Bill O'Brien: The Chosen One?

mayoclinic · Jan 22, 2014

Since Bill O'Brien was introduces as HC of the Texans on January 2, the following events have occurred:

1. Former Pats DC Romeo Crennel was hired as the Houston DC (formally signed January 20, though rumored since O'Brien was hired).
2. Pepper Johnson, the player and coach with the longest history with Bill Belichick, resigned as LB coach of the Patriots January 21 and is reportedly going to Houston to work with Romeo Crennel, potentially as his successor (Crennel is 67).
3. Former Pats standout Mike Vrabel, an assistant at Ohio St. with BB crony Urban Meyer, left his job at Ohio St. to become the LB coach at Houston (January 10).
4. Former Pats TE coach Brian Ferentz, who left the Pats to work with his father Kirk (another BB crony) at Iowa, left his job at Iowa to become the OL coach at Houston.
5. George Godsey resigns as TE coach of the Patriots (Godsey succeeded Ferentz in that position with the Pats) and is rumored to be joining O'Brien and the Texans as their QB coach and possibly future offensive coordinator.

That's 5 guys so far with deep connections to BB opting to throw their lot in with Bill O'Brien. It's an impressive testimonial to how deep an impression O'Brien must make. It also makes one wonder if there is something about getting away from BB - either from a personal style standpoint, or simply that BB's gravitas has gotten so heavy that it is squelching people under him.

It will be interesting to see if Bill O'Brien can chart his own path with all these guys who grew up under BB.

ctpatsfan77 · Jan 23, 2014

mayoclinic said:
Since Bill O'Brien was introduces as HC of the Texans on January 2, the following events have occurred:

1. Former Pats DC Romeo Crennel was hired as the Houston DC (formally signed January 20, though rumored since O'Brien was hired).
2. Pepper Johnson, the player and coach with the longest history with Bill Belichick, resigned as LB coach of the Patriots January 21 and is reportedly going to Houston to work with Romeo Crennel, potentially as his successor (Crennel is 67).
3. Former Pats standout Mike Vrabel, an assistant at Ohio St. with BB crony Urban Meyer, left his job at Ohio St. to become the LB coach at Houston (January 10).
4. Former Pats TE coach Brian Ferentz, who left the Pats to work with his father Kirk (another BB crony) at Iowa, left his job at Iowa to become the OL coach at Houston.
5. George Godsey resigns as TE coach of the Patriots (Godsey succeeded Ferentz in that position with the Pats) and is rumored to be joining O'Brien and the Texans as their QB coach and possibly future offensive coordinator.

That's 5 guys so far with deep connections to BB opting to throw their lot in with Bill O'Brien. It's an impressive testimonial to how deep an impression O'Brien must make. It also makes one wonder if there is something about getting away from BB - either from a personal style standpoint, or simply that BB's gravitas has gotten so heavy that it is squelching people under him.

It will be interesting to see if Bill O'Brien can chart his own path with all these guys who grew up under BB.

Well, apparently BOB has decided to go for the full Patriots Southwest motif.

Tunescribe · Jan 23, 2014

mayoclinic said:
Since Bill O'Brien was introduces as HC of the Texans on January 2, the following events have occurred:

1. Former Pats DC Romeo Crennel was hired as the Houston DC (formally signed January 20, though rumored since O'Brien was hired).
2. Pepper Johnson, the player and coach with the longest history with Bill Belichick, resigned as LB coach of the Patriots January 21 and is reportedly going to Houston to work with Romeo Crennel, potentially as his successor (Crennel is 67).
3. Former Pats standout Mike Vrabel, an assistant at Ohio St. with BB crony Urban Meyer, left his job at Ohio St. to become the LB coach at Houston (January 10).
4. Former Pats TE coach Brian Ferentz, who left the Pats to work with his father Kirk (another BB crony) at Iowa, left his job at Iowa to become the OL coach at Houston.
5. George Godsey resigns as TE coach of the Patriots (Godsey succeeded Ferentz in that position with the Pats) and is rumored to be joining O'Brien and the Texans as their QB coach and possibly future offensive coordinator.

That's 5 guys so far with deep connections to BB opting to throw their lot in with Bill O'Brien. It's an impressive testimonial to how deep an impression O'Brien must make. It also makes one wonder if there is something about getting away from BB - either from a personal style standpoint, or simply that BB's gravitas has gotten so heavy that it is squelching people under him.

It will be interesting to see if Bill O'Brien can chart his own path with all these guys who grew up under BB.

Color me unimpressed.

(1). They all are familiar to O'Brien and have NFL-related experience.
(2). Romeo has accomplished absolutely nothing since leaving New England.
(3). If BB thought Pepper Johnson was capable of being more than a positional coach, he would've given him greater responsibility long ago.
(4). Vrabel/Ferentz Jr./Godsey -- who knows if any of them can coach?
(5). They're paying jobs.
(6). O'Brien did well in his short stint at Penn State, but he has a lot to prove as an NFL head coach. He's a notorious hothead. We shall see.

yopats · Jan 23, 2014

Also makes the Mallett trade almost guranteed at this point.

Kdo5 · Jan 23, 2014

Mutiny!

PittPatriot · Jan 23, 2014

ctpatsfan77 said:
Well, apparently BOB has decided to go for the full Patriots Southwest motif.

Well, BOB already has a solid team that has seen some success in the recent past. You know what would be a really bad dream when I fall asleep in the next 10 minutes? A draft eve trade of the #1 pick and JJ Watt to NE for TFB. Yes...the Ryan Mallett era could be upon us.

patsfan-1982 · Jan 23, 2014

I can understand why pepper Johnson left. he was never going to be more then the LB coach here he was passed for DC by BB like 3 times already,

and being a defensive coach for the pats is a bad job. #1 because the pats have not had a good defense the last few years and #2 even if the defense does do good it will be because bill belichick is a genius, its a all of the blame and none of glory type job...BOTTOM LINE some of coaches have been here a long time and are looking to get out of Brady and belichick's shadow and make a name for them self in Houston a team with a lot of talent on both sides of the ball that will probably go from worst to first this season

Tunescribe · Jan 23, 2014

patsfan-1982 said:
I can understand why pepper Johnson left. he was never going to be more then the LB coach here he was passed for DC by BB like 3 times already,

and being a defensive coach for the pats is a bad job. #1 because the pats have not had a good defense the last few years and #2 even if the defense does do good it will be because bill belichick is a genius, its a all of the blame and none of glory type job...BOTTOM LINE some of coaches have been here a long time and are looking to get out of Brady and belichick's shadow and make a name for them self in Houston a team with a lot of talent on both sides of the ball that will probably go from worst to first this season

All unfounded conjecture. It doesn't say much for Pepper Johnson that he elected to remain in a "bad job" for 13 years here in New England, eh? And the DCs here have taken ample blame or praise over the years regardless of BB. From Crennel to Pees to Patricia, all appear to have a great deal of autonomy, Romeo earning enough notice league-wide to land a head coaching job after toiling in BB's "shadow."

patsfan-1982 · Jan 23, 2014

Tunescribe said:
All unfounded conjecture. It doesn't say much for Pepper Johnson that he elected to remain in a "bad job" for 13 years here in New England, eh? And the DCs here have taken ample blame or praise over the years regardless of BB. From Crennel to Pees to Patricia, all appear to have a great deal of autonomy, Romeo earning enough notice league-wide to land a head coaching job after toiling in BB's "shadow."

im guessing you took my post as im talking bad about BB ? that's not the case pepper Johnson has been coaching LB's here for 13 years if his looking to be a DC or even a HC one day he need it to move on, as for Crennel he won 3 SB's here after 3 SB's some one he going to give u a shot at a HC job,

supafly · Jan 23, 2014

Tunescribe said:
Color me unimpressed.

(1). They all are familiar to O'Brien and have NFL-related experience.
(2). Romeo has accomplished absolutely nothing since leaving New England.
(3). If BB thought Pepper Johnson was capable of being more than a positional coach, he would've given him greater responsibility long ago.
(4). Vrabel/Ferentz Jr./Godsey -- who knows if any of them can coach?
(5). They're paying jobs.
(6). O'Brien did well in his short stint at Penn State, but he has a lot to prove as an NFL head coach. He's a notorious hothead. We shall see.

I'm not as impressed as others seem to be with O'Brien himself either, although I do understand Mayo's original points and agree with some of the thinking.

Now I see we're giving him credit for all of the offensive players drafted since 2010 in another thread? This is a bit out of hand.

As a PSU alum and someone who lives in an area where PSU football is talked about day and night, I felt that he did a fine enough job under the circumstances, but the Big 10 hasn't exactly set the world on fire lately either. The fact that he ended up with a winning record during his short stint there is impressive, but we've seen this attempted before with KC and DEN--and both were highly unsuccessful.

Tunescribe · Jan 23, 2014

patsfan-1982 said:
im guessing you took my post as im talking bad about BB ? that's not the case pepper Johnson has been coaching LB's here for 13 years if his looking to be a DC or even a HC one day he need it to move on, as for Crennel he won 3 SB's here after 3 SB's some one he going to give u a shot at a HC job,

Your post appeared to suggest that BB holds guys back either intentionally or by reputation. I'm suggesting that Pepper Johnson's full coaching potential might be only as a position coach, and Romeo's highest potential for success is as a defensive coordinator.

ctpatsfan77 · Jan 23, 2014

PittPatriot said:
Well, BOB already has a solid team that has seen some success in the recent past. You know what would be a really bad dream when I fall asleep in the next 10 minutes? A draft eve trade of the #1 pick and JJ Watt to NE for TFB. Yes...the Ryan Mallett era could be upon us.

Thankfully, the salary cap pretty much guarantees that won't happen.

ctpatsfan77 · Jan 23, 2014

Tunescribe said:
(4). Vrabel/Ferentz Jr./Godsey -- who knows if any of them can coach?

There's a question of whether Vrabel can coach at the NFL level, but there's no question he can coach (and recruit) at the college level.

As for Ferentz, he survived coaching GRONK. That has to count for something.

IcyPatriot · Jan 23, 2014

Belichick will do what he always does ... find a few coaches from West JaPeePee State and East JaPeePee State colleges and groom some new minds and add some branches to the tree.

DarrylS · Jan 23, 2014

Pepper has been with BB for a very long time, it is not all that unusual for position coaches to move on or even lessen their work load.

These positions require copious amounts of time and energy, and now that he is age 49 might be as simple as wanting to spend time with his family or pursue other interests...

Not sure why posters always assume that this type of thing is automatically a negative... or a symptom of something different. If he was so upset at the lack of advancement, why didn't he leave sooner??

PittPatriot · Jan 23, 2014

DarrylS said:
Pepper has been with BB for a very long time, it is not all that unusual for position coaches to move on or even lessen their work load.

These positions require copious amounts of time and energy, and now that he is age 49 might be as simple as wanting to spend time with his family or pursue other interests...

Not sure why posters always assume that this type of thing is automatically a negative... or a symptom of something different. If he was so upset at the lack of advancement, why didn't he leave sooner??

Good points...but did he have many opportunities to leave?

Patradomous · Jan 23, 2014

It makes you wonder why the mass exodus.

Now Josh McD. is up for Browns job again. I wonder if BB reamed his coaches ass after the game the other day and they all said screw this.

PatsFanSince74 · Jan 23, 2014

Tunescribe said:
Color me unimpressed.

(1). They all are familiar to O'Brien and have NFL-related experience.
(2). Romeo has accomplished absolutely nothing since leaving New England.
(3). If BB thought Pepper Johnson was capable of being more than a positional coach, he would've given him greater responsibility long ago.
(4). Vrabel/Ferentz Jr./Godsey -- who knows if any of them can coach?
(5). They're paying jobs.
(6). O'Brien did well in his short stint at Penn State, but he has a lot to prove as an NFL head coach. He's a notorious hothead. We shall see.

I mostly agree, but particularly that "We shall see" is the only reasonable response to any of this.

I don't read any negative BB stuff into the decisions these guys have made...Belichick's coaching staff here is set and has been successful. These people all made these particular career decisions because they thought they had a better opportunity elsewhere, including the potential for advancement. End of that story.

Absurdly Metro · Jan 23, 2014

PittPatriot said:
Well, BOB already has a solid team that has seen some success in the recent past. You know what would be a really bad dream when I fall asleep in the next 10 minutes? A draft eve trade of the #1 pick and JJ Watt to NE for TFB. Yes...the Ryan Mallett era could be upon us.

You, sir, are a blasphemer of the highest order. Such black speech ought not be uttered here.

Bill O'Brien: The Chosen One?

mayoclinic

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ctpatsfan77

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Tunescribe

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yopats

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Kdo5

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PittPatriot

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patsfan-1982

In the Starting Line-Up

Tunescribe

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patsfan-1982

In the Starting Line-Up

supafly

Eff you, Shula

Tunescribe

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ctpatsfan77

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ctpatsfan77

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IcyPatriot

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Patradomous

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Absurdly Metro

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