O’Brien to be ’Bama’s OC
Alabama on Thursday evening officially announced the hire of Bill O’Brien as its offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
The move to bring aboard the former Houston Texans and Penn State head coach had been expected for more than a week.
“We are pleased and happy to be able to add Bill O’Brien to our coaching staff,” coach Nick Saban said in a statement. “He has a wealth of experience as both an offensive coordinator and head coach in the NFL and college. Bill is one of the brightest offensive minds in football, an outstanding teacher and excellent recruiter. He will strengthen our coaching staff and give our players the best possible chance to be successful.”
O’Brien, 51, replaces Steve Sarkisian, who became Texas’ head coach earlier this month after two seasons in Tuscaloosa.
“I am honored and excited to join Coach Saban’s staff at The University of Alabama,” O’Brien said in a statement. “I have an incredible amount of admiration for the rich football tradition at this University and the success Coach Saban has had during his time in
Tuscaloosa. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to work with some of the best football players in the country, while helping to continue the success this program has enjoyed for many years.”
A native of Boston, O’Brien played college football at Brown University and spent 12 seasons (1995-06) as an assistant coach in the ACC for Georgia Tech,
Maryland and Duke. He joined the New England Patriots’ staff in 2007 and began calling plays in 2009, although he was not officially promoted to offensive coordinator until 2011.
O’Brien replaced Joe Paterno as Penn State’s head coach in 2012 shortly before that program was hit with an NCAA postseason ban and other sanctions. He went 15-9 in two seasons for Penn State, earning some national coach of the year recognition in 2012, before being hired as the Houston Texans’ head coach in 2014.
O’Brien made the NFL playoffs four times during his six full seasons as Texans coach. He added the title of general manager before the 2020 season and traded star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals. The Texans fired O’Brien in October after an 0-4 start to this past season.
“I think he really good job in Houston when he was the head coach,” Saban said earlier this month. “I think when he became the GM, things didn’t go exactly how he would’ve like having both roles. I know how difficult it is to do both, probably impossible.”
FORMER PACK GM DIES
Ted Thompson, whose 13-year run as Green Bay Packers general manager included their 2010 Super Bowl championship season, has died. He was 68.
The Packers announced Thursday that Thompson died the previous night at his home in Atlanta, Texas. The team said it was contacted by a direct family member.
Thompson announced in May 2019 he had been diagnosed with an autonomic nerve disorder.
He was the general manager from 2005-17 and drafted many notable players on the current roster, including two-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers .He acquired 49 of the 53 players on the Packers’ 2010 championship team.
“He, in my opinion, is the best talent evaluator, especially when it comes to the draft, that I’ve ever seen or been around,” said Brian Gutekunst, who worked alongside Thompson at Green Bay before eventually succeeding him as general manager. “He had a very unique way of seeing what a player was going to become and the greatest he could become.“
Thompson spent more than two decades in the Packers’ front office and was the team’s director of pro personnel when the Packers won the Super Bowl for the 1996 season and captured the NFC title the following year.
HAGY AHEAD
Brandon Hagy didn’t find out he was in the field at The American Express until three days before it started. The Californian then left no doubt he belonged.
Hagy took the first-round lead Thursday with an 8-under 64 on the Nicklaus course, staying one shot ahead of South Korea’s Byeong Hun An in the opening tournament of the PGA Tour’s West Coast swing.
Hagy racked up 10 birdies, including three streaks of three in a row. He capped the round with a calm birdie putt on the 18th