Bill O’Brien briefly held the role of offensive coordinator at Ohio State, where he didn’t have the chance to call plays either in a spring game or in the regular season. However, when former Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley left for a defensive coordinator position with the Green Bay Packers, it created a vacancy at BC that O’Brien filled. This move, in turn, led to Chip Kelly stepping down from his head coaching position at UCLA to take on the offensive coordinator role at Ohio State, a team expected to have a strong offense.
The series of changes in coaching positions created significant movement within college football during the offseason. ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum believes Ohio State benefited from these changes, suggesting that having Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator may be an improvement over Bill O’Brien. Finebaum noted Kelly’s past success in college football, particularly in terms of playing for national championships.
Kelly’s move to Ohio State could be advantageous for him as well. After facing pressure at UCLA due to three consecutive average seasons, he now has the opportunity to focus solely on coaching and play-calling without the additional responsibilities of being a head coach.
While O’Brien is skilled as an offensive coordinator, Finebaum suggests that Kelly’s track record in creating high-scoring offenses surpasses O’Brien’s abilities in this regard.
