Tag: Bill O’Brien

Boston College officially names Bill O’Brien head coach

Bill O’Brien is taking over a Boston College program coming off a winning season and a bowl victory but faces a big test in 2024.

Former Penn State head coach [autotag]Bill O’Brien[/autotag] is back in the saddle as a head coach for a major college football program. Just over a decade after coaching his final game for the Nittany Lions, O’Brien has officially been named the next head coach of the Boston College football program, keeping him in the New England area after his brief return to the NFL’s New England Patriots this past season.

O’Brien takes over a Boston College football program that just recently lost its former head coach Jeff Hafley to a job as a defensive coordinator on the coaching staff with the Green Bay Packers. O’Brien was lined up to be the offensive coordinator for Ohio State this season but will now take on the head coaching role with the Boston College Eagles.

Boston College is coming off a 7-6 season, its first 7-win season since 2018. The Eagles won the Fenway Bowl in Boston this past season to clinch its first winning season since 2020. O’Brien will be tasked with keeping the Eagles program on the winning side of the margin and hopefully bring the program closer to competing for an ACC title shot. Boston College has not had a top-25 finish since 2007 when Matt Ryan was the quarterback and the Eagles climbed as high as no. 2 in the rankings before national title dreams came shattering down with back-to-back losses to Florida State and Maryland, and ultimately ended with a loss in the ACC Championship Game against Virginia Tech.

O’Brien’s head coaching debut for Boston College will not be an easy one. Boston College is scheduled to open the 2024 season at defending ACC champion Florida State on Monday of Labor Day weekend. O’Brien will also coach the Eagles in non-conference replay at Missouri and home against Michigan State.

O’Brien was named head coach at Penn State in 2012, at which time he took over a program in its darkest days following the unraveling of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Months later, Penn State was slammed with hefty NCAA sanctions making the job even more difficult for the first-time head coach. But O’Brien kept the program afloat and finished with back-to-back winning records in 2012 and 2013 against most odds.

O’Brien was named the 2012 Paul “Bear” Bryant National Coach of the Year and the George Munger Award winner for Coach of the Year by the Maxwell Football Club following his first season at Penn State.

At this point in time, there are no future matchups lined up between Penn State and Boston College, so we won’t be getting any James Franklin vs. Bill O’Brien battles any time soon barring any potential postseason matchups to come.

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Report: Bill O’Brien set to take over Boston College program

Bill O’Brien’s return to Boston College promising to usher in a new era of competitiveness and local pride for the Eagles.

Boston College has set its sights on Bill O’Brien, aiming to bring the Massachusetts native back home as the head coach of the Eagles. This move, as reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel, is a pivotal moment for a program looking to reestablish itself as a contender in college football.

O’Brien’s return to the Bay State is not just a professional homecoming but a deeply personal one, rooted in local ties and a storied career that spans both college and the NFL.

O’Brien clinched both the Big Ten Coach of the Year and the Bear Bryant National Coach of the Year awards, amassing a 15-9 record over two seasons at Penn State. Following his tenure there, he spent over six seasons at the helm of the Texans, guiding them to four playoff berths with a record of 52-48. He was also the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach during Bryce Young’s Heisman Trophy-winning season at Alabama.

O’Brien’s mentorship of standouts like Bryce Young, Tom Brady, and Deshaun Watson highlights his exceptional knack for enhancing quarterback performance—a talent Boston College is keenly anticipating will benefit their promising yet unpolished quarterback, Thomas Castellanos.

Boston College’s decision to pursue O’Brien follows the departure of Jeff Hafley to the Green Bay Packers, leaving a void that demanded a figure of O’Brien’s caliber. O’Brien was set to call plays for the Buckeyes this year until Hafley unexpectedly left for the Packers. The Eagles, whose last brush with national prominence came in 2008 under the leadership of standouts like Justin Tuggle and Mark Herzlich, are thirsting for a resurgence.

O’Brien’s deep ties to Massachusetts, underscored by his family’s commitment to staying in the area and his wife’s Boston College legacy, weave a rich tapestry of personal and professional connections to this narrative, promising not just a new chapter for the team but a homecoming story full of potential.

Report: Boston College closing in on deal to hire Bill O’Brien as head coach

Bill O’Brien is on the move, again, and this time, it’s for a head coaching job

Bill O’Brien is on the move, again.

The former New England Patriots offensive coach joined Ohio State coach Ryan Day’s staff in January, but his time as a Buckeye could be short-lived.

Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Boston College is working towards a deal for O’Brien to be their next head coach. The news was reported on Friday that a deal between the two sides should be expected soon.

O’Brien hasn’t served as a head coach since his run at Penn State back in 2013. This is clearly a great pick-up for Boston College for a coach that has enjoyed success both at the collegiate and professional levels.

O’Brien’s return to New England didn’t yield expected results, but then again, he didn’t have a lot to work with on the offensive roster. The season was marred with injuries and inefficiency to the point where it was unsalvageable.

O’Brien now embarks on a new journey to turn around a Boston College program that hasn’t had a winning conference record since 2009.

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Is Bill O’Brien closing in on head coaching job at Boston College?

It is looking more and moer like Bill O’Brien is going to be a college football head coach once again.

It is looking more and more as though former Penn State head coach [autotag]Bill O’Brien[/autotag] could be inching toward another chance to be a college football head coach. According to multiple reports in the last 24 hours, O’Brien has interviewed and is considered a top candidate to become the next head coach of Boston College.

O’Brien and Boston College could be closing in on a deal to make the former head coach of the Nittany Lions the next head coach of the Boston College program.

O’Brien just joined the Ohio State coaching staff as the offensive coordinator this offseason. But his stay6 in Columbus looks like it could be incredibly brief as he could be heading right back to New England. O’Brien joined the Ohio State staff after the New England Patriots underwent a signfiicant head coaching change with Bill Belichick and the franchise parting ways. O’Brien had been the offensive cooridnqtor for Belichick after spending time with Alabama as offensive coordinator.

Boston College is late to join this year’s coaching carousel after losing Jeff Hafley to a job with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers. Hafley is the new defensive coordinator of the Packers, throwing Boston College into a head coaching search at one of the worst possible times of the offseason.

O’Brien was hired following the removal of former head coach Joe Paterno in the fallout from the Jerry Sandusky scandal. That scandal later led O’Brien to be burdened with hefty NCAA sanctions on top of everything else he had to deal with. O’Brien was limited in what he could do with recruiting and dealt with a number of players leaving the program with a free transfer granted by the NCAA. Despite all odds, O’Brien managed to go 15-9 in his two seasons as Penn State’s head coach.

If O’Brien does land the Boston College job, he will not make his anticipated return to Beaver Styadium this fall. Ohio State is schedueld to make a road trip to Penn State iomn the 2024 season, which would have been O’Brien’s first time in Happy Valley since leaving the program to becoem the head coach of the Texans.

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Ohio State reportedly to lose Bill O’Brien to Boston College

Will he stay or will he go?

You can add another level to the wild and wacky coaching carousel portion of the 2024 offseason. Latest reports indicate that recently hired offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien could already be on his way out to fill the void at Boston College.

The Colombus Dispatch recently reported the opportunity for O’Brien to return to the Boston area as a head coach. BOB spent the last season in the Boston area as the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots but following Bill Belichick stepping down as the head coach, it was time for a new opportunity.

Taking over the Eagles program would make O’Brien a head coach for the first time since 2020 when he was with the Houston Texans. He was last a head coach with Penn State in 2012 and 2013. O’Brien last coached in the ACC as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Duke Blue Devils in 2005 and 2006.

Pete Thamel of ESPN had a completely different take than that of the Dispatch. Per Thamel, the first round of interviews is set to begin on Tuesday.

We will continue to monitor the situation going on in Boston and provide updates as they are made available.

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Could Ohio State already be losing offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien?

Is Ohio State in danger of losing offenisve coordinator Bill O’Brien already?

Just when it looked like this year’s coaching carousel was coming to an end, it sparked new life on Wednesday when it was reported that Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley was leaving the Eagles for the defensive coordinator job with the Green Bay Packers.

Among the initial candidates listed for the job is Ohio State’s newly hired offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien. On Thursday, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman teased O’Brien as a potential candidate for the job at Boston College.

O’Brien, formerly the head coach at Penn State is a Boston native and of course, has spent a quality portion of his career in the Boston area as an assistant with the New England Patriots (2007-2011, 2023).

Feldman also notes that the last time Boston College was hiring in 2020, O’Brien flirted with the possibility of taking over the job on Chestnut Hill.

While it is still early in the process, O’Brien’s name will certainly be one to keep an eye on as Boston College searches for its next head coach. O’Brien was hired last month by Ohio State to be the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Notably, O’Brien would be taking over the playcalling responsibilities from head coach Ryan Day.

Other names that have been listed as potential candidates for the opening at Boston College include Toledo head coach Jason Candle, former Florida head coach Dan Mullen, Kentucky offensive coordinator Liam Coen, and Notre Dame defensive line coach Al Washington.

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Former Penn State head coach listed as candidate for sudden Boston College vacancy

The Athletic names former Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien a candidate for recent vacancy at Boston College.

Just when it seemed as though the college football coaching carousel was coming to a full and complete stop following late changes at Alabama and Michigan (and as a result, Washington), a new vacancy from a power conference program opened up on Wednesday. Boston College lost its head coach, Jeff Hafley, to become a defensive coordinator with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers. Given the timing of the head coaching change, Boston College is in a bit of a tough spot in finding a new leader for the program.

The dream scenario for Boston College would likely be to convince Bill Belichick to stay close to home and take over the program for a year after parting ways with the New England Patriots, but this is just a fun little scenario to play with (and now I’ve convinced myself the Eagles should totally try to make that work). But could there be another coach with ties to the New England area who could be a candidate for the job? And could that benefit Penn State as a result?

Ohio State recently named former Penn State head coach [autotag]Bill O’Brien[/autotag] as its new offensive coordinator. O’Brien became available with Alabama changing up its staff following the retirement of Nick Saban, and the move seemed to be a solid one for the Buckeyes, which of course would be bad news for Penn State. But The Athletic listed O’Brien as a potential candidate for the new Boston College job, and it may make some sense to consider.

“O’Brien is a Boston native who spent six years with the New England Patriots over two stints, including this past year as offensive coordinator,” notes The Athletic. Of course, O’Brien being on this type of list could be merely a formality. There are some other coaching candidates that would probably be more desirable for Boston College even at this late stage in the game.

But O’Brien leaving Ohio State wouldn’t be a bad thing for Penn State, depending on who Ohio State replaces him with, of course. If nothing else, it would remove the awkward moment when O’Brien returns to Beaver Stadium this fall in Ohio State attire.

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Ohio State’s new offensive coordinator for 2024 is a strange choice

Ryan Day hiring Bill O’Brien is an interesting choice, to say the least.

Buckeyes Wire shared on Friday that Ohio State has officially hired a new offensive coordinator for 2024.

“OSU announced the hiring of O’Brien as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in a statement just a day after ESPN’s Pete Thamel broke the story. The announcement came from Ryan Day through an Ohio State spokesman.

“I am extremely pleased to be able to add Bill O’Brien to our coaching staff,” Day said in the statement. “He brings with him a wealth of knowledge – and a tremendous amount of success – at both the NFL and collegiate levels. He is an excellent and experienced offensive coach who has run NFL and Power 5 programs and developed some truly elite players throughout his career. He’ll be an excellent teacher and recruiter for us, and he absolutely strengthens our staff.”

Ryan Day, the head coach of Ohio State, and Bill O’Brien will have to replace a key player from their last two seasons, Marvin Harrison Jr. They have two elite receivers returning: redshirt junior Emeka Egbuka and sophomore Carnell Tate. Additionally, they received great news last week when redshirt junior TreVeyon Henderson announced he would be staying for the 2024 season. The Buckeyes also received a commitment from Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins from the transfer portal. The Buckeyes will continue to be active in the transfer portal, so O’Brien’s roster should be filled with offensive talent.

USC is unlikely to face Ohio State this year unless the two teams meet at some point in the postseason. There are two possibilities for this, either the Big Ten Championship Game or in the College Football Playoff, which will expand to 12 teams this year.

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Ohio State hires Bill O’Brien as offensive coordinator

Former Penn State and Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien has been named the offensive coordinator at Ohio State

The Ohio State Buckeyes have found their next offensive coordinator. On Friday, the program announced that head coach Ryan Day had tabbed former Penn State and Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien to lead the Ohio State offense.

O’Brien is set to take over the play-calling duties from Day who has called the plays for the program throughout his tenure in Columbus. Last season, wide receivers coach Brian Hartline held the offensive coordinator title though his responsibilities were mostly during the preparation portion of the game week.

In 2023, the Buckeyes had their lowest average offensive output since 2011, averaging 30.5 points per game, which ranked 45th in the country. In every season from 2012 through 2022, the Buckeyes averaged over 35 points per game.

In his last season as Alabama’s offensive coordinator in 2022, O’Brien’s Crimson Tide offense averaged 41.1 points per game.

The 54-year-old O’Brien is returning to college football after one year with the New England Patriots as the franchise’s offensive coordinator, the same position he held in 2011. O’Brien also spent time with Alabama in 2021 and 2022 following his firing from the Houston Texans.

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Alabama fans chime in on Ohio State’s decision to hire Bill O’Brien

Bill O’Brien returns to college football as the OC for Ohio State. Alabama fans take to social media to share their thoughts.

For two seasons, Bill O’Brien was the offensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide. In those two years, Alabama had a Heisman Trophy winner, an SEC championship, a national championship appearance and a handful of other notable accolades. However, fans were not happy with the job O’Brien did with the offense.

After the 2022 season, he left Tuscaloosa and returned to the New England Patriots to serve as the franchise’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Now, O’Brien is set to take over the offensive play-calling responsibilities for Ohio State in 2024, as the Buckeyes recently hired him as the team’s new offensive coordinator. Alabama fans took to social media to share their thoughts.