The Ohio State Buckeyes are set to hire former NFL head coach Bill O’Brien as their new offensive coordinator, according to college football insider Pete Thamel.
O’Brien most recently served as the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. Before that he was an offensive coordinator for the Alabama Crimson Tide under recently retired head coach Nick Saban.
O’Brien was the head coach for the Houston Texans from 2014-2020. His tenure with the Texans was the most success they’ve ever had as a team. His four playoff appearances are double the amount of playoff appearances made by the Texans in their organization’s history.
While O’Brien never made it past the divisional round and made several questionable moves from an executive standpoint, he remains the most successful coach in the history of the Houston Texans’ organization.
The hiring of Bill O’Brien marks a new direction for head coach Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Day said he wanted a coordinator that would relieve him of play calling duties, and O’Brien is seemingly that coordinator.
Potential new Ohio State buckeyes offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien was hired by two of the greatest coaches in the history of the sport
Many Ohio State fans are upset with the hiring of O’Brien. This is due to the reputation he earned as a head coach in the NFL. He made one of the worst trades in nfl history when he traded a draft pick along with a star wide receiver in his prime, DeAndre Hopkins, to the Arizona Cardinals for running back David Johnson, a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick.
In an article from ESPN, O’Brien stood by his trade and said what he did was best for the team.
“Capital T capital E capital A capital M,” O’Brien said. “Everything that we do is made with the team in mind. We don’t think about one player. … We think about the future.”
O’Brien also had a relatively unsuccessful season as the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. The Patriots were 30th in total offense, 28th in passing offense and 26th in rushing offense. While their talent wasn’t among the league’s elite, Ohio State fans are hoping for someone who can do better than tied for last in scoring offense in the NFL with 13.9 points per game.
Bill O’Brien did a worse job in New England as an OC than Matt Patricia. That’s how bad he was.
Good luck.
— Jordan Moore (@iJordanMoore) January 19, 2024
The off season L’s CONTINUE for the Buckeyes 😂
— WA🅾️Ⓜ️ (@WAOM_) January 19, 2024
Ohio State has been ELIMINATED from Postseason Contention
— Southern Charm Sports (@SouthernCharmSp) January 19, 2024
This is a terrible hire 💀
— Aaron (@Coach_Them_Up) January 19, 2024
Despite O’Brien’s reputation, one thing he has going for him is that he was recognized as being worthy of a hire by two of the sports best coaches of all-time. Nick Saban, who is widely considered to be the best college football coach of all-time, thought O’Brien was good enough to be on his staff from 2021-2022.
Former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick also though O’Brien was good enough to be a part of his staff. Belichick is widely considered to be the best NFL head coach of all-time.
College Quarterbacks performed extremely well under new Ohio State Buckeyes offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien
O’Brien was the offensive coordinator for former Alabama QB Bryce Young’s Heisman season. Under O’Brien, Young threw for nearly 5,000 yards. He had 47 touchdowns with just seven interceptions on a 66.9% completion rate.
Quarterbacks under O’Brien as the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions performed significantly better than they did without O’Brien. In 2012, Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin had a career season under O’Brien.
McGloin, who never threw for more than 1,600 yards, had 3271 yards passing under O’Brien in his senior season. He threw 10 more touchdowns than he ever had in his career with just five interceptions, which was tied for the lowest in his career.
While McGloin’s development coming to a peak may have been the reason, the exact opposite happened with the next Penn State QB, Christian Hackenberg. Hackenberg threw for nearly 3,000 yards as a freshman. It took him 92 more attempts to throw for 22 more yards as a sophomore.
Hackenberg’s 20-to-10 touchdown to interception ratio as a freshman under O’Brien was one of the best of his career. He threw 16 touchdowns and just six interceptions as a junior, but he only had 359 attempts, which was the lowest of his career.
With all the players Ohio State is returning, a career year for transfer quarterback Will Howard would firmly cement them as a top team in the nation.
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