Bill O’Brien was named as Ohio State football’s new offensive coordinator on January 19th. It is possible that his tenure with the Buckeyes could last less than a month.
Now, just 19 days later, Bill O’Brien is rumored to be the top candidate to replace Jeff Hafley as the head coach at Boston College. At the very least, he is in the mix.
Bruce Feldman of The Athletic said that O’Brien is a “wild card option” for the job after flirting with the Eagles when they last had an opening. Kevin J. Stone of New England Football Journal went one step further.
Hearing O’Brien absolutely wants the job & BC wants him to have the job. Need to settle on terms & money at this point.
— @kstone06 on X, formerly known as Twitter
He doubled down less than 24 hours later on Sunday.
Told “they’re still working through it,” as of this morning.
Feels like a matter of time as long as both sides can agree to a deal.
— @kstone06 on X, formerly known as Twitter
At 54 years old, O’Brien joined Ryan Day’s staff last month after serving as the offensive coordinator for Bill Belichick in New England last season. His lone year with the Patriots came after two seasons in the same role at Alabama, which came together after he was fired by the Houston Texans.
Bill O’Brien is a Boston boy.
O’Brien has deep-rooted ties to Massachusetts and the Northeast. He was born and raised in Dorchester, graduated from St. John’s Prep in Danvers, began his coaching career at Brown, and got his first job in the NFL with New England in 2007.
Should this move come to fruition as Stone expects, it would be a pretty significant hire for the Eagles. It would also have a ripple effect in Columbus. Day would be forced to find a new offensive coordinator less than 30 days after hiring O’Brien.
Boston College apparently hopes that he will replace Hafley!
Hafley went 21-26 in for seasons at B.C. and recently capped his final year at 7-6 with a Fenway Bowl win. Even though his job was secure, the 44-year-old left his role as a head coach to become the defensive coordinator for the Packers. He, like many college football coaches, got tired of the grind that is required of them in the modern era of NIL and the transfer portal.
O’Brien’s interest in the job would indicate that he is not concerned about what it takes to be successful in this new landscape, even though it is exhausting. We’ll see if he changes his mind!