Will Ohio State offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien be leaving? Even Ryan Day doesn't know
Bill RabinowitzRyan Day still doesn't know if he will have to replace his newly hired offensive coordinator.
Bill O'Brien, who was hired on Jan. 18, is perhaps the leading candidate to become the head coach at Boston College. He reportedly interviewed on Tuesday and is one of two leading candidates.
"No real updates there," Day said Wednesday. "He's working today and we'll see how it goes."
Day said O'Brien was back working in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Wednesday.
More:Former Ohio State football quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis to join Utah in analyst role
The BC job opened when former Buckeye defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley left to become defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers.
"Yeah, that was a curveball I was not expecting," Day said with a laugh. "We were expecting a fastball."
Day said he hired O'Brien with the expectation that a coach with his experience could lessen his load. Day had a mostly young and inexperienced offensive coaching staff last season. O'Brien was also hired as quarterbacks coach, replacing Corey Dennis, who took an analyst job with Utah on Tuesday.
Day said that he dislikes the idea of giving up play-calling. But he said he realizes his job in this instant transfer/name, image and likeness era is too demanding for him to delve into the minutia of deciding what plays to call for every situation.
"We're chasing that 1 or 2%, that last couple of drives of the game, and I felt like that particular situation for me was to be able to hand off a lot of the duties I was doing," Day said. "I was looking for somebody who had a great background in the NFL."
More:Ohio State football 2024 depth chart projection 1.0: Where do new transfers fit?
O'Brien was head coach of the Houston Texans for six years. He was the New England Patriots offensive coordinator in 2023.
"I wasn't going to just make this decision and say, 'Well, we're going to go in this direction now and throw somebody into that role,'" Day said. "It has to be the right person. I felt after spending a bunch of time on it, Bill was the right guy for that spot at that time. If something were to change, then we'll have to adjust."
Day said he has a backup plan if O'Brien leaves for Boston College.
"But it isn't just one of those situations where you just take out one guy and put another guy in there and move on," Day said. "It doesn't work that way. But yes, we did talk to different people for that position, and we'll have contingency plans in place. Hopefully, we don't go down that road, but if we do, then we'll adapt."