Minutes before Alabama started playing Ohio State in the national championship game, important news emerged about the team’s offensive coordinator spot. According to Bruce Feldman of FOX Sports, an agreement between the former Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien and Alabama should be completed in the next few days. O’Brien will replace Steven Sarkisian on Nick Saban’s team, as Sarkisian was named Texas’ head coach last week.
“As I reported last week Bill O’Brien, the old one #Texans and the Penn State coach visited Tuscaloosa about the replacement Steve Sarkisian like Alabama’s OC. I heard that the deal should happen in the next few days, “Feldman tweeted on Monday night, just before the start of the national championship game.
O’Brien, who previously trained at Penn State, was terminated by the Texans in October after a 0-4 start. O’Brien was signed by the Texans after a brief stint as Penn State head coach. In two years leading the 2012-13 Nittany Lions, O’Brien combined 15-9.
The start of the season prompted the Texans to make the move to fire O’Brien, but before that, a summer move had many questions about O’Brien’s leadership. With defender Deshaun Watson emerging as a young star in the league, O’Brien made the decision to negotiate DeAndre Hopkins – one of the main NFL recipients – for the Arizona Cardinals along with a choice of the fourth round. In return, the Texans ran back David Johnson, a choice from the second round of 2020 and a choice from 2021 from the fourth round.
O’Brien’s dismissal came less than a year apart from the Texans by posting a 10-6 regular season record and winning a playoff game before falling to eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round. In just over six seasons with the franchise, he posted a 52-48 record with four playoff appearances.
Sarkisian’s attack with Crimson Tide has broken program records this season and he hopes to keep him for another game against the undefeated Ohio State.
“I made a commitment to Coach Saban and these players to see it in the league game,” said Sarkisian, via AL.com, “and shortly after that, I will be in Austin.”
Get the fastest scores, stats, news, LIVE videos and more. CLICK HERE to download the CBS Sports Mobile App and get the latest news about your team today.
In his second season as Alabama’s play-caller, Sarkisian is overseeing a Crimson Tide attack that averaged 49.7 points and 543.9 yards per game going to victory in Friday’s Playoff over Notre Dame, both brands that are at the top in the FBS ratings, by BamaOnline. Alabama’s 35-point or more streak ended with 24 consecutive games against the Irish, the longest streak in college football history.
Brad Crawford, Riley Gates and Chance Linton of 247Sports contributed to this report.