Contents
Who is Bill O’Brien?
American football coach William James ‘Bill’ O’Brien was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts USA, on 23 October 1969, making Scorpio his zodiac sign. He’s currently coaching the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL), working as their quarterbacks coach and defensive co-ordinator, while he’s perhaps known best for the six years which he spent as the head coach of the Houston Texans of the NFL from 2014 through 2020.
Education and early life
Bill was raised in Andover, Massachusetts alongside his brothers Tom and John, by their mother Anne Murphy O’Brien and John O’Brien, however, because Bill’s family prefers to stay away from media, he can rarely be heard speaking about them in public; it’s believed that his father was a high school football coach, and that his mother was an athlete during her teenage years.
Bill fell in love with football at a very early age, as well as with several other sports – he began competing in Little League at the age of six. He went on to study at St. John’s Preparatory School and was into a number of activities during his time there, as he played football for the school’s team, ran track and also played baseball.
Bill matriculated in 1988, and then enrolled at Brown University on a football scholarship; he played for their team the Brown Bears from 1990 through 1992, when he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree.
Bill’s career
Bill launched his coaching career by staying at Brown University and coaching the Brown Bears tight ends in 1993; the following year saw him coach the linebackers, then from 1995 through 1997, Bill coached at Georgia Tech.
He coached the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets’ running backs until 2000, and the following year saw him coach their quarterbacks and serve as an offensive co-ordinator; Bill spent 2002 as the Yellow Jackets’ assistant coach.
He then joined Notre Dame and became their offensive co-ordinator, after George Joseph O’Leary had been dismissed. After less than a year at Notre Dame, Bill joined the University of Maryland in 2003, and stayed with them for two years, then in 2005 and 2006, he worked asthe offensive co-ordinator at Duke University.
🚨BREAKING🚨 Alabama OC Bill O'Brien has been hired to the same position with the New England Patriots, according to @AdamSchefter and @ClowESPN.
Story: https://t.co/Evo4WtFvoL pic.twitter.com/B8kTCzUvBt
— On3 (@On3sports) January 24, 2023
He began attracting attention in 2007, as he signed a contract with the New England Patriots on 27 February 2007, becoming their new offensive assistant coach, then a year later, on 21 February, Bill became their wide receivers coach. After Josh McDaniels left the team in 2008, Bill became their offensive play-caller and quarterbacks coach, and was after three years promoted to offensive co-ordinator. He was then to be interviewed by the Jacksonville Jaguars for the position of a head coach, however, Bill didn’t show up for the interview, and instead met the representatives of Penn State on 5 January 2012, signing a four-year contract with the Nittany Lions, becoming their new head coach.
On 24 July 2012, the NCAA sanctioned Penn State because of a child sex abuse scandal, and the Lions were thus banned from post-season for four years, and lost 40 scholarships. Bill lost his first game with the Lions 24-14 to the Ohio University Bobcats, and he won his first game on 15 September 2012, defeating the US Naval Academy 34-7; he won eight of his 12 games during his first season with the Lions, and was thus named Big Ten Coach of the Year, while the network ESPN named him National Coach of the Year.
Bill was hired as the Houston Texans’ head coach on 2 January 2014, following the firing of their former head coach Gary Kubiak; they won nine of their 16 games during Bill’s first season, while they also won nine games in the 2015 and the 2016 seasons. Bill’s 2017 season with the Texans was his worst, as they won only four of their 16 games, while they had a 10-game losing streak; his contract was nevertheless extended on 13 January 2018, as he signed a four-year extension, and the Texans won 11 of their 16 games in the 2018 season.
They finished the 2019 season with 10 wins and six loses, and Bill became the team’s general manager on 28 January 2020, but was fired by the Texans on 5 October 2020.
Bill became the quarterbacks coach and offensive co-ordinator at the University of Alabama on 21 January 2021, and has since 24 January 2023 been serving as the quarterbacks coach and offensive co-ordinator of the New England Patriots.
Love life and marriage
Bill’s a secretive man who prefers to keep his love life away from media, but he still occasionally mentions his wife and their children during his interviews.
He and American non-celebrity woman Colleen O’Brien exchanged vows in a private ceremony in 1998, attended by not more than 150 of their closest friends and family members; Colleen’s profession remains undisclosed, but it’s believed that she’d worked as a high school teacher prior to becoming a housewife and raising her and Bill’s children.
They have two sons together, Michael O’Brien and Jack O’Brien; the elder son Jack’s suffering from lissencephaly, which is a rare brain disorder.
There are no other women whom Bill’s been with, that we know about; he’s married to Colleen O’Brien as of July 2023, and they have two sons together.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Famous American TV show host and comedian Conan O’Brien is Bill’s distant cousin.
Bill isn’t active on Instagram as he dislikes the social media network; he launched his Twitter account in July 2021 and has since tweeted more than 1,300 times, most are related to football.
Bill’s been physically active since his teenage years, and still today occasionally works out at the gym; he’s into several other sports besides football, and occasionally plays tennis and golf with his peers.
He’s a philanthropist and has donated money to a number of hospitals; Bill’s also an animal lover, and has volunteered with several animal shelters.
Tom Hanks is one of Bill’s favorite actors, and some of his favorite movies include “Saving Private Ryan”, “The Terminal”, and “Sleepless in Seattle”.
Height, eyes and wealth
Bill’s age is 53. He has blue eyes and brown hair, is 6ft (1.82m) tall and weighs around 200lbs (90kgs).
Bill’s net worth’s been estimated at over $7 million, as of July 2023.
