Ryan Day and Ohio State took the Nick Saban approach in their latest attempt to return to the national championship game for the first time since 2020-21.
The Buckeyes hired Bill O’Brien — who served as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2022, and Alabama’s offensive coordinator for the two seasons before that — as its offensive coordinator onThursday, according to ESPN.
The outlet added that Day’s latest hiring could allow him to remove play-calling from his list of responsibilities after a campaign that featured another loss to rival Michigan, another missed College Football Playoff berth and mounting criticism — and uncertainty — surrounding his future with the program.
That all turned 2024 into a pivotal season for Day, with O’Brien now playing a key role in what unfolds.
O’Brien’s coaching career began with Brown in 1993, and after five years with the Patriots between 2007-11, he became Penn State’s head coach for two seasons before returning to the NFL as the Texans’ head coach.
He guided Houston to winning records in six of his first seven campaigns and two trips to the divisional round of the playoffs, but after four losses to start 2019, O’Brien was fired.
Saban hired him as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for 2021, and the Crimson Tide — led by quarterback Bryce Young — made the title game before falling to Georgia.
Young then won the Heisman Trophy with O’Brien in charge of the offense again last season.
But O’Brien’s return to the NFL didn’t feature the same success.
The Patriots struggled with former first-round pick Mac Jones as their quarterback before benching him and turning to Bailey Zappe.
At one point, during the Colts’ loss to the Patriots in Germany, NFL Network captured O’Brien screaming at Jones on the sideline, though O’Brien responded to that by saying that’s “how I coach.”
The Patriots finished the regular season tied for the fewest points per game (13.9, tied with the Panthers) and third-fewest yards per game (276.2) — and after Ohio State’s hiring, New England will need a new offensive coordinator for head coach Jerod Mayo, who was hired after the team and longtime coach Bill Belichick parted ways.
Ohio State started the 2023 season 11-0 and entered their matchup with the Wolverines — who eventually won the national championship — ranked No. 2, but the Buckeyes lost, 30-24, and dropped out of the CFP’s top four spots.
After the game, former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett blased Day.
“Love you bro but gotta go,” Clarett wrote in a post on X after the program’s third consecutive rivalry loss. “This is why you’re paid millions. Can’t get paid 9’ms and lose 3 straight.”
The Buckeyes were selected for the Cotton Bowl and lost to Missouri, 14-3.