Former Penn State head coach [autotag]Bill O’Brien[/autotag] returned to a role as head coach last week when he was named the new head coach of the Boston College Eagles after a brief stay on the Ohio State coaching staff. As O’Brien works on assembling his staff at Boston College, he is bringing in some familiar faces from his time at Penn State.
One of the first notable names to join O’Brien at Boston College was Craig Fitzgerald as the team’s strength coach. Fitzgerald held the role of Director of Strength and Conditioning in 2012 and 2013 under O’Brien, and he was well respected in that role. Fitzgerald followed O’Brien to the NFL when O’Brien accepted a job to be the head coach of the Houston Texans. Fitxzgeerald spent four seasons with O’Brien and the Texans before returning to the college game to work in the same role for Tennessee in 2018 and 2019. He then returned to the NFL with the New York Giants from 2020 through 2023.
Fitzgerald was announced as Florida‘s Director of Football Performance in December, so his quick move to Boston College is a big hire for O’Brien.
But O’Brien may have some other staff members with ties to his time in Happy Valley.
According to FootballScoop, O’Brien is set to add Will Lawing to the Boston College staff as the offensive coordinator. Lawing has worked with O’Brien with the Texans, Alabama, and the New England Patriots. Lawing started his working relationship with O’Brien as a graduate assistant at Penn State in 2013.
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