Alabama football needs a new offensive coordinator.
Bill O’Brien, who joined the Crimson Tide before the 2021 season, will be the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, according to multiple media outlets. ESPN was the first to report the move. O’Brien’s contract with UA was due to expire at the end of February.
O’Brien, a Massachusetts native, returns to the Patriots for whom he served as an assistant coach from 2007 to 2010 and offensive coordinator in 2011. Now he will have the chance to work with former Alabama quarterback Mac Jones in New England.
While in Tuscaloosa, O’Brien also served as quarterbacks coach. Under his instruction, quarterback Bryce Young won the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore in 2021.
O’Brien, however, was a popular lightning rod for fan criticism for his acting appeal. The noise grew even louder in his second season. The offense struggled at times in 2022 to be consistent and make big plays, but still managed to be a top-10 offense. He finished the regular season tied for the No. 4 offense in the nation, averaging 40.8 points per game.
In O’Brien’s first season as a caller, the Crimson Tide averaged 39.9 points per game, which ranked sixth among FBS teams. Alabama gained 488.3 yards per game, which ranked it eighth nationally. The Crimson Tide reached the College Football Playoff Championship, where they fell to Georgia.
After a loss to LSU in November, Alabama coach Nick Saban was asked to assess the job O’Brien had done with the offense.
“I’m not going to publicly analyze anyone, good or bad or indifferent,” Saban said. “We all work hard together. We are all responsible for what we do. Do we need to play better on both sides of the ball? Absolutely.”
O’Brien joined the Crimson Tide after the Houston Texans fired him in October 2020. He had served as general manager and coach of the franchise for which he finished with a 52-48 record. He was hired by the Texans in 2014.
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O’Brien would have been in the running for other jobs at the end of the 2021 season, but he stayed at Tuscaloosa for another season.
“I’m committed to Coach Saban,” O’Brien said at the start of 2022 pre-season training. a long time and I’ve been in various coaching roles, so obviously those things come up. But I’ve made a commitment to Coach Saban. I love coaching here. The players, the coaching staff, it’s summer – as I said in the opening statement here – it was a really good experience. I learned a lot. I’m very grateful to Coach for giving me this opportunity.
Prior to his time in Houston, O’Brien coached Penn State. He was the Nittany Lions’ first coach after Joe Paterno. For his efforts at State College, O’Brien won Big Ten Coach of the Year, ESPN National Coach of the Year, and college coach Paul “Bear” Bryant of the year in 2012. He finished 8-4 that year, fresh off the fallout from the Jerry Sandusky scandal. No coach had more wins in his freshman year at Penn State than O’Brien.
In the college ranks, he also made stops at Duke, Maryland, Georgia Tech, and Brown, where he played in college.
During his coaching career, O’Brien had the opportunity to work for two of the greatest football coaches of all time in Saban and Bill Belichick.
“I respect them both,” O’Brien said in December 2021, “and I’m grateful for the opportunity I had.”