Former Penn State coach Bill O’Brien has a near-perfect Boston College debut.
The Eagles, who came in as 16.5-point underdogs, soared over Tallahassee and pulled off a shocking upset of No. 10 Florida State 28-13.
Although much of the talk nationally is and will be surrounding Florida State— which started the year ranked No. 10 but now is 0-2 with losses to Georgia Tech and BC— this is a great story on the Boston side.
O’Brien, who was born in Boston and grew up in Andover, Massachusetts (roughly a half hour away), returned to his home state this winter after a brief stint as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator. This was the first college game O’Brien had been the head coach for since his last game at Penn State— an upset win at Wisconsin in November 2013. That New Year’s Eve, word got out that O’Brien was leaving Penn State for the NFL’s Houston Texans.
O’Brien spent more than six seasons with the Texans and led the team to four AFC South titles. Houston fired O’Brien after an 0-4 start to the 2020 season, and he returned to the college ranks from there. O’Brien spent two seasons working with Nick Saban as Alabama’s offensive coordinator, helping QB Bryce Young to the Heisman Trophy in 2021 and the team to an SEC Championship and national title game appearance in the same season.
After 2022, O’Brien returned to the job he had before becoming Penn State’s boss in 2012: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of the New England Patriots.
But just like his previous stint in Foxborough, this one only lasted a season.
After 2023, Bill Belichick’s 24-year reign in New England ended, and O’Brien returned to the college ranks.
O’Brien will be remembered positivley by all rational Penn State fans. He was the one who Penn State hired to replace the legendary Joe Paterno. He was the man who walked into the program when it was reeling from scandal, and then six months later, became a program hit with NCAA sanctions. O’Brien not only kept Penn State from getting walked over by the Big Ten, he kept it a winning program.
