Insert 'Anchorman' 'that escalated quickly' gif here.

I've confirmed a report Pete Nakos of ON3 had on Wednesday afternoon that Tommy Castellanos will be heading to the transfer portal. The next window for the portal to open begins December 9th and ends the 28th.

This has all gone south in a hurry for Castellanos, who tried to adapt to more of a pocket passing game this season and just couldn't. A few weeks ago, Castellanos acknowledged he felt 'less dangerous' than in 2023 when he ran for 1,000 yards.

This season, Castellanos played in eight games, going 4-4. He finishes the 2024 campaign with 1,366 yards passing, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions to go along with a handful of fumbles. He had just 194 yards rushing on 93 carries and one touchdown.

After getting benched on Saturday against Syracuse and learning he'd be the backup on Sunday, Bill O'Brien told us Tuesday that he'd be "taking a couple days" away from the team. Well, apparently, that's now turning into a permanent departure from a guy who at one point last year was seen as the future best QB in the ACC.

Where did it go wrong?

Well, for starters, I think he was overrated around here from the jump. Don't get me wrong, he was entertaining as hell to watch and helped create plenty of 'The Path' content a year ago, but that team was still average at best and SMU was in a terrible spot for that bowl game.

He's never been a great passer and really never cleaned up the turnovers. Bill O'Brien just dealt with Mac Jones turning the ball over left and right. At some point, enough was enough with Castellanos and the pick on the throw to Harris may have been the final straw.

This offense Bill O'Brien and Will Lawing are trying to run needs the prototypical big, strong-armed QB. Whether that's James or someone else down the road is still to be determined, but it certainly wasn't Castellanos. Can you make the argument that the staff should have worked around Tommy? Sure, but you've got to throw the ball at some point with a running QB. He can't consistently make all of the throws.

Let's also remember that TC is not O'Brien's guy. O'Brien was hired so late in the offseason that he probably felt like he owed a debt of gratitude to Castellanos for staying and not jumping in the portal. The two of them agreed to try to make it work, but at some point, O'Brien no longer owed any more loyalty to Tommy, his loyalty rests with the team.

Now, you have the decision by Castellanos to disassociate with the program all together. I'm not going to rip a 20-year old kid, but it's a terrible look. Especially a day after Jeremiah Franklin acknowledged that Tommy "hadn't ditched" them.

That changed in about 14 hours.

So, while things have escalated quickly, this may end up being the best thing for BC. If Castellanos couldn't handle this kind of heat, do you really want him in the locker room still? Captain or no captain, quitting on the team with three weeks left is inexcusable.

Money talks and he'll unquestionably be heavily recruited by teams in the portal, but if they're smart, this last week should give plenty of pause. He always seemed like a great team guy, but this speaks volumes.

From Tommy Touchdowns, to Tommy Turnovers and now, just Tommy Take Off.

The Castellanos Era will be a strange one to look back on 10, 20 years from now.