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Texans hire Bill O'Brien as HC

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John McClain reports on ProFootballTalk Live the Texans want to talk to Penn State HC Bill O'Brien.

Bill O’Brien, head coach, Penn State -- The former New England assistant under Bill Belichick has done a solid job under difficult circumstances.

1993 Brown (TE)
1994 Brown (ILB)
1995–1997 Georgia Tech (GA)
1998–2000 Georgia Tech (RB)
2001 Georgia Tech (OC/QB)
2002 Georgia Tech (Asst/OC/QB)
2003–2004 Maryland (RB)
2005–2006 Duke (OC/QB)
2007 New England Patriots (Asst)
2008 New England Patriots (WR)
2009–2010 New England Patriots (QB)
2011 New England Patriots (OC/QB)
2012–present Penn State
 
The dude who turned around Penn State? I don't watch much of the Nittany Lions but any guy who turns that program around after what happened to it has got to have some coaching skill. He's pretty young too, 45 or something?
 
Good. He's the guy I've lobbied for all along. IMO, the job he's done at Penn State is more impressive than what Shaw has done at Stanford.
 
Also having a background in offense can't hurt. I'd rather have him than most of these retreads that we keep hearing about.
 
Who knows, maybe he could be the first coach under the Belichick coaching tree to be sucfesfull as a head coach in the NFL.
 
I know next to nothing about O'Brien, but he commands mad respect around coaching circles in the NFL and colleges.
 
Based on my ignorance, I have no opinion on the man, but to say he's done a great job at Penn State is premature, I would think. One year in does not mean a thing. I say that for any college coach. How many of the current players were recruited by him? Probably more than any other first year coach because of the Penn St. situation, but for the most part, he's winning with the last regime's recruits. That's not a bad thing, but it doesn't give us much of an idea as to what kind of guys he tries to acquire - something that's been an issue in Houston.
 
mussop said:
I don't know. They both have done great considering.
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I'm not bashing Shaw. I just don't think his job was as hard as people make it out to be. Harbaugh rebuilt that program and Harbaugh stocked it. Then he left. Shaw has been charged with maintaining, which he has done. All of those studs that are NFL prospects right now weren't recruited by Shaw though.

O'Brien was handed a program that had just taken the biggest sanctions since SMU and has been *bowl eligible* both years. His team went 7-5 in a "power" conference this year despite having just 65 scholarship players. Not to mention a lot of their best upperclassmen transferred to avoid the sanctions. Many of those scholarship players are walk-ons who were awarded scholarships because they were available. He also took a former walk-on, Matt McGloin, and turned him into the Raiders current starting QB. Also, his true freshman QB this year looks like a future All-American. Going 15-9 under the circumstances is pretty darn impressive.

*They have a bowl ban because of sanctions so did not go to a bowl despite being eligible.
 
Recruiting is the last thing I worry about when it comes to hiring a college coach. I don't know of a single NFL coach who has ever had to go out and recruit his roster. They draft them and seeing a coach make his predecessors players work well is in my opinion a plus. Coaches have massive input when it comes to drafting players granted but they also have much more insight into what they're looking at as well as input from scouts and front office personnel. As long as they're drafting players without being the only guy in the room with input I'm comfortable with it.

If he can coach then that's what we're looking for. The law of averages says that sooner or later one of these Belichick guys is going to meet expectations. Why can't that guy be Bill O'Brien?
 
eriadoc said:
Based on my ignorance, I have no opinion on the man, but to say he's done a great job at Penn State is premature, I would think. One year in does not mean a thing. I say that for any college coach. How many of the current players were recruited by him? Probably more than any other first year coach because of the Penn St. situation, but for the most part, he's winning with the last regime's recruits. That's not a bad thing, but it doesn't give us much of an idea as to what kind of guys he tries to acquire - something that's been an issue in Houston.
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I think they lost a lot of star players due to the all of the sanctions placed on them. He was basically doing what he did on a "rag tag" squad...from what I know.

And I think they lost scholarships or something or other. He has done good in a bad situation just not sure how well he will fare as a HC in the nfl. I don't know enough of him to make a distinction.
 
eriadoc said:
Based on my ignorance, I have no opinion on the man, but to say he's done a great job at Penn State is premature, I would think. One year in does not mean a thing. I say that for any college coach. How many of the current players were recruited by him? Probably more than any other first year coach because of the Penn St. situation, but for the most part, he's winning with the last regime's recruits. That's not a bad thing, but it doesn't give us much of an idea as to what kind of guys he tries to acquire - something that's been an issue in Houston.
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Two years.

Actually, he has done an amazing job considering the sanctions that have been leveled against Penn State. That was a program that easily could have tanked. With no bowl games for 4-5 years and a stigma on the program, he's been able to put two winning teams on the field. He was even able to upset Wisconsin. He's also, from what I understand, recruited 2 top-30 classes even with his hands tied behind his back.

He coached Matt McGloin to a great season and then turned around and coached a (I think) unheralded freshman QB to a Freshman of the Year prize. So he appears to be good with young QBs -- not to mention calling plays for Tom Brady in Brady's best statistical season.

I would love to get this guy.
 
eriadoc said:
Based on my ignorance, I have no opinion on the man, but to say he's done a great job at Penn State is premature, I would think. One year in does not mean a thing. I say that for any college coach. How many of the current players were recruited by him? Probably more than any other first year coach because of the Penn St. situation, but for the most part, he's winning with the last regime's recruits. That's not a bad thing, but it doesn't give us much of an idea as to what kind of guys he tries to acquire - something that's been an issue in Houston.
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Fair point seeing as how I hold it against Shaw that he's done what he's done with Harbaugh's recruits.

I will say thought that the true freshman QB that O'Brien recruited was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and looks like a future stud.
 
The Pencil Neck said:
He coached Matt McGloin to a great season and then turned around and coached a (I think) unheralded freshman QB to a Freshman of the Year prize. So he appears to be good with young QBs -- not to mention calling plays for Tom Brady in Brady's best statistical season.

I would love to get this guy.
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Hackenberg was a 5-star recruit, as was the TE he recruited last year.

The impressive thing to me is that he was able to sell Penn State to the best QB and TE in the nation last year. Those guys signed with Penn State knowing that they would never be eligible to win a conference title or play in a bowl game.
 
Hervoyel said:
Recruiting is the last thing I worry about when it comes to hiring a college coach.
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The only thing it factors in with me is I want to see how a coach does with his own guys. We made excuses for Kubiak early on here because he was still getting his guys. Well, once he had an entire team comprised of his guys, he didn't do any better. So I say the same thing for NFL coaches, but you never really worry about an NFL head coach only getting a year, so their track record is generally more in line with reality.

But hey, I know very little about the guy, so no one should mistake my comments as negative toward him.
 
I had a brief conversation about him with John Harris who played with him at Brown. He said he would have mixed emotions about him coming to Houston. On one hand he knows the guy personally, and he knows he'll eventually get skewered in the media, as all coaches do and that wouldn't be pleasant for John. On the other he "trusts him as a ball coach and would kick the organization right in the ass". Sign me up for the Bill O'Brien fan club.
 
Vinnie said:
I had a brief conversation about him with John Harris who played with him at Brown. He said he would have mixed emotions about him coming to Houston. On one hand he knows the guy personally, and he knows he'll eventually get skewered in the media, as all coaches do and that wouldn't be pleasant for John. On the other he "trusts him as a ball coach and would kick the organization right in the ass". Sign me up for the Bill O'Brien fan club.
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You had me at: kick the organization right in the ass.

Don't know much about Bill O'Brien, but, if he can do the above, let's bring him in for an interview.
 
eriadoc said:
The only thing it factors in with me is I want to see how a coach does with his own guys. We made excuses for Kubiak early on here because he was still getting his guys. Well, once he had an entire team comprised of his guys, he didn't do any better.
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Consecutive division titles and two playoff victories? Our first non-losing and winning seasons? I mean, come on, he didn't come in and win a SB but he did do better than Capers did.
 
The Pencil Neck said:
Consecutive division titles and two playoff victories? Our first non-losing and winning seasons? I mean, come on, he didn't come in and win a SB but he did do better than Capers did.
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Gee, when you put it that way, the bar is so high I might trip over it. He also went 3-14 since the 11-1 start last year, and sub-.500 for his career. So the winning seasons look more like outliers than anything else. Not that I am not happy for those moments, mind you, but all I said was once he had an entire team comprised of his guys, he didn't do any better, which is true. Knock those first two seasons off and his W-L record is 47-46.
 
eriadoc said:
Gee, when you put it that way, the bar is so high I might trip over it. He also went 3-14 since the 11-1 start last year, and sub-.500 for his career. So the winning seasons look more like outliers than anything else. Not that I am not happy for those moments, mind you, but all I said was once he had an entire team comprised of his guys, he didn't do any better, which is true. Knock those first two seasons off and his W-L record is 47-46.
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He didn't do any better than what?

To me, when you say he got his guys and didn't do any better it means when he got his guys, he didn't do any better either than his predecessor or than when he had the other guy's guys.

47-46 (Kubiak's record after the first two seasons) is better than 18-46 (which was Capers' record) or 9-23 (Capers' record after 2 seasons).

Granted, both Kubiak and Capers ended with a two win season but when Kubiak's team was in its prime, it was a winning team.
 
Hervoyel said:
Recruiting is the last thing I worry about when it comes to hiring a college coach. I don't know of a single NFL coach who has ever had to go out and recruit his roster. They draft them and seeing a coach make his predecessors players work well is in my opinion a plus. Coaches have massive input when it comes to drafting players granted but they also have much more insight into what they're looking at as well as input from scouts and front office personnel. As long as they're drafting players without being the only guy in the room with input I'm comfortable with it.

If he can coach then that's what we're looking for. The law of averages says that sooner or later one of these Belichick guys is going to meet expectations. Why can't that guy be Bill O'Brien?
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Agreed.

I see this with both Shaw and O'Brien. Who recruited what players (or how well the coach does at recruiting) is wholly irrelevant to the job an NFL coach has. The NFL doesn't recruit (in the same sense a college coach does) at all and, further, talent acquisition is mostly on the GM (or should be). What I want to know about O'Brien is how well he can motivate players and coaches, how well he can build a staff, how well he can scheme for opponents, how innovative he can be and how well he can adjust on the fly.

My only reservation with O'Brien is the Patriot stigma. He does have a great reputation, though.
 
badboy said:
College HC equals NFL HC? Never would have guessed that. I know some like Mack Brown get about $%m per year but thought most were 2-3 m.
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I don't know of a HC that ever left his job to be an NFL coordinator. If he gets fired yes.... but just leave a program to be a coordinator? I seriously doubt that ever happened.
 
thunderkyss said:
I don't know of a HC that ever left his job to be an NFL coordinator. If he gets fired yes.... but just leave a program to be a coordinator? I seriously doubt that ever happened.
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But if it did happen I bet it would happen on the team where the former HC gets fired but then turns around and agrees to come back as either the OC or DC.

:kitten:
 
badboy said:
College HC equals NFL HC? Never would have guessed that. I know some like Mack Brown get about $%m per year but thought most were 2-3 m.
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You've got two guys who are HCs at the college level and have some NFL experience. They're both being talked about as HCs on the NFL level and the question is whether they'll choose to leave college to go to the NFL... as HCs. If Bill O'Brien is going to leave Penn State (which isn't a given), he's not going to do it to go to work as an OC to anyone other than the Patriots... and he's already HAD that job.
 
This guy worked with Tom Brady for a year or two and Brady loved the guy. I'm sort of liking this. He just might become my favorite candidate.
 
Texecutioner said:
This guy worked with Tom Brady for a year or two and Brady loved the guy. I'm sort of liking this. He just might become my favorite candidate.
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I don't know anything about him other than what I've learned in this thread, but I have to admit, he looks like a viable and interesting candidate.
 
michaelm said:
I don't know anything about him other than what I've learned in this thread, but I have to admit, he looks like a viable and interesting candidate.
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He was the same guy who ripped Brady a new ******* on the sidelines Two years ago and Brady was arguing back. Brady said he was wrong after the game and that he needed to listen to his coach. Brady respected the hell out of him. He didn't have any problems getting in his star player's ass. I liked that about him. He was also the OC when Brady got his 2nd MVP season.
 
Texecutioner said:
He was the same guy who ripped Brady a new ******* on the sidelines Two years ago and Brady was arguing back. Brady said he was wrong after the game and that he needed to listen to his coach. Brady respected the hell out of him. He didn't have any problems getting in his star player's ass. I liked that about him. He was also the OC when Brady got his 2nd MVP season.
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Awesomer and awesomer.
 
Wikipedia Says:

In January 2013, O'Brien interviewed for the head coaching position with the Cleveland Browns[15] and Philadelphia Eagles. However, he decided to remain at Penn State, stating: "I’m not a one-and-done guy. I made a commitment to these players at Penn State and that’s what I am going to do. I’m not gonna cut and run after one year, that’s for sure."[16]
 
badboy said:
College HC equals NFL HC? Never would have guessed that. I know some like Mack Brown get about $%m per year but thought most were 2-3 m.
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Honestly, HC @ a top college program probably better than a lot of NFL jobs. Even with scandal, Penn state is top 20 program ( in terms of funding and prestige) and probably better than being the head coach at the bottom 12 or so NFL jobs.
 
HoustonFrog said:
Hands down a top 2 candidate in my book. He brings the NFL experience and HC experience. Commands respect.
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I'm starting to warm up to the idea of Bill O'Brien and David Shaw over anyone else. I think a new fresh look and game plan is what these young guys will
Bring.
 
The Pencil Neck said:
Consecutive division titles and two playoff victories? Our first non-losing and winning seasons? I mean, come on, he didn't come in and win a SB but he did do better than Capers did.
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The "consecutive division titles" thing continues to grind my gears. It took a Manningless Colts team and a downside Titans team for him to do it. Here we are again, not even a year later and the Colts are on their way back up and the Texans are the worst in the league.
 
acal21 said:
And both of those guys are capable of sticking around for a long time if things work out
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I'm sure Penn State and Stanford were thinking that too.

I'd like to see either one of them hired. Probably won't get either one but maybe we'll get lucky.
 
Txn_in_Oki said:
The "consecutive division titles" thing continues to grind my gears. It took a Manningless Colts team and a downside Titans team for him to do it. Here we are again, not even a year later and the Colts are on their way back up and the Texans are the worst in the league.
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For starters you act like this is pee wee football. I don't care what teams are made of it is not easy to win a division title.

As for the colts "on the way up". I'm not impressed. One could argue the only reason they are going to win the AFC south is because the Texans are having a down year. Luck is a good QB, not great...yet. They're team is very inconsistent at best. If we were 80% of last years team I would say the division would be ours.

Unfortunately we are about 35% of last years team. If we do not take the division next year I think we will fully compete for it with us taking the crown in 2015.

I may be optimistic but I think crowning Indy as a clone of Peyton's Colts is absurd and no where close to that.
 
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