Boston College is entering the 2024 college football with a new head coach under unusual circumstances. The team’s coach for the past four seasons — Jeff Hafley — left the team during the offseason to take a job with the Packers.
Hafley is now Green Bay’s defensive coordinator and was one of several FBS-level head coaches to jump to lower-level NFL roles amid changes in the NCAA’s recruiting rules. Hafley will now be able to largely focus on installing his scheme and calling defensive plays rather than the roster-building responsibilities that come with being an FBS head coach.
The Eagles had a winning record in two of Hafley’s four seasons, but they were never an overly competitive program in the ACC. They are hoping they can return to some of the magic of the Matt Ryan days under new head coach Bill O’Brien.
O’Brien is a familiar name to many, as he has held several prominent coaching jobs over the last decade. From his time at Penn State and Alabama to his NFL roles with the Texans and the Patriots, O’Brien has had his fingerprints on some of the best and most notable football programs of the past two decades.
Here’s what to know about O’Brien’s coaching history as the Boston native moves into a prominent role with one of his hometown teams.
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Bill O’Brien teams coached
O’Brien is in his third stint as a head coach, and his first since the beginning of the 2020 NFL season. Below is a brief timeline of his head coaching experience.
- Penn State (2012-13)
- Houston Texans (2014-20)
- Boston College (2024-present)
O’Brien notably got his start leading Penn State after Joe Paterno’s departure. He spent just two seasons there before he was jumped to the NFL with the Texans.
Bill O’Brien coaching timeline
O’Brien began his coaching career at Brown in 1993 when he was just 21. He spent 14 years in the college game before jumping to the NFL with the Patriots in 2007.
Since then, O’Brien has bounced between the professional and college ranks in a variety of roles. Below is his full coaching history, which includes time with seven college programs and two NFL teams.
| Year(s) | Team | Position(s) |
| 1993 | Brown | Tight ends coach |
| 1994 | Brown | Inside linebackers coach |
| 1995-97 | Georgia Tech | Graduate Assistant |
| 1998-2000 | Georgia Tech | Running backs |
| 2001-02 | Georgia Tech | Offensive Coordinator/quarterbacks coach |
| 2003-04 | Maryland | Running backs coach |
| 2005-06 | Duke | Offensive Coordinator/quarterbacks coach |
| 2007 | Patriots | Offensive assistant |
| 2008 | Patriots | Wide receivers coach |
| 2009-10 | Patriots | Quarterbacks coach |
| 2011 | Patriots | Offensive Coordinator/quarterbacks coach |
| 2012-13 | Penn State | Head coach |
| 2014-20 | Texans | Head coach |
| 2021-22 | Alabama | Offensive Coordinator/quarterbacks coach |
| 2023 | Patriots | Offensive Coordinator/quarterbacks coach |
| 2024 | Boston College | Head coach |
O’Brien is still just 54 years old, so he still has plenty of time to add to his coaching resume and legacy.
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Bill O’Brien coaching history
O’Brien first rose to prominence with the Patriots in 2007, eventually climbing his way up the ladder to become a head coach at Penn State. He went on to coach parts of nine seasons in the NCAA and NFL and worked under Nick Saban and Bill Belichick before getting the Boston College job.
Here’s what to know about O’Brien’s notable coaching history over the past decade.
Bill O’Brien at Penn State
O’Brien took Penn State’s coaching job as the program dealt with the fallout of a child sex abuse scandal that resulted in the ouster of long-time head coach Joe Paterno, who had coached the team since 1966.
The NCAA levied justifiably harsh penalties against the Nittany Lions because of the scandal. That made O’Brien’s job difficult as he navigated the loss of 40 scholarships and a four-year postseason ban.
Despite the dearth of resources, O’Brien continued Penn State’s tradition of strong on-field performance, leading them to two winning seasons. They posted records of 8-4 and 7-5 as O’Brien unlocked the potential of quarterbacks Matt McGloin and Christian Hackenberg.
O’Brien’s performance as head coach was enough to earn him looks from NFL teams, who were impressed with his coaching abilities. His background with Bill Belichick and the Patriots made him one of the top candidates available in the 2014 hiring cycle, and he did ultimately decide to leave Penn State to try his hand at coaching the Texans.
Bill O’Brien with the Texans
O’Brien joined the Texans after two seasons at Penn State. He took over a 2-14 team and was tasked with turning them into a playoff contender.
O’Brien’s time in Houston got off to a good start. He posted three consecutive 9-7 seasons and made it to the playoffs twice despite relying on a quarterback room headlined by Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brian Hoyer, and Brock Osweiler.
The Texans eventually got their franchise quarterback, Deshaun Watson, in 2017. That gave O’Brien’s squad a higher ceiling, though they bottomed out at 4-12 following Watson’s torn ACL during his rookie season.
The ensuing two seasons saw the Texans post double-digit wins but fail to go on long playoff runs. In the background, O’Brien was also operating as the team’s general manager and made some questionable personnel decisions, including trading star wideout DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals for a second-round pick and running back David Johnson.
Houston eventually decided to go in a different direction after O’Brien’s squad began the 2020 season with a 0-5 record. That started a years-long coaching odyssey for the Texans that appears to have ended with DeMeco Ryans.
Meanwhile, O’Brien went back to the coordinator ranks to continue honing his craft.
Bill O’Brien at Alabama
After his time with the Texans ended, O’Brien joined Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama as an offensive coordinator. He replaced Steve Sarkisian and became the next big name in a pipeline of former coaches who had joined Saban’s crew with the Crimson Tide.
Alabama posted a record of 24-4 with O’Brien leading its offense. Bryce Young won the Heisman for the 2021 season under his watch and helped prove himself as a first-round talent.
That said, the Crimson Tide failed to win a title under O’Brien’s watch while Young stagnated after his Heisman season. Many Alabama fans were frustrated with O’Brien’s offense despite it ranking top-six in the country in scoring back-to-back seasons, so they were happy to see him leap back to the NFL following the 2023 season.
Bill O’Brien with the Patriots
The Patriots needed help on offense after a dreadful season with Matt Patricia leading their scoring unit. Bill Belichick turned to an old friend in O’Brien — who spent the 2007-11 seasons with the Patriots — to help develop Mac Jones after he took a big step back in his second season without Josh McDaniels.
Jones and O’Brien had overlapped briefly at Alabama, and while Jones never played for O’Brien, the two had a mutual understanding of the Crimson Tide’s system, which many believed would help Jones improve.
Instead, Jones’ struggles continued while New England’s offense finished bottom-three in yards and points for the 2023 NFL season. That prompted the Patriots to part with Belichick after 24 seasons in charge of the team.
Belichick didn’t immediately land another coaching job, but O’Brien wasn’t available long. Boston College brought the Dorchester native in to shape their program into a contender.
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Bill O’Brien coaching record
O’Brien has an overall record of 67-57 as a head coach at the college and professional levels. Below is a year-by-year breakdown of his record at each stop.
Penn State
| Year | Record | Postseason record |
| 2012 | 8-4 | — |
| 2013 | 7-5 | — |
| Total | 15-9 | — |
Texans
| Year | Record | Postseason record |
| 2014 | 9-7 | — |
| 2015 | 9-7 | 0-1 |
| 2016 | 9-7 | 1-1 |
| 2017 | 4-12 | — |
| 2018 | 11-5 | 0-1 |
| 2019 | 10-6 | 1-1 |
| 2020 | 0-4 | — |
| Total | 52-48 | 2-4 |
Boston College is hoping O’Brien can continue to largely lead winning teams, as he has done in seven of his nine head coaching seasons. If he can get the Eagles to a bowl game, then the school will be happy with the candidate they hired to replace now-Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley.