Ohio State football fans aren't in love with Bill O'Brien hire
Ohio State football has made a lot of flashy moves this offseason in the transfer portal, as well as keeping some of their high-profile players from declaring for the NFL draft.
But few expected the move made by Ryan Day on Thursday as the Ohio State football head coach is giving up play-calling duties for Bill O'Brien, previously of the New England Patriots. O'Brien was also the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions and Houston Texans.
Sources: Ohio State is set to hire longtime NFL head coach Bill O’Brien as the school’s new offensive coordinator. O’Brien served last season as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator in 2023 and has been the head coach at the Texans and in the Big Ten at Penn State. pic.twitter.com/19e2iXv6oe
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 19, 2024
O'Brien spent last season in New England, which was a disaster. Before that, O'Brien was the offensive coordinator at Alabama where he coached Bryce Young. There have been some good moments in O'Brien's career such as the early days with DeShaun Watson, but there has been plenty of bad too. He's actually the only offensive coordinator in New England not to win a Super Bowl with Tom Brady. Alabama football fans also weren't bothered at all when he left the team last offseason.
In terms of Buckeye fans, the reaction was tepid to say the least.
I'm not really understanding the Bill O'Brien anger. He's not being hired as the HC, hes the OC. Someone with extensive experience including being a head coach in the Big Ten. An OC for an SEC championship team, whose QB won the Heisman and NFL experience. #GoBucks
— Joshua Keatley (@JoshKeatley16) January 19, 2024
“Why does everything on offense seem so hard?”
— Landon Beamon (@LandonBeamon11) January 19, 2024
This was the common question asked during the Bill O’Brien era with a future #1 overall draft pick at QB.
Ohio State fans are going to be in inconsistent hell all season, especially in big games. https://t.co/bbG1ke6xup pic.twitter.com/7xXFA54u9j
I've been trying to get some perspective from the Alabama side on why Bill O'Brien was such a polarizing figure while there. I thought this video from their local beat was interesting. pic.twitter.com/QZwEWR4e27
— jbook™ (@jbook37) January 19, 2024
There's a mix of media reactions, but some in the media didn't approve of the move at all such as Barrett Sallee of CBS Sports.
Ohio State is hiring … Bill O’Brien? For real???https://t.co/7i5yX6fzNG
— Barrett Sallee 🇺🇸 (@BarrettSallee) January 19, 2024
Of course, the message boards didn't approve either as the X account Message Board Geniuses pointed out with some takes from Ohio State football fans who clearly think this is a mistake.
#OhioState is hiring Bill O’Brien as its new offensive coordinator. pic.twitter.com/lGLKEjuLar
— Message Board Geniuses (@BoardGeniuses) January 19, 2024
Ryan Day was supposed to be an offensive guru. I thought that's why he was hired in the first place, so turning over the offense to Bill O'Brien is interesting. Maybe O'Brien will actually run the football because that was something Day couldn't be trusted to do. It seems like he's getting desperate and this will either be an incredible success or a miserable failure.
feed
It doesn't seem like there will be any middle ground, just like people either love the hire or hate it.