When coach Tom O’Brien left his post after 10 years as the head coach at Boston College for division-rival N.C. State in December of last year, he knew going in that he would have to return to his old stomping grounds in his first year with the Wolfpack and stand on the opposite sideline from his old team.

So with Saturday approaching, the Pack’s first-year coach is sure to reunite with some familiar faces both on and off the field. He said he expects some old friends will visit him during his stay in the area this weekend.

“I’m sure I’ll see some people Friday night who’ll come by the hotel and I’m sure a lot of people will come by Saturday,” O’Brien said. “But it’s a business trip for me, and they understand that; they’ve been around me and this staff long enough to know what our preparations are and how important games are to us.”

O’Brien recruited and coached nearly every player on the Eagles’ roster and oversaw the greater part of most of their careers, far longer than he has with his current players.

“I was counting the other day — with those fourth-year guys playing at BC — I got more than 50 games with them,” O’Brien said. “I got one game with these guys, so it’s still a learning process with them.”

One former player still playing for Boston College, senior quarterback Matt Ryan, has already expressed interest in talking to O’Brien after Saturday’s contest reaches its conclusion.

O’Brien said it was “already established” that he would talk to several opposing players after the game, but added he is looking forward to putting this trip behind him.

“Once this gets over, it’s over with and then we don’t have to do this ever again,” O’Brien said.

The team he cultivated is now poised to make a run at the ACC title — especially after defeating defending conference champ Wake Forest last week. O’Brien has said this year’s Boston College team — the one that he walked away from — would have been the most talented he had coached, and that this was the season toward which he had been working.

“We played all kinds of freshmen last year knowing that we had some holes – but we had some excellent freshmen to play. The thing last year was to build for this year,” O’Brien said. “They’re probably two-deep at every position on defense; they can rotate guys in and out and not lose a beat.”

Even after eight consecutive winning seasons and six straight bowl wins, O’Brien still received his share of criticism. There was a website, firetob.com, dedicated to seeing him removed from his post.

They were a vocal, but small part of the fan base that O’Brien remembers, and he said that generally speaking they were a very supportive group.

“The folks at BC have been tremendous,” O’Brien said. “You get the occasional shot here and there, but it’s probably 50 to 1.”

Even though he is experienced playing the prodigal son, once coaching on the sideline for Virginia against his alma mater Navy, it will still be unfamiliar coaching in Boston — this time for as the visiting team.

“I probably walked through it,” O’Brien said. “But never for a game.”