Tag: Bill O’Brien

Former Saints OL coach Doug Marrone has a new college coaching job

Former Saints offensive line coach Doug Marrone has a new job working under Bill O’Brien at Boston College:

It didn’t take too long for Doug Marrone to land on his feet — he’s returned to the college level after being hired by Boston College as their new senior analyst, where he’ll work under head coach Bill O’Brien, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. He’ll be focusing on football strategy and research.

Marrone was let go along with most of the New Orleans Saints’ offensive coaching staff in February. Before he arrived for his second stint with the team (he was also Sean Payton’s offensive coordinator back in 2006), Marrone worked at Alabama and Syracuse in-between other stops in the NFL, so he knows the college game well. He and O’Brien coached together at Alabama in 2021.

He isn’t the only former Saints offensive line coach working at the collegiate level. Dan Roushar held the position for a long time and is still in New Orleans coaching at Tulane. Their predecessor Bret Ingalls is a coach at Michigan. The Saints’ current offensive line has fallen on hard times, but it’s always been a well-coached unit respected around the league. Hopefully incoming coaches John Benton, Rick Dennison, and Klint Kubiak can get it back on track.

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15 Most Impactful Texans of 2023 No. 4 Jonathan Greenard

Coming in at No. 4 on the countdown of the 15 most impactful Texans of 2023: edge rusher Jonathan Greenard.

The Houston Texans had an extremely successful 2023 campaign.

They cruised to a 10-7 record under new head coach DeMeco Ryans and captured several accolades along the way. They won the AFC South and won a playoff game for the first time since the 2019 season. Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud won PFWA’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, rookie edge rusher Will Anderson won PFWA’s Defensive Rookie of the Year, and even Ryans took home hardware with PFWA’s Coach of the Year.

With a revamped team effort that led to dramatic improvements compared to both the 2021 and 2022 Texans, it’s worth examining who created that impact this past season and what their future projects moving forward.

This series has taken a look at defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, running back Devin Singletary, rookie receiver Tank Dell, and veteran tackle George Fant, and upstart linebacker Blake Cashman.

Entering the top 10, we took a closer look at cornerback Steven Nelson and linebacker Christian Harris, and offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, franchise left tackle Laremy Tunsil, and budding shutdown cornerback Derek Stingley

Entering the top five, third year wideout Nico Collins received due praise for his breakout year. Now, fourth year standout Jonathan Greenard and his lethal impact on the edge enters at No. 4.

Bill O’Brien says he was given chance to return to Patriots for 2024 season

Bill O’Brien turned down an opportunity to return to the Patriots.

Former New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien had the opportunity to return to New England but declined to do so. This was first reported by WEEI’s Mike Kadlick.

O’Brien was hired as the team’s offensive coordinator last offseason. The New England offense struggled in another year of inconsistency at the quarterback position. Offensive line and wide receiver depth were major issues throughout the course of the season as well, and it led to the offense falling off a cliff. The unit itself ranked 30th in the league with 276.2 yards per game.

O’Brien, a Boston native, succeeded Jeff Hafley by taking the head coaching position at Boston College on February 9.

Patriots newly-hired offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, among others, will be given a chance to put their stamp on the offense. Several Patriots assistants are already hard at work, as they reportedly met as a group on Tuesday.

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Patriots assistant coach joining Bill O’Brien at Boston College

A new vacancy has opened on the Patriots’ coaching staff

Former New England Patriots tight ends coach Will Lawing is reportedly expected to join Bill O’Brien at Boston College.

O’Brien was recently hired as the Eagles’ new head coach, after initially accepting a job as the offensive coordinator for Ohio State. Lawing coached under O’Brien at previous stops in Houston, Alabama and New England. Now, he’s following him once more for a new venture with Boston College.

This was simply a situation of Lawing being an O’Brien guy and following him to the next destination. Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Lawing is expected to accept an offensive coordinator job at Boston College.

The Patriots have been hard at work trying to fill their vacant coaching staff positions. This effort has included a broader search considering the team is seemingly working to fill every position, instead of assigning fewer jobs with increased overall roles.

There’s a sense of normalcy back in New England with Bill Belichick no longer in charge, and all of this is just a part of the process.

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Bill O’Brien is reuniting with former Penn State staff members at Boston College

Bill O’Brien has lured a former popular Penn State assistant to Boston College from Florida.

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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The Columbus Shuffle: Bill O’Brien leaves, Chip Kelly enters

Ohio State’s coaching staff saw some shuffling around on Friday.

It was a busy day on Friday in Columbus, Ohio, as the Ohio State Buckeyes saw the departure of offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien and hired former UCLA head Chip Kelly to be their next offensive coordinator.

O’Brien left the Buckeyes after less than two months on the job for the head coach opening at Boston College. It will be his second career head coaching job at the college level, also leading Penn State in 2011 and 2012 before spending parts of seven seasons with the NFL’s Houston Texans as head coach.

On the other hand, Kelly heads to Columbus after stepping down as UCLA’s head coach earlier on Friday. Kelly has spent the last several weeks interviewing multiple NFL offensive coordinator opportunities as he was set to enter the 2024 season on the hot seat with the Bruins.

Kelly spent six seasons in Westwood and led the program to three straight seasons of eight or more wins, including a nine-win season in 2022. Overall, Kelly was 35-34 as the Bruins’ head coach and leaves UCLA with a career record of 81-41, which includes a 46-7 record at Oregon from 2009 through 2012.

The Huskers will get a close look at Ohio State’s new-look offense under Chip Kelly next fall on October 26 when Matt Rhule takes his program on the road to Columbus.

Chip Kelly in, Bill O’Brien out: Did Ohio State get the better Big Ten offensive coordinator for 2024?

Everyone is asking this question.

Chip Kelly’s offense with Ohio State’s football talent could be a lethal combination, but we will have to wait and see just how well the new offensive coordinator works in Columbus with the Buckeyes. It is worth noting that Bill O’Brien, as an offensive coordinator with Nick Saban at Alabama, helped the Crimson Tide reach the national championship game in the 2021 season. It has been a long time since Chip Kelly coached in a national championship game. That was back in the 2010 season and January of 2011 for the Oregon Ducks against the Auburn Tigers.

It is worth asking: Who is the better Big Ten offensive coordinator and the better fit at Ohio State: Chip Kelly or Bill O’Brien?

When Bill O’Brien was offensive coordinator for Alabama in 2021, he guided Bryce Young, the Southern California product who went to Tuscaloosa to play for Saban. As it turned out, that 2021 Alabama team was the last Saban-coached team to play in a national championship game. Saban’s last Bama team in 2023 came one stop short of the title round, losing to Michigan in the playoff semifinals at the Rose Bowl.

Bill O’Brien getting to the national title is a notable achievement, but that Alabama offense in 2021 was a far cry from the 2020 Alabama offense which averaged over 48 points per game under coordinator Steve Sarkisian. Alabama wasn’t nearly as productive in 2021, averaging roughly 8.5 fewer points per contest.

Everyone will debate if Chip Kelly has lost his fastball, or if being a coordinator is exactly the job which suits him today. He won’t have to recruit. He can just call plays for Ryan Day. Is that better than Bill O’Brien? We’ll never really know, but we can say that Chip Kelly has a lot to prove at Ohio State.

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BC hires former Penn State head coach following Jeff Haley departure

Bill O’Brien is the new head coach at Boston College.

Over the last few weeks, BC football’s coaching staff has undergone significant changes. The Eagles have a new head coach in Bill O’Brien after Jeff Hafley joined the Green Bay Packers as the defensive coordinator.

While BC will be turning the page on the Hafley era after four years, it was an overall successful run. Now, there will be high expectations for O’Brien to take the program to the next level.

Most recently, O’Brien was hired last month to be offensive coordinator at Ohio State. Prior to that, he was the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots.

With Hafley calling the shots, BC posted a 22-26 record, including a 7-6 mark this season. Under the former Rutgers assistant coach, the Eagles recorded a bowl win this year with a win over SMU in the Fenway Bowl. O’Brien will now be tasked with building on Hafley’s success.

 

In O’Brien, BC has brought in a coach with plenty of experience. During his career, he has spent some time in the NFL as the Patriots offensive coordinator. He was also the head coach of the Houston Texans from 2014-2020. After an 0-3 start in 2020, O’Brien was let go. The Texans posted a 52-48 record during his tenure and won two playoff games.

However, O’Brien is no stranger to college football and the Big Ten. He was the head coach at Penn State from 2012-2013. During his first season in Happy Valley, O’Brien was named Big Ten Coach of the Year after leading the Nittany Lions to eight wins. That was the most wins by a first-year head coach in school history. He finished with a 15-9 record before returning to the NFL.

Although O’Brien has a busy few months ahead, he brings valuable experience to Chestnut Hill.

Social media reaction to Chip Kelly leaving UCLA for vacated Ohio State offensive coordinator job

What a wild turn of events in the Pac-12… or rather, the Big Ten.

It has been the worst-kept secret in football. Chip Kelly wanted out of Westwood. He had been interviewing for every NFL offensive coordinator job that has come up in the past weeks and everyone knew his days at UCLA were numbered. Going to Ohio State, however, is not what anyone would have expected a few weeks ago.

Nobody predicted how this would all play out. Bill O’Brien was hired as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State on January 18, but he took the vacant Boston College coaching position Friday morning and the college football coaching dominoes began to fall again. Within an hour, rumors of Kelly stepping down at UCLA to take O’Brien’s place began to surface.  Later that afternoon it was confirmed that Kelly was out at UCLA and on his way to Columbus. It is a huge blow to UCLA’s athletic director, Martin Jarmond, and a proud Bruin athletic department as they enter the Big Ten for their inaugural season.

It was an inevitable end that had played out with a surprise conclusion.  Here is how social media reacted to the news:

Social media reacts: Boston College hires Bill O’Brien as their new head coach

Bill O’Brien was initially expected to be the Ohio State OC in 2024, but now he is Boston College’s head coach.

The Boston College football program landed a big name as their next head coach as former head coach Jeff Hafley departed for the NFL to become the Green Bay Packers’ new defensive coordinator.

With their vacancy at HC, the Eagles went out and landed Bill O’Brien as their program’s new leader. After just three weeks as Ohio State’s new offensive coordinator, O’Brien was back on the move and joining Boston College.

Things move fast in college football, and this was definitely one of those moments. It further added to one of the craziest off-seasons we’ve seen from the sport. The Boston native returns home.

With news like this comes reactions. Here is a look at how X (formerly known as Twitter) reacted to O’Brien joining Boston College as their HC.