Bill O’Brien Biography

Bill O’Brien born William James O’Brien is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). From 2012 to 2013, he was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions.

He began his coaching career in 1993 at Brown University before spending more than a decade coaching in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). In 2007, O’Brien joined the New England Patriots where he eventually served as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator in 2011.

In 2012, O’Brien was hired by Penn State to take over a program that had just endured the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. In his first season as head coach, he led the team to an 8–4 record and won ESPN’s National Coach of the Year award.

After the 2012 season, he garnered significant interest to return to the National Football League (NFL) as a head coach and interviewed with both the Philadelphia Eagles and the Cleveland Browns. He decided to stay at Penn State, citing that it would send a poor message to leave after just one season. After his second season, O’Brien left Penn State to become the head coach of the Texans.

Bill O’Brien Age

O’Brien was born on October 23, 1969, in Dorchester, Massachusetts, United States. He is 53 years old as of 2022.

Bill O’Brien Height

O’Brien stands at height of about 5 feet 11 inches tall.

Bill O’Brien Family

O’Brien is the son of John O’Brien and Anne Murphy O’Brien. He grew up with his brothers John O’Brien and Tom O’Brien in Andover, Massachusetts.

Bill O’Brien Wife

O’Brien married Colleen O’Brien in 1998. The couple have two sons, Jack and Michael. Jack, the elder son, has a rare brain disorder called lissencephaly.

Bill O’Brien Salary

O’Brien earns an annual salary of $5 million.

Bill O’Brien Net Worth

He has an estimated net worth of $ 7 billion dollars.

Bill O’Brien Education

O’Brien graduated from St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers. He then attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he played defensive end and linebacker for the Brown Bears from 1990 to 1992.

Bill O’Brien Coaching Career

College assistant

O’Brien’s first coaching position was at Brown, where he coached tight ends in 1993 and inside linebackers in 1994. O’Brien then spent the next three seasons (1995–1997) as an offensive graduate assistant at Georgia Tech.

O’Brien then coached the Yellow Jackets’ running backs from the 1998 season through 2000 season. In 1999, running back Sean Gregory ran for 837 yards with six touchdowns. In 2000, running back Joe Burns ran for 908 yards with 12 touchdowns.

From 2001 to 2002, Bill O’Brien served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and was named an assistant head coach for the 2002 season. In 2002, he was hired as Notre Dame’s offensive Coordinator before George O’Leary was dismissed. As offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech in 2001 and 2002, O’Brien’s teams averaged 31 and 21.5 points per game, respectively as the teams went 9–4 and 7–6.

In 2001, running back Joe Burns ran for 1,165 yards with 14 touchdowns and quarterback George Godsey threw for 3,085 yards with 18 touchdowns. In 2002 under Chan Gailey, running back Tony Hollings ran for 633 yards with 11 touchdowns and wide receiver Kerry Watkins got 1,050 yards and 5 touchdowns.

In 2003, O’Brien left to coach running backs at the University of Maryland, where he spent two seasons. In 2003, RB Josh Allen ran for 922 yards with 8 touchdowns while Bruce Perry ran for 713 yards and 6 touchdowns.

As offensive coordinator at Duke in 2005 and 2006, O’Brien’s teams averaged 16.1 and 14.9 points per game. In 2006, QB Thaddeus Lewis threw for 2,134 yards with 11 TD.

New England Patriots

After two seasons with Duke, Bill O’Brien was hired by the New England Patriots on February 27, 2007 as an offensive assistant. On February 21, 2008, he was promoted to wide receivers coach.

O’Brien became the quarterbacks coach and offensive play-caller following the 2008 season after the departure of quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. In February 2011, he was promoted to offensive coordinator.

During the Patriots’ playoff bye week, the Patriots gave the Jacksonville Jaguars permission to interview O’Brien for their head coaching vacancy; O’Brien was scheduled for an interview, but never actually interviewed for the job.

Instead, O’Brien interviewed with Penn State staff on January 5, 2012, was offered the head coach position, and signed a four-year contract to become the Nittany Lions’ coach. He continued as New England’s offensive coordinator through Super Bowl XLVI.

Penn State

In 2012, O’Brien was hired as Penn State’s 15th head football coach, replacing Joe Paterno, who was also a Brown alumnus. He was introduced as the head coach at a press conference on January 7, 2012.

NFL interest

In January 2013, Bill O’Brien interviewed for the head coaching position with the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles. However, O’Brien 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.”

Houston Texans

After the firing of Gary Kubiak of the Houston Texans, multiple reports stated that Bill O’Brien showed interest in going back to the NFL. On December 29, 2013, O’Brien met with the Texans on further discussion of the head coaching job for the Texans.

The Texans finished 2–14 in the 2013 NFL season, and owned the first overall selection in the 2014 NFL Draft, which they used on South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. On January 2, 2014, O’Brien was officially introduced as the Texans head coach.

In his first season as the Texans coach, O’Brien finished with a 9–7 record, narrowly missing the playoffs. In his second season, the Texans again finished with a 9–7 record and won the AFC South title. In the Wild Card round, the Texans were blown out 30-0 to the Kansas City Chiefs.

In O’Brien’s third season, the Texans finished with a 9–7 record and won their second consecutive AFC South title. The Texans defeated the Oakland Raiders 27-14 but they lost 34-16 to the eventual Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots.

His fourth season marked his first season as an NFL head coach in which his team wouldn’t finish with a winning record. On January 13, 2018, he received a four-year extension.

Coaching tree/ Coaching Record

NFL head coaches under whom Bill O’Brien has served:

• Bill Belichick, New England Patriots (2007–2011)

Assistant coaches under Bill O’Brien who became NFL head coaches:

• Mike Vrabel, Tennessee Titans (2018–present)