Bucknuts has learned from a trusted source that Bill O’Brien will be hired as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator on Friday. We first reported the news on our Front Row message board on Thursday.
O’Brien, 54, was 52-48 as the Houston Texans head coach from 2014-20. Prior to that, he was the head coach at Penn State (2012-13) where he compiled a record of 15-9 in two seasons, including 10-6 in Big Ten play. O’Brien was named the Big Ten’s Coach of the Year in 2012.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day will still be heavily involved with the Buckeyes’ offense, but will be taking more of a “CEO” role going forward.
What this means for current Ohio State offensive coordinator/wide receiver coach Brian Hartline remains to be seen. Hartline was OC in title only in 2023 as it was Day who called the offensive plays for the Buckeyes.
Quick analysis
Ohio State fans might be surprised, but I think this is a very good hire for Day and the Buckeyes. How many boxes does O’Brien check? A lot of them. NFL head coach. Major D-I college head coach. NFL offensive coordinator. Major D-I college offensive coordinator. Check, check, check and check. (And once had the stones to chew out Tom Brady during a game. Wait, he doesn’t get points for that? I disagree.)
The list of successful college coaches who were substandard as NFL head coaches is very long. Nick Saban is the best college coach of all time. He went 15-17 during his two seasons as the Miami Dolphins head coach.
Steve Spurrier? He fashioned a 12-20 record during his two seasons with the then-Washington Redskins.
Urban Meyer? Alright, let’s not even go there.
The point is that if anyone is using O’Brien’s NFL head coaching tenure against him, they might want to think otherwise. He had a winning record as a boss man in the League.
Here is much more on the pending hiring of O’Brien, from our Patrick Murphy:
O’Brien has been involved in coaching for more than three decades. He has worked under some of the sport’s best head coaches, including Bill Belichick and Nick Saban, and made stops at the New England Patriots, Penn State, the Houston Texans and Alabama.
During his time in Tuscaloosa, where he replaced Steve Sarkisian as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, O’Brien helped the Crimson Tide win the SEC and reach the College Football Playoff national championship game. In 2021, Alabama’s offense ranked No. 7 in the country, led by Heisman Trophy quarterback Bryce Young. The Tide had the country’s 11th best offense in 2022.
O’Brien’s most recent job was as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the New England Patriots. In his two seasons in Foxborough, the Patriots finished in the bottom half of the NFL in passing, rushing and scoring offense as New England continued to adjust to life after Tom Brady.
Beginning his coaching career at Brown University, his alma mater where he played defensive end and linebacker for three seasons, O’Brien coached tight ends in 1993 before transitioning to the inside linebackers coach the following year.
In 1995, Brown moved from Providence, Rhode Island, to Atlanta, Georgia, to work as an offensive graduate assistant for three seasons. He was then promoted to running backs coach from 1998-2000 and the Yellow Jackets never finished outside the top 35 nationally in rushing yards per game. O’Brien took over as Georgia Tech’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2001, finishing in the top 30 that season, and the team averaged 31 and 21.5 points per game during his two years.
After eight seasons with the Yellow Jackets, O’Brien left to become the running backs coach at Maryland. In his first year in College Park, O’Brien’s Terrapins rushed for 191.3 yards per game, 24th best in the country.
O’Brien moved again prior to the 2005 season, becoming the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Duke. The Blue Devil offense ranked No. 111 and No. 112 in the country in the two seasons O’Brien ran the offense.
After the statistical struggles in Durham, O’Brien was hired by Belichick as an offensive analyst for the Patriots in 2007. After one season, O’Brien was promoted to wide receivers coach for one year and then quarterbacks coach in 2009 and 2010. In 2011, Belichick elevated O’Brien to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. O’Brien was on staff for two Super Bowls in New England and the team was the top seed in the AFC in 2011, averaging 32.1 points and 428 yards per game. Quarterback Tom Brady threw for a then-career-high 5,235 yards and 39 touchdowns during O’Brien’s first season.
O’Brien had a major rebuilding job when he was hired to replace Joe Paterno as head coach at Penn State in 2012. Coming off the Jerry Sandusky scandal, the Nittany Lions had a four-year postseason ban and lost 40 scholarships over a four-year period. He guided Penn State to an 8-4 record in his first season in State College and was named the Bear Bryant, Maxwell Football Club and ESPN National Coach of the Year.
After going 7-5 in 2013, O’Brien returned to the NFL when he was named the head coach of the Houston Texans. O’Brien’s Texans team went 9-4 and only lost fewer than nine games once before he was fired four games into the 2020 season, when he also served as the team’s general manager. O’Brien led Houston to four AFC South titles, four playoff appearances and two appearances in the AFC Divisional Round.
During his time with the Texans, O’Brien coached quarterback Deshaun Watson to three Pro Bowl selections. Running back Carlos Hyde and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins also had career seasons under O’Brien.
O’Brien will now bring his offensive acumen to Ohio State to allow Day to focus on other areas of his job than running the offense on a day-to-day basis. — Patrick Murphy
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2024 OHIO STATE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE (kickoff times/TV information TBA)
Aug. 31 – Akron
Sept. 7 – Western Michigan
OFF WEEK I
Sept. 21 – Marshall
Sept. 28 – @ Michigan State
Oct. 5 – Iowa
Oct. 12 – @ Oregon
OFF WEEK II
Oct. 26 – Nebraska
Nov. 2 – @ Penn State
Nov. 9 – Purdue
Nov. 16 – @ Northwestern
Nov. 23 – Indiana
Nov. 30 – Michigan
