Bill O'Brien is back in college football, and it's with the team that just beat Ohio State in the national championship game.
O'Brien, who was most recently the head coach of the NFL's Houston Texans after previously coaching Penn State, was hired Thursday as the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Alabama.
Welcome to Tuscaloosa!
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O'Brien replaces Steve Sarkisian, who is now the head coach at Texas after leading Alabama's prolific offense this past season.
“We are pleased and happy to be able to add Bill O'Brien to our coaching staff,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said in a statement. “He has a wealth of experience as both an offensive coordinator and head coach in the NFL and college. Bill is one of the brightest offensive minds in football, an outstanding teacher and excellent recruiter. He will strengthen our coaching staff and give our players the best possible chance to be successful.”
It's the first college job for O'Brien since he was Penn State's head coach in 2012 and 2013. The former New England Patriots offensive coordinator then became the head coach of the Texans in 2014 and remained in Houston until this past October, when he was fired by the Texans following an 0-4 start to the season.
O'Brien's hire continues a trend of Nick Saban adding former head coaches to his staff at Alabama, and he's not even the only recently fired NFL head coach joining the staff this offseason. Doug Marrone, who was the Jacksonville Jaguars' head coach for the past four seasons before being replaced by Urban Meyer, has reportedly been hired as Alabama's new offensive line coach, though his hiring has not yet been officially announced.
