Boston College reportedly set to hire Bill O’Brien as next head coach (updated 2/9)

Boston College is reportedly planning to employ current Ohio State co-offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien as their new head coach.

Bruce Feldman of The Athletic first reported on Thursday evening that he was the “top target,” and Eagle Insider sources corroborated this.

The former Penn State head coach, who also spent time in the NFL with the New England Patriots and Houston Texans, will succeed Jeff Hafley, who left the program on Wednesday to become the Green Bay Packers’ new defensive coordinator.

The other finalist for the position was Al Washington, a former Boston College defensive player and coach who now coaches at Notre Dame.O’Brien was born in Boston and raised in Andover before attending St.

John’s Prep (Danvers) and Brown University, where he played football.

After beginning his coaching career at Brown, he spent the next decade coaching in the ACC at Georgia Tech, first as a graduate assistant and progressing to offensive coordinator.

He then served as Maryland’s running backs coach and Duke’s offensive coordinator.

The NFL was next for O’Brien, who joined the New England Patriots from 2007 to 2011, where he worked as a quarterbacks coach with Tom Brady.

Following the Joe Paterno scandal in 2012, he was given his first head coaching opportunity at Penn State, where he finished 8-4 and won the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award.

After only two years in Happy Valley, he returned to the NFL and coached the Houston Texans for the following seven seasons.

According to the Alabama website, O’Brien’s offenses in Houston were balanced and potent, with the Texans placing in the top ten in the league in rushing yards to go with quarterback Deshaun Watson, who threw for 4,165 yards in 2018 and 3,852 yards in 2019.

For the fourth season in franchise history, the 2019 squad had a passer with 3,500 yards (Watson), a rusher with 1,000 yards (Carlos Hyde), and a receiver with 1,000 yards (DeAndre Hopkins).

Under O’Brien, Watson developed into a two-time Pro Bowler and the only player in NFL history to record consecutive seasons (2018-19) with at least 25 throwing touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns

.He made the playoffs four times during that period, but was sacked after going 0-4 in the 2020 season.

He subsequently moved to Alabama, where he met Nick Saban and served as their offensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022 before returning to the Patriots in 2023 as offensive coordinator.

After Bill Belichick was fired by the Patriots, O’Brien accepted a position as co-offensive coordinator at Ohio State, where he has worked for the previous few weeks. ‌
This is definitely a significant hire for Boston College, since the Eagles transitioned from a head coach with no head coaching experience (Hafley) to one with an extensive resume.

Many had hoped that the next coach would have local roots, which O’Brien does.

With a successful track record, this appears to be a solid hire for Blake James and the Boston collegiate program, which is attempting to reestablish itself in the world of collegiate football.
This has the potential to generate a couple articles.

How will O’Brien organize his staff in terms of fresh hiring versus retaining coaches who worked for Hafley? Also, how will the introduction work with the present team, and who on the roster willSee this hire and stay with the Eagles, and who will hit the transfer portal? Stay back to Eagle Insider for updates over the next two weeks, as we will cover every topic surrounding Bill O’Brien’s probable hire.

It is important to note that the institution has not confirmed that this hiring is taking place.