Alabama Offensive Coordinator Bill O'Brien Hired by New England Patriots

O'Brien's two years as OC of Alabama football have come to an end.

Joey Blackwell | Jan 24, 2023

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Alabama Crimson Tide

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The hunt for a new offensive coordinator has officially begun for Nick Saban and Alabama football.

Early Tuesday morning, ESPN reported that Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien was hired to serve the same position at the New England Patriots, bringing an end to O'Brien's two-year tenure in Tuscaloosa. The announcement comes just over a week after former Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding departed the team to serve the same position with Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss.

O'Brien served as a Patriots assistant coach from 2007-10 as well as OC in 2011, making this his second stint in Foxborough.

O'Brien was hired as Alabama's offensive coordinator following the departure of Steve Sarkisian to Texas at the end of the 2020 season. During Sarkisian's last season, the Crimson Tide averaged over 540 yards per game and scored an average of 48.5 points per game.

Under O'Brien in 2022, on the other hand, Alabama finished 11th in college football in yards per game with 477.1 and fourth in points at 41.1.

Prior to O'Brien arriving in Tuscaloosa in 2021, he served just over six years as the head coach of the NFL's Houston Texans. There, he went 52-48 (.520) and won four AFC South titles, made four playoff appearances and two appearances in the AFC Divisional Round.

O'Brien's offenses in Houston proved to be balanced and potent with the Texans ranking in the top 10 in the league in rushing yards, while quarterback Deshaun Watson threw for 4,165 yards in 2018 and 3,852 yards in 2019.

He also served as the Texans' general manager and was fired from the organization after an 0-4 start to the 2020 season.

Prior to joining the Texans, O'Brien spent two years as coach of the Penn State program, posting a 15-9 overall record and a 10-6 mark in the Big Ten, while garnering national and conference coach-of-the-year awards.

Penn State won eight of its final 10 games to finish the 2012 season with an 8-4 record. O'Brien, who also served as offensive coordinator for the Nittany Lions, was named the Bear Bryant, Maxwell Football Club and ESPN National Coach of the Year after winning more games than any other first-year head coach in the program's previous 125 seasons.

Before his time in Happy Valley, O'Brien spent five years on Bill Belichick's staff in New England, including calling offensive plays for three seasons and serving as the offensive coordinator in 2011. He coached in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI and was Tom Brady's position coach during his 2010 MVP season.

O'Brien owns 30 years of collegiate and NFL coaching experience and was last a college offensive coordinator at Duke during the 2005-06 seasons. Prior to his time with the Blue Devils, O'Brien served as the running backs coach at Maryland (2004) after spending eight years at Georgia Tech in a myriad of roles, including graduate assistant, running backs, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks and assistant head coach (1995-2002). O'Brien started his career at Brown, coaching the tight ends in 1993 and the inside linebackers in 1994.

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