Fordham University. Everything about the evening still feels sharp – the noise, the lights, the sheer scale of it.  Dozens of excited family and friends flew or drove into Boston the evening before and filled pockets of the stands with Irish voices. However, no one made their presence felt more than my little 9-year-old brother. He was so loud that he was heard on the live ESPN broadcast back home in Creggs in the West of Ireland, shouting my name as the ball climbed into the Massachusetts sky. 

“Come on, Andy”

From that moment on, I was affectionately known as the Irish kicker with dozens of people looking to meet up and wish me well after every game. I can't express enough my gratitude to everyone for this support – throughout the season, family and friends planned their holidays around my games, took weekend breaks to Boston, set up tailgating for my supporters, others turned up week in week out to support me, and so many more wished me well online. I feel so lucky to have this support behind me, and it is what drives me on.

What followed was a season that taught me things at a pace I wasn’t expecting.The biggest lesson came early: wins are incredibly hard-earned in College Football. For our league table, we had to wait until the final game to put another W beside our name.

In between those wins, we played 10 games in six different states from California to Kentucky! 

Many were heartbreakingly narrow one-score losses against big teams like Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Georgia Tech. It was against Syracuse near the Canadian border that we finished our season with a second win in late November.

It’s hard to describe the emotional toll of a ten-loss season unless you were in the locker room with us. The pain was real, but so was the resilience. Every week, we had to get up, reset, and go again. That rhythm shaped everything. The season built an entirely different mindset around the days themselves.
 

Fridays are travel days — buses take us from Boston College to the tarmac at Logan Airport, and our chartered plane awaits, flights criss-crossing the country taking us to our destination, then buses are waiting at the other side taking us to the team hotel. 

For home games, we stay together as a unit at a Sheraton hotel in Needham, Boston.  After an evening of team meetings in the hotel, we get an hour off and a chance to meet with our family, and meet our teammates and their families too.  These are the people who truly understand the endeavour of each lad to make this dream become a reality.  Families gather from all over the US and indeed the world to catch up with their son and each other. 

Saturday is game day, we fuel up, and have treatments to prepare us for the gruelling three-hour game.

Sundays were recovery and practice days, with physio treatments and debriefs from our coaches, and planning for the following weekend's game. 

Mondays were the only real day off from training; however, all the time classes have to be attended, coursework completed, homework and exams have to be submitted and on time, a very important factor kept in check by not only the academic staff but also the athletics staff. In early October, I was recognised as an Academic All-Star for my determination and discipline on and off the field.

Every weekday morning, we started at 6 a.m. Workouts, training, fuelling and meetings until midday. The afternoon is filled with classes until 6 p.m., and compulsory evening study after that; the workload was relentless.

There were other high points during the season, too. Being part of the best specialist unit in the ACC was a huge honour and a great unit to learn so much from as a freshman. 

And that 68-yard punt! The one that put me on top of the ESPN net average punting charts  became a moment I’ll always carry with me. I played 12 games on live TV in 7 states, thousands of miles from home. It’s a strange feeling, realising how far the ball and the journey I have actually travelled.

Looking back, it wasn’t just a freshman season. It was my introduction into a new world, a new pace, a new identity. A season that started with a wave at Shannon Airport and ended with my name on top of the national punting leaderboard! 

As I look back on my freshman year, I’m struck by how far this journey has already taken me—from a small village in Ireland to punting under the lights for Boston College. It was a season full of lessons, challenges, and moments I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life. I grew not just as a player, but as a person, learning what it means to push through tough stretches, to trust the routine, and to stay grounded in gratitude no matter the scoreboard. None of it would have been possible without the people who supported me—from my family making the long trips across the Atlantic to the teammates and coaches who welcomed me into a new home. This year was only the beginning, and as I look ahead, I’m proud of where I’ve started and excited for where this journey will lead next.

On Saturday the 29th of August, Ireland will welcome yet another thrilling Division 1 College Football matchup to kick off the 2026 season. The TCU Horned Frogs will face off against the UNC Tar Heels in what will be the fifth consecutive Aer Lingus College Football Classic matchup and the eleventh ever college football game held on the Emerald Isle. 

Don’t miss out on your opportunity to see the action live when the season gets underway from the Aviva Stadium on August the 29th. Register your interest now to receive an exclusive presale, game updates and so much more. 

#MuchMoreThanAGame | #TouchdownDublin | #TouchdownIreland