Virginia Tech Hires Penn State QB Coach Danny O'Brien For Same Position

Another domino falls for Virginia Tech's coaching staff. Read more below.

Nov 19, 2025; Blacksburg, VA, USA; L-R, John Rocovich, Timothy Sands, James Franklin and Whit Babcock hold up a Virginia Tech jersey during the press conference celebrating Franklin as head coach at Cassell Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Virginia Tech's coaching staff continues to take shape, as they have brought on Danny O'Brien to be the team's quarterback coach.

Sources: Penn State quarterbacks coach Danny O’Brien is expected to become the new quarterbacks coach at Virginia Tech. O’Brien spent two years as the quarterbacks coach at PSU and worked closely with Drew Allar closely during O’Brien’s five total seasons there. pic.twitter.com/XKKqLhlUxN

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 10, 2025

O'Brien spent a few years in the CFL before coaching for a season for the BC Lions. Following that season, he joined Penn State as an offensive analyst and slowly worked his way up to becoming the program's quarterbacks coach in 2024 and 2025.

He played a few years of college with James Franklin as his offensive coordinator before transferring to Wisconsin and then Catawba for his final two college years. He threw for over 1000 career yards with 47 touchdowns and 25 interceptions across 39 games in his career.

During the 2024 season, his quarterback (Drew Allar) finished third in the Big Ten in passing yards along with being fourth in QBR, passing yards, and passing touchdowns. He finished second in a single season at Penn State with a 66.5% completion percentage and third in single-season passing yards as well.

Drew Allar is unfamiliar with a Penn State staff that doesn't have O'Brien on it, as the two have worked closely. Allar opened his college career with 311 consecutive passing attempts without being intercepted, an all-time FBS record. In that season, he joined Tennessee's - and former Hokie - Hendon Hooker as the only FBS quarterback to throw 25+ touchdowns with two or less interceptions.

If one thing appears true, O'Brien coaches ball safety. In Allar's four-season career, he threw just 13 interceptions on 1,002 career passing attempts - a turnover rate of just 1.3% per throw. Virginia Tech quarterbacks have had an issue with ball security in recent years, and O'Brien feels like the right guy for the job.

O'Brien brings a recruiting boost as well, being just 35 years old. He is now the youngest person (as of now) on the Virginia Tech football staff, and he is very analytically driven. This provides a recruiting boost as well. He likely played a big role in Penn State landing top 10 quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, who threw for over 1000 yards as a redshirt freshman for Penn State in 2025.

This is a questionable hire, but I like it. You can see Penn State fans on social media celebrating the departure, while the numbers look fantastic. A lot of Penn State fans seem to be sick of Drew Allar, as he hasn't developed a ton during his time in college, and I think that they're blaming Danny O'Brien more than they should be.