Alabama OC Bill O'Brien Focused on Task At Hand Despite Potential Coaching Opportunities
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Bill O’Brien knows the drill, and at this point, so does Alabama. In fact, it was probably beginning to feel a bit strange for the Crimson Tide to be nearing the completion of a playoff run without seeing at least one of its coordinators heavily mentioned for a potential opening somewhere else.
Less than a week before Monday’s national championship matchup against Georgia, Alabama was once again faced with the annual distraction that has accompanied recent playoff appearances.
In recent days, O’Brien, who took over as Alabama’s offensive coordinator this season, has seen his name mentioned in multiple potential head coaching openings.
Over the weekend, a report from CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora linked O’Brien to the head coaching job with the Jacksonville Jaguars, stating that general manager Trent Baalke “has also recently been pushing Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien to Jaguars ownership as a possible candidate.”
Tuesday, ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg tweeted that he would expect O'Brien to “generate some traction” for the Michigan head coaching position in the event current head coach Jim Harbaugh leaves for the NFL.
During a video conference Wednesday, O’Brien acknowledged the rumors while stating that his focus currently lies completely with Alabama.
“It's one of those things that happens all the time,” O’Brien said. “It's part of the career, part of what you sign up for. My focus has always been on the task at hand and that's just the way I operate.
“I just think that this is a great opportunity for this program. And we've put so much work into this. And really if you're here, if you're able to follow us around for a week, your focus is completely on Georgia and your team and what you have to do to try to help do your part to help your team win. So that's what the focus is.”
O’Brien has flourished in his first season in charge of Alabama’s offense, helping the Crimson Tide rank tied for third nationally in scoring (41.4 points per game) as well as No. 5 in total offense (494.6 yards per game) and No. 8 in passing offense (336 yards per game).
Perhaps the biggest feather in O’Brien’s hat has been the development of Heisman-winning quarterback Bryce Young, who is in the midst of the most prolific season in program history, completing 67.6 percent of his passes for a school-record 4,503 yards and 46 touchdowns while throwing just five interceptions.
Young replaced reigning Davey O’Brien Award winner Mac Jones at quarterback this season. In addition to that, O’Brien was also tasked with replacing a Heisman Trophy winner in DeVonta Smith as well as a fellow first-round pick in Jaylen Waddle at wide receiver, the reigning Doak Walker Award winner in Najee Harris at running back and three starters from last year’s Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line.
“To be able to have the depth and the ability to come back with some really good players at a lot of different positions says a lot about Coach Saban, his organization relative to recruiting,” O’Brien said. “It's every single day. It's 365 days a year that he recruits, that we all recruit. And he leads it.
“And I think that's what it's about in college football is developing relationships with the player and his family and showing him what you're all about. And it's just been a really cool experience to see that. But that's really what it's about. It's a relentless approach to recruiting, not just a relentless approach to football coaching. And that's what Coach Saban has done here and it's been proven and it's been awesome.”
O’Brien joined Alabama after spending six-plus seasons as the head coach of the Houston Texans, posting a 52-48 record over that span. Before coaching the Texans, he spent two seasons as head coach at Penn State where he posted a 15-9 record while guiding the team through the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky sexual assault scandal. O’Brien was named the Bear Bryant, Maxwell Football Club and ESPN National Coach of the Year in 2012 after he led Penn State to an 8-4 record, winning more games than any other first-year head coach in the program’s previous 125 seasons.
Along with his head coaching experience, O’Brien also spent five seasons with the New England Patriots working under Bill Belichick. He coached in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI and was Tom Brady’s position coach during his 2010 MVP season.
Despite his decorated past, O’Brien said he’s still been able to soak up a lot, studying under Nick Saban during his first year in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
“I've learned a lot from Coach Saban, not only, obviously, schematically, but also how he runs a program,” O’Brien said. “The organization of it, the detail of it, the work ethic that goes into it, the discipline, the regimen.
“He's an amazing guy. He's a guy that is the same guy every day. He's a very hardworking guy, very disciplined guy. Loves football. And I've learned a lot from him.”
Alabama has had mixed success managing distractions among its coordinators heading into previous national championship games.
The Tide was able to claim a national title during the 2015 season when then-defensive coordinator Kirby Smart remained in his role after accepting the head coaching job at Georgia. Alabama also navigated championship distractions during the 2017 season when then-defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt oversaw the defense after accepting the head-coaching role at Tennessee. During last year’s title run, former offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian remained in his role during the national championship game despite accepting the head coaching job at Texas.
However, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. During the 2016 season, Alabama was forced to part ways with former offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin a week before the national championship game as he became too distracted after accepting the head-coaching position at Florida Atlantic. Alabama went on to lose its championship game to Clemson, with Sarkisian serving as an interim offensive coordinator.
At the moment, O’Brien doesn’t have another job to worry about. That’s good news considering he’ll need all the focus he can manage to prepare for a rematch against a Georgia defense he labeled as “generational” on Tuesday.
While Alabama was able to expose the Bulldogs during a 41-24 victory in last month’s SEC Championship Game, Georgia is still holding opponents to 9.6 points and 258.6 yards per game.
“They have amazing stats and they play hard,” O’Brien said. “They play good, a lot of great players and coaches on that side of the ball. It's going to be a challenge for us.”
No. 1 Alabama (12-1) will face No. 3 Georgia (12-1) on Monday at 7 p.m. CT inside Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN.
This story will be updated with a video from Bill O'Brien's Wednesday news conference.
