Former Penn State football assistant leaves SEC to join new Bill O’Brien staff

The college football carousel continues to turn. Some coaches have departed from their current roles to escape the NIL and transfer portal era of the sport. Others, such as former Penn State football head coach Bill O’Brien, rejoin the college football world searching for the next chapter. The relationships that are developed on any coaching staff go a long way, and when the opportunity arises to reconnect, many take advantage. Now, as the newly hired HC at Boston College, O’Brien has brought former Penn State assistant Craig Fitzgerald to Beantown with him.

Bill O’Brien hires former Penn State assistant at Boston College

Craig Fitzgerald has been in the college football coaching space since 1998. But where he and Bill O’Brien overlapped at first was with the Penn State football team from 2012 to 2013 as the head strength and conditioning coach. O’Brien brought Fitzgerald with him to the Houston Texans from 2014 to 2017 in the same role.

Most recently, Fitzgerald was with the Florida Gators, where he served as the Director of Football Performance, but he was only in this role for a few weeks before choosing to reconnect with Bill O’Brien. It was reported by Nick de la Torre, a senior writer for Gators Online, that Fitzgerald will be leaving Florida for a role at Boston College.

BREAKING: Craig Fitzgerald is joining Bill O'Brien's staff at Boston College.

STORY: https://t.co/t2SzVlu9bu pic.twitter.com/FOWlyHjj2I

— Nick de la Torre (@delatorre) February 11, 2024

Bill O’Brien’s short stint with Ohio State

In a similar fashion, Bill O’Brien only spent a few weeks with Ohio State, where he was hired as their next offensive coordinator. He was hired at Ohio State on January 18th and took the Boston College head coach opening on February 9th.

In a corresponding move, Chip Kelly decided to leave his head coach position at UCLA to become the next offensive coordinator at Ohio State. It goes to show you how quickly these positions open and are filled around the country.

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