- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,213,054
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images
CHESTNUT HILL, MASSACHUSETTS - NOVEMBER 8: Head coach Bill O'Brien of the Boston College Eagles talks to Dawson Pough #88 during the first half against the Southern Methodist Mustangs at Alumni Stadium on November 8, 2025 in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. (Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Another college coach who didn’t ultimately pan out in the NFL
Arnav highlighted Rutgers’ second opponent of the 2026 season in profiling the Boston College Eagles.
The man who will lead the Eagles against Rutgers is Bill O’Brien. He previously was the head coach of the Houston Texans from 2014 to 2020, and at Penn State from 2012 to 2013. Prior to BC, O’Brien was the offensive coordinator at Alabama and for the New England Patriots. After the Patriots parted ways with longtime head coach Bill Belichick at the end of the 2023 season, O’Brien was not retained by the team.
O’Brien hit the big stage in 2012 when he was hired by Penn State to take over a program that had just endured a sexual abuse scandal. In his first season as head coach, O’Brien led the team to an 8–4 record and won ESPN’s National Coach of the Year award.
O’Brien and Greg Schiano crossed paths once as assistant coaches; there are no “coaching trees” to look at and compare notes. O’Brien was at Georgia Tech from 1995-2000 while GS was at Miami in 1999-2000. The only game between the teams was the 2000 Gator Bowl, won by Miami, 28-13; Miami was still in the Big East at the time.
Side note: While O’Brien got his first head coaching job due to the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal, Schiano was hurt by that same controversy, when he was passed over for Tennessee’s head spot in 2017. A social media campaign associated Schiano with the Paterno-Sandusky regime, and Tennessee moved on from Schiano. The twist here is that it was O’Brien who was brought in to clean it up the mess at PSU.
Bill O’Brien spent 14 years as a college assistant. He was still an assistant when he was hired by the Patriots, staying with the team from 2007-2011. His first time as a head coach was the Penn State hiring in 2012.
O’Brien will turn 57 in October, and his head coaching career has been fairly successful. He went 15-9 at Penn State before heading to the Texans. In Houston, he was 52-44 between 2014 and 2019, winning the AFC South four times. But coaches are hired to be fired, and when the team started 2020 0-4, O’Brien was let go.
Before taking the BC job in 2024, O’Brien took a similar route as his former coach, Belichick. Like Schiano, he was hired by Ohio State; like Belichick (with the Jets), he left less than a month after being hired, never coaching a practice or game. That was when he went to the Eagles.
In his two season at Chestnut Hill, he has a 9-16 record. O’Brien replaced Jeff Hafley, who had gone 22-26 in four seasons. The 2024 season saw O’Brien take the team to the Pinstripe Bowl (loss to Nebraska, 20-15) after a 7-5 regular season. 2025 was not as successful, with the Eagles turning in a 2-10 (1-7 ACC) record. The two wins – against Fordham and Syracuse – book-ended 10 straight losses.
Put that aside, though, as O’Brien has more than proven his mettle on the sidelines. He has won at the highest level in college with Penn State and continued that success with the Texans. He has worked under – and learned from – two of the most celebrated and successful coaches, Nick Saban at Alabama and Belichick in the NFL. Whether he can bring BC back to its former glory (it’s been 42 years since Doug Flutie connected with Gerard Phelan to beat Miami), is still an open question. Rutgers is game two on its 2026 schedule, and it will be coming off a road game against an always competitive and tough Cincinnati. September 11 in Chestnut Hill is 59 days away.
Continue reading...
