Bill O’Brien was named the third head coach in Houston Texans franchise history on Jan. 3, 2014. The 45-year old brought 21 years of collegiate and NFL coaching experience to the Bayou City, along with a tireless work ethic, relentless tenacity, exceptional football acumen and a well-earned reputation for succeeding against all odds.

Bill O’Brien led the Houston Texans to a 9-7 record in his first year as the franchise’s head coach. Houston’s seven-win improvement under O’Brien led the NFL and O’Brien finished second in NFL AP Coach of the Year voting.

Prior to joining the Texans, the Brown University alumnus took on one of the most arduous tasks in collegiate sports when he was named head coach at Penn State on Jan. 6, 2012. In addition to replacing Joe Paterno, the all-time winningest head coach in NCAA Football Bowl Division history, O’Brien had to guide PSU through heavy scholarship reductions, a four-year postseason ban, an open transfer policy and the public aftermath of a devastating scandal that threatened the football program’s storied existence.

O’Brien spent two years leading Penn State through one of the greatest periods of strife that any major college program has endured. The odds of success were low, by all counts. O’Brien defied them. In turning the program around, he garnered national and conference coach-of-the-year awards.

O’Brien, who also served as offensive coordinator for the Nittany Lions, was named the Bear Bryant, Maxwell Football Club and ESPN National Coach of the Year after winning more games than any other first-year head coach in the program’s previous 125 seasons. He was also named the Big Ten Conference’s Dave McClain Coach of the Year by the media and the Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year by the coaches.

In the five years prior to his tenure at Penn State, O’Brien helped lead the New England Patriots to a pair of Super Bowl berths, first as an offensive assistant in 2007 and then again in 2011 as offensive coordinator.

O’Brien began his coaching career at Brown University in 1993 as a tight ends coach before serving as inside linebackers coach in 1994. He joined George O’Leary’s Georgia Tech staff in 1995 as a graduate assistant, helping the Yellow Jackets to bowl appearances in each of his last six seasons. O’Brien coached the running backs from 1998-2000 before being promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2001 and assistant head coach in 2002.

O’Brien joined Friedgen’s staff at Maryland in 2003 as running backs coach. Following two years in College Park, O’Brien served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Duke from 2005-06.

O’Brien graduated from St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers and went on to play linebacker and defensive end at Brown from 1990-92. His father and two brothers all played football at Brown. In his senior season he received the Broomhead Memorial Trophy, whose recipient must be the "senior football player whose continuous and generous contributions to Brown athletics and loyal devotion to his university promise to make him an ambassador of Brown”. He graduated with a double concentration in political science and organizational behavioral management in 1992.

O’Brien is actively involved in the Brown Football Association, serving on the Fund Raising Committee and the BFA Career Counseling Program as a Key Note Speaker to the student athletes. He is actively involved with the Houston Special Olympics and organizes a minicamp for Special Olympics during the season, regularly hosts an NFL Play 60 Event for Special Olympics of Texas and serves as the Celebrity Co-Chair at the Special Olympics Benefit Dinners. He also actively supports the Houston Children’s Hospital and Easter Seals.

O’Brien and his wife, Colleen, have two sons: Jack, 12, and Michael, 9. His father John ’55, mother Anne ’55, brothers John Jr. ’82, Thomas ’85 and nephew Matthew ’15 all graduated from Brown.