Bill O'Brien excited to return to college football on Alabama's coaching staff

Bill O’Brien is back in the college coaching ranks. After seven-year stint in the NFL as head coach of the Houston Texans, O’Brien is Alabama’s newest offensive coordinator. He is excited to be back in college football and working under revered Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban.

O’Brien’s return to school came after he was fired by the Texans following an 0-4 start in 2020. Now, O’Brien begins hsi first season in Tuscaloosa as the latest member of Saban’s coaching rehab clinic, where he’s joined by new Tide offensive line coach Doug Marrone, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Alabama coaches have been known to revive their head coaching careers following their stops under Saban, writes Aaron Wilson of Houston Sports News. O’Brien says that was not part of his decision to join Alabama’s staff.

“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think about that,” O’Brien said during a Zoom press conference Sunday. “I think about what’s best for my family. My wife, Colleen, and I sat down and it was a decision we felt was best for our family for me to be able to be a college football coach at Alabama. I’ve enjoyed my time here. I’m very focused on what we’re doing. I’m like any rookie player or rookie coach trying to do my best to make sure this team is going to be as good as its’s going to be.”

O’Brien has extensive college coaching history

O’Brien got his first coaching job as an assistant at Brown University in 1993. His next stop was Georgia Tech, where he spent eight seasons, with the final two as the offensive coordinator. He then went to Maryland as a running backs coach before becoming an offensive coordinator again at Duke from 2005-2006. O’Brien then leaped to the NFL, becoming an assistant coach with the New England Patriots. He was New England’s offensive coordinator in 2011.

Following the 2011 season in New England, O’Brien was hired by Penn State to be their newest head coach. After 15 wins in two seasons at Penn State, O’Brien got his first shot at being a head coach in the NFL with the Houston Texans. The Texans had three consecutive 9-7 seasons to start O’Brien’s tenure before falling to 4-12 in 2017. Houston then improved to 11-5 and 10-6 in 2018 and 2019.

Returning to college football excites O’Brien

O’Brien has loved his prior stops in the college football coaching ranks. The opportunity to join Alabama’s coaching staff was something that O’Brien simply could not turn down.

“I love college football,” he said. “I’ve had great relationships with the players and coaches I’ve worked with in the past and that’s the way it’s been here. I’ve really enjoyed being around these guys, these players, this coaching staff. I feel like it’s a group that works very hard, that works together. The tone is set by coach Saban and the direction he wants. We follow that lead and everybody buys into what the culture of this program has been for the last 14 years, going on 15 years.”

Even though O’Brien has been coaching since 1993, working under a legendary coach like Nick Saban excites him. Saban says that O’Brien has done a great job since joining the staff.

“I think Bill’s done a really good job,” Saban said. “First off, he’s a good teacher. And I think when you’re a good coach, you’re a good coach all the time. Whether we’re in camp with seventh- and eighth-grade kids playing quarterback or defensive back or whatever it is, you’re trying to coach those guys to be better just like you would our own players. I see that in everything that he’s done since he’s been here. I think the players have responded well to the coaches on offense, so I think there’s nothing but positives.”

Image courtesy of: Tim Warner via Getty Images.