Former GT assistant coaches Bill O’Brien and Doug Marrone

[GTRambler]

Interesting to note that O’Brien and Marrone are now assistant coaches under Nick Saban at Alabama.

Both were hired by Saban this past January, O’Brien as Offensive Coordinator and Marrone as Offensive Line Coach.

Just wanted to let everyone know.

 

[bobongo]

Thanx for the update. I always thought O'Brien was overrated as an OC, and as for Benedict Marrone...

Maybe Alabama is going to decline a bit, now. Hope they can still beat Ugag.

 

[Scubapro]

Both these guys are a-holes IMO. If you don't remember Marrone left Tech for the Mutts and made the comment he was taking Friegen's play book and daMutts were certain to beat Tech. This was before the Goose is Loose game in Athens.
O'Brien was going to go with O'Leary to South Bend. Then when that fell through he was quoted as saying something like he didn't want to be stuck at Tech. I guess we weren't good enough for him.
I hope they do well against the mutts...other than that...I hope they catch scabies and crabs.

 

[croberts]

Interesting to note that O’Brien and Marrone are now assistant coaches under Nick Saban at Alabama.

Both were hired by Saban this past January, O’Brien as Offensive Coordinator and Marrone as Offensive Line Coach.

Just wanted to let everyone know.

A good example of the different level that Alabama operates on. Hires two NFL head coaches as assistants. We (and many others) hire grad assistants or young guys from lower divisions.

 

[Techster]

Both these guys are a-holes IMO. If you don't remember Marrone left Tech for the Mutts and made the comment he was taking Friegen's play book and daMutts were certain to beat Tech. This was before the Goose is Loose game in Athens.
O'Brien was going to go with O'Leary to South Bend. Then when that fell through he was quoted as saying something like he didn't want to be stuck at Tech. I guess we weren't good enough for him.
I hope they do well against the mutts...other than that...I hope they catch scabies and crabs.

I use to respect O'Brien, but when it came out he was throwing everyone under the bus at Houston Texans, especially George Godsey, I lost that respect for him. He set Godsey's career back a few years, but Godsey has since bounced back and seems to have a promising trajectory again. OBrien just cares about himself and he'll step on whoever he needs to to advance. He completely lost the locker room in Houston because he was two faced to his players and his decisions came from a place of insecurity.

I think he's a good coach, but there's a right way and a wrong way to do things. The higher he got on the football ladder, the more he chose the wrong way. He'll probably get another shot at being a head coach for his work at Penn State and his reputation, but his future in the NFL as a HC is probably over.

 

[00Burdell]

I never got why either of them were as highly regarded as they were. Guess that's why they went from NFL Head Coach to college assistant coach.

 

[bobongo]

A good example of the different level that Alabama operates on. Hires two NFL head coaches as assistants. We (and many others) hire grad assistants or young guys from lower divisions.

Both of these guys were young guys from lower divisions when they came here. O'Brien came here from Brown, and Marrone came here from Northeastern.

 

[GoJacketsInRaleigh]

O'Brien single-handedly ruined the Texans with some god awful trades and his terrible coaching

 

[Skeptic]

Interesting to note that O’Brien and Marrone are now assistant coaches under Nick Saban at Alabama.

Both were hired by Saban this past January, O’Brien as Offensive Coordinator and Marrone as Offensive Line Coach.

Just wanted to let everyone know.

Both will be gone by February because, after all, it is Saban.

 

[Root4GT]

I use to respect O'Brien, but when it came out he was throwing everyone under the bus at Houston Texans, especially George Godsey, I lost that respect for him. He set Godsey's career back a few years, but Godsey has since bounced back and seems to have a promising trajectory again. OBrien just cares about himself and he'll step on whoever he needs to to advance. He completely lost the locker room in Houston because he was two faced to his players and his decisions came from a place of insecurity.

I think he's a good coach, but there's a right way and a wrong way to do things. The higher he got on the football ladder, the more he chose the wrong way. He'll probably get another shot at being a head coach for his work at Penn State and his reputation, but his future in the NFL as a HC is probably over.

My son in law’s Uncle coached under O’Brien at Penn State. Said O’Brien was a strange guy at best and definitely threw subordinates under the buss.

 

[GTBandit22]

Billy O is a bad NFL GM but a good offensive coordinator. No hard feelings, guy didn’t want to get stuck with Chan. Looks like he made the right choice as he had PSU and the Texans after. I think he won’t be long before he’s moving into a P5 HC job.

Marrone is ancient history and not anything worth caring about.

 

[00Burdell]

I think it's a bit of a concern that Saban has hired these journeymen retreads at the same time the dwags are trying to make a move.

 

[yeti92]

I think it's a bit of a concern that Saban has hired these journeymen retreads at the same time the dwags are trying to make a move.

Saban does that every year, this is nothing new.


UGA ain't making any moves, just the same stuff they say every season, "This is our year!" Preseason National Champs Again. They return extremely low production %, no Pickens, no Gilbert. Most of last year's starting defense gone. Daniels is decent, not a world beater, and if he goes down they are in trouble. Lots of transfers out, not many in.

 

[GTG768B]

I think it's a bit of a concern that Saban has hired these journeymen retreads at the same time the dwags are trying to make a move.

Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian weren't retreads?

 

[GTRambler]

Good morning, guys! Well if I may, I’d like to opine:

I have noticed over the past number of years that Nick Saban seems to have always hired experienced football coaches with a wide range of previous coaching backgrounds as his top assistants. Almost without exception, these top assistants have important head-coaching jobs in their resumes.

Then Saban indoctrinates them in an intense crash course how he wants them to implement his system. It is intense, brutally intense!

And Saban is highly successful in getting it done, in his own way.

After a year or two or three years of this remarkable intensity, the top assistants then get tired of the pressure and start looking to get out toward “greener pastures.”

Once they leave, Saban starts his hiring process all over again.

 

[4shotB]

After a year or two or three years of this remarkable intensity, the top assistants then get tired of the pressure and start looking to get out toward “greener pastures.”

Once they leave, Saban starts his hiring process all over again.

IMO, the single most impressive thing about Saban is his unrelenting focus. I understand people achieving what he has done for a couple of years maybe. Even that would be a Hall of Fame worthy achievement. But to keep the foot on the gas like he has when most people would want to let up and enjoy the fruits of their labor is remarkable. Especially given his age. He coaches like he is afraid of losing his job and I admire that about him.