Boston College Hires Ohio State OC Bill O’Brien as New Head Coach

The former Penn State Nittany Lions and Houston Texans head coach leaves his job at Ohio State after just a few weeks.

Boston College became a late entrant into the college football coaching carousel when coach Jeff Hafley unexpectedly left to become the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator on Jan. 31. On Friday, BC announced a high-profile replacement, hiring Ohio State offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien to replace Hafley.

O’Brien’s tenure at Ohio State ends after less than three weeks. He was hired to help revamp Ryan Day’s program in Columbus, after a year as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick. The Buckeyes are reportedly replacing him with another coaching veteran, Chip Kelly.

O’Brien brings a wealth of experience to Chestnut Hill. He spent 2014 to ’20 as coach for the NFL’s Houston Texans, leading the team to four playoff appearances in seven seasons and serving as the team’s general manager for a season as well. He was 52–48 in the regular season and 2–4 in the playoffs with Houston. Prior to that job, he had a successful two-year stint as the coach of Penn State, helping stabilize the program after it fired Joe Paterno amid the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal. O’Brien went 15–9 (10–6 in Big Ten) with the Nittany Lions.

Former New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien is headed back to his native Massachusetts to become head coach at Boston College :: Eric Canha/IMAGO

The 54-year-old has deep ties to the Boston area. He was born in the city and raised in nearby Andover, Mass. He attended and coached at Brown University in Rhode Island. He spent 2007 to ’11 on Belichick’s Patriots staff, returning in ’23. 

Outside of the Northeast, he has worked at Georgia Tech, Maryland and Duke, and from 2021 to ’22, he served as Alabama’s OC under Nick Saban.

Boston College is coming off of a 7–6 (3–5 ACC) season under Hafley which culminated in a win over future ACC foe SMU in the Fenway Bowl. Hafley went 22–26 (12–22 in ACC play) in four years with the Eagles.