Tag: bill obrien

Alabama’s 2021 football coaching staff set to make history

Alabama’s Nick Saban has won six national titles since coming to Tuscaloosa in 2007. That success has attracted several former head coaches

Alabama head coach Nick Saban has won six national championships since coming to Tuscaloosa in 2007. That type of success has led several of the best football coaches to come to Alabama and work under Saban.

We’ve seen it countless times in recent years. Steve Sarkisian and Butch Jones are the latest examples of former head coaches who came to Alabama for a short time and then became head coaches again.

In 2021, Saban’s coaching staff faces unprecedented turnover coming off another national championship.

In addition to Sarkisian’s and Jones’s departures, running backs coach Charles Huff left for his first opportunity as a head coach at Marshall. Offensive line coach Kyle Flood and special teams/tight ends coach Jeff Banks followed Sarkisian to Texas.

Replacing Sarkisian is former Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien. O’Brien spent six-plus seasons in charge of Houston’s NFL team before being fired in October.

Former Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Marrone will replace Flood as the offensive line coach.

Both have experience in the college game, too. O’Brien is a former head coach at Penn State while Marrone was a former head coach at Syracuse.

The hirings of O’Brien and Marrone are historic. They mean Alabama is the only college program to have three former NFL head coaches on a single staff since the AFL-NFL merger in 1966, per Paul Myerberg of USA TODAY Sports,

If Alabama continues to be, well, Alabama, O’Brien and Marrone could get another shot as a head coach sooner rather than later.

List of Alabama football coaching hires in 2021 offseason

The Alabama Crimson Tide won the national championship, but lost a decent chunk of its coaching staff. Here’s an updating list of new hires.

The Alabama Crimson Tide may have won the 2020 national championship, but the program took plenty of losses in the offseason. Numerous coaches have decided to leave the program to pursue opportunities at other programs.

Former offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian left to be the head coach at the University of Texas; former offensive line coach Kyle Flood joins Sarkisian at Texas as their offensive coordinator and Charles Huff, who most recently served as the Crimson Tide’s running back coach, is now the head coach at Marshall.

Hires have already been made, and more additions to the staff are inevitable.

Here’s who Nick Saban and the Alabama program decided to bring in, so far:

NEXT … A new OC.

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Bill O’Brien officially announced as Alabama’s new offensive coordinator

The Alabama Crimson Tide officially announced the hiring of Bill O’Brien as the team’s new offensive coordinator this week.

The Alabama Crimson Tide officially announced the hiring of Bill O’Brien as the team’s new offensive coordinator this week.

O’Brien replaces Steve Sarkisian, who spent the previous two seasons as Alabama’s offensive coordinator before accepting the head-coaching job at Texas.

The former head coach of the Houston Texans, O’Brien was fired in October. In just over six seasons, O’Brien finished with a record of 54-52, despite leading the Texans to four AFC South titles.

Before O’Brien went to Houston in 2014, he was the head coach at Penn State for two seasons. In 2012, O’Brien was named Bear Bryant Coach of the Year, awarded to the top coach in college football.

In addition to his role as offensive coordinator, O’Brien will also coach quarterbacks.

Alabama coach Nick Saban released a statement on O’Brien’s hiring via the team’s official website.

We are pleased and happy to be able to add Bill O’Brien to our coaching staff. He has a wealth of experience as both an offensive coordinator and head coach in the NFL and college. Bill is one of the brightest offensive minds in football, an outstanding teacher and excellent recruiter. He will strengthen our coaching staff and give our players the best possible chance to be successful.

O’Brien also released a statement on his hiring.

I am honored and excited to join Coach Saban’s staff at The University of Alabama. I have an incredible amount of admiration for the rich football tradition at this University and the success Coach Saban has had during his time in Tuscaloosa. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to work with some of the best football players in the country, while helping to continue the success this program has enjoyed for many years.

The last time O’Brien held the role of offensive coordinator was back in 2011 when he was with the New England Patriots.

 

5 reason why Bill O’Brien will succeed as Alabama’s OC

Alabama Crimson tide football will have another play caller for the 2021 season, former Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien.

Nick Saban is no stranger to making new staff hires, as the ‘Saban coach tree’ is constantly expanding. This time, the seven-time national championship winning coach will say goodbye to offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian for the second time.

With Sarkisian accepting the head coaching job at Texas, Saban was left with a hole to fill at the offensive coordinator position.

The hire has been made, and former Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien will be the Crimson tide’s offensive playcaller for the 2021 season.

O’Brien was fired from his position with the Texans only a few games into his seventh season with the franchise.

Some may seem to think the decision is questionable, seeing the terms in which he departed from Houston.

However, if there’s one thing college football fans have learned over the years, it’s not to question Nick Sabans decisions.

Here are five reasons why the Bill O’Brien hire was a homerun for Alabama:

Alabama coach Nick Saban discusses Bill O’Brien

Just before Alabama head coach Nick Saban won the Bear Bryant Award, given to college football’s top coach, he spoke with the media on

Just before Alabama head coach Nick Saban won the Bear Bryant Award, given to college football’s top coach, he spoke with the media on Wednesday evening to discuss a number of topics.

One topic of interest is Alabama’s vacant offensive coordinator position.

Steve Sarkisian is officially finished with the Crimson Tide after Monday’s win over Ohio State in the national championship.

The leading contender to replace Sarkisian appears to be former Houston Texas and Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien.

Saban had plenty to say about O’Brien, per Charlie Potter of 247Sports.

“I’ve known Bill O’Brien for a long, long time, all the way back when he was an assistant at Georgia Tech with George O’Leary,” Saban said about his relationship with O’Brien.

Saban praised O’Brien for the work he did at Penn State after taking over at a challenging time in that school’s history.

Went to Penn State in probably the most trying times of any great program, coming off of a lot of crazy stuff, and he did an outstanding job of sort of rebuilding that program, getting players to stay there, having a real representative positive program.

Saban also referenced his relationship with New England coach Bill Belichick, where O’Brien once worked as an offensive coordinator.

Finally, Saban all but guaranteed O’Brien would replace Sarkisian.

“I think he’ll do a great job with our players here,” Saban said.

Alabama has yet to officially announce O’Brien as the new offensive coordinator, but that could come at any time.

 

 

Report: Former NFL coach Bill O’Brien expected to be Alabama’s next offensive coordinator

Just before Alabama and Ohio State kicked off in the national championship game, Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports dropped a report that the Crimson Tide may already have their next offensive coordinator. According to Feldman, former Houston Texans and …

Just before Alabama and Ohio State kicked off in the national championship game, Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports dropped a report that the Crimson Tide may already have their next offensive coordinator.

According to Feldman, former Houston Texans and Penn State head coach, Bill O’Brien, is expected to agree to a deal sometime in the next few days to replace Steve Sarkisian as the offensive coordinator.

Sarkisian became the head coach at Texas earlier this month after two years as Alabama’s offensive coordinator. Sarkisian agreed to stay with Alabama through its preparations for the national championship before departing for Texas.

The 51-year-old O’Brien was fired in October, four games into his seventh season as head coach of the NFL’s Houston Texans. During his time at Houston, he compiled a record of 52-48 in the regular season and a 2-4 mark in the playoffs.

O’Brien helped lead the Texans to four AFC South division championships.

Before becoming the head coach at Penn State, O’Brien was a successful offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick.

O’Brien visited Tuscaloosa last week.

 

Updated list of 5 potential Alabama OC candidates to replace Steve Sarkisian

Alabama is in need of an offensive coordinator for the 2021 season, as Steve Sarkisian will be heading to Texas for their head coaching job.

Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian will only hold onto that title for one more game, the College Football Playoff national championship, before officially becoming the head coach of the Texas Longhorns.

With Sarkisian gone, a void will be left in Nick Saban’s assistant coaching staff, not an unfamiliar feeling for the Crimson Tide coach.

Recruiting is key for the SEC Champions, and if Saban plans on hitting the trail hard in the offseason, it’s crucial to have an offensive coordinator named and on staff.

Immediately after the announcement of Sarkisian’s departure, Roll Tide Wire released five initial candidates for the job. Now, with rumors and reports beginning to surface, here are the current top five candidates for the job: