Since the conclusion of his first stint with the New England Patriots as an assistant coach from 2007 through 2011, new Ohio State offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien has coached three college quarterbacks at his two stops at the NCAA level.
Two of those signal-callers – Penn State’s Matt McGloin and Christian Hackenberg – saw the best years of their respective careers under O’Brien, each under a unique set of circumstances.
The last of them, Alabama's Bryce Young, had one of the best careers in the history of his prestigious school under O'Brien.
If O’Brien can elevate Ohio State’s quarterback play in a similar way this season, it will go a long way toward the team’s ambitions of avenging three straight losses to Michigan, winning the Big Ten and winning a national title.
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O’Brien cut his teeth at Georgia Tech in the late 1990s and early aughts, working his way up the ranks as a graduate assistant and running backs coach.
His first two years as both a quarterbacks coach and an offensive coordinator in 2001 and 2002 with the Yellow Jackets bore mixed results in terms of play from his signal-caller. In his second season starting, George Godsey saw a career-high in yards and completion percentage under O’Brien but threw five fewer touchdowns with five more interceptions than the year before with fewer yards per attempt.
A.J. Suggs followed Godsey and started one season, completing 57.3% of his throws for 2,242 yards with 12 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. As O’Brien left to be running backs coach at Maryland following the season, Suggs was replaced as Georgia Tech’s starter by Reggie Ball.
Duke served as O’Brien’s other OC/QB coaching stop from 2005-06 before he hit the NFL ranks. The Blue Devils went a combined 1-22 in years two and three of Ted Roof’s doomed four-year head coaching tenure. With the awful situation around them, O’Brien’s starting quarterbacks completed 51.3% of their passes with just 5.7 yards per attempt.
When O’Brien returned to the collegiate ranks as a head coach six years later, he walked into what was arguably a worse situation at Penn State. The Nittany Lions would be hit with harsh NCAA sanctions – some of which were later rescinded – in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal during the summer of 2012, O’Brien’s first year at the helm.
McGloin, entering his third year as Penn State’s starting quarterback, still had far and away the best season of his career in his final campaign.
| YEAR | COMP | ATT | PCT | YDS | TD | INT | Y/A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 118 | 215 | 54.9 | 1548 | 14 | 9 | 7.2 |
| 2011 | 125 | 231 | 54.1 | 1571 | 8 | 5 | 6.8 |
| 2012 | 270 | 446 | 60.5 | 3271 | 24 | 5 | 7.3 |
A signal caller who hadn’t completed 55% of his throws in a season to that point, McGloin connected on 60.5% of his tosses in 2012. He leaped from 1,571 passing yards in 2011 to 3,271 in 2012, going from 6.8 yards per pass attempt to 7.3.
McGloin went from eight touchdowns and five interceptions in 2011 to 23 touchdowns and five interceptions in 2012.
Whereas McGloin spent two seasons as a starter and three total with the Nittany Lions before having his best year as a senior under O’Brien, Hackenberg’s story is the exact opposite.
Considered a five-star prospect by the 247Sports composite, Hackenberg entered State College with a truckload of hype and showed some glimpses of why as a freshman under O’Brien in 2013.
He completed 58.9% of his passes for 2,955 yards and 20 touchdowns, picking up 7.5 yards per pass attempt. Hackenberg’s numbers weren’t world-beating but more than respectable for a true freshman called upon to start at a major collegiate program.
As it turned out, Hackenberg wouldn’t equal any of those numbers in his remaining two years as Penn State’s starter.
| YEAR | COMP | ATT | PCT | YDS | TD | INT | Y/A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 231 | 392 | 58.9 | 2955 | 20 | 10 | 7.5 |
| 2014 | 270 | 484 | 55.8 | 2977 | 12 | 15 | 6.2 |
| 2015 | 192 | 359 | 53.5 | 2525 | 16 | 6 | 7.2 |
Hackenberg completed a combined 54.8% of his passes and coupled 28 touchdowns with 21 interceptions across his final two collegiate campaigns after O’Brien became head coach of the Houston Texans. He averaged a full yard less per attempt than in his freshman year for the rest of his career with only 6.5 yards per toss.
But it might be Young who provides the biggest testament to O’Brien’s ability to elevate college quarterbacks.
That’s because Young reached the highest heights a college quarterback can, winning the Heisman Trophy in O’Brien’s first year as Alabama's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2021. Young set school records with 4,872 passing yards and 47 touchdowns.
| YEAR | COMP | ATT | PCT | YDS | TD | INT | Y/A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 366 | 547 | 66.9 | 4872 | 47 | 7 | 8.9 |
| 2022 | 245 | 380 | 64.5 | 3328 | 32 | 5 | 8.8 |
His totals dipped a bit the next year under O’Brien, but he also attempted 167 fewer passes. In terms of yards per attempt, Young only dropped from 8.9 to 8.8, and he still threw more than six times as many touchdowns as interceptions before becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Now, O’Brien will look to get to work developing a quarterback room with an experienced hand in former Kansas State gunslinger Will Howard, two incoming freshmen five-stars in Julian Sayin and Air Noland and two other highly-touted prospects in Devin Brown and Lincoln Kienholz.
Ohio State will hope O’Brien’s track record leads to success for its quarterbacks in 2024.
