Ohio State is certainly giving every indication – via both words and actions – that 2024 is capable of being one of those special seasons in program lore.
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With Bill O'Brien hire, Ohio State appears to be declaring 2024 as title or bust
Barely three weeks into the New Year and one thing has become abundantly clear in college football: Ohio State is unmistakably all-in for 2024.
To be fair, that statement tends to ring true no matter what year it is.
The Buckeyes, after all, have consistently been a regular national title threat throughout the past few decades and the lone member of the blue-blood fellowship in the sport which has reliably avoided out of character results or any semblance of a down cycle. It's perhaps the program's defining trait – no matter what era you're reexamining in the history books, OSU has started off nearly every football campaign capable of capturing a trophy between the talent on hand in Columbus and the head coach calling the shots.
That fact felt unmistakable yet again on Thursday night as a source confirmed to FOX Sports that recent New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien would be joining Ohio State as the team's new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
It's a bold move in itself from head coach Ryan Day and continues an offseason full of reinvention around the Woody Hayes Center, much of which has only served to reaffirm the Buckeyes' place in the top five of the early 2024 polls ahead of a pivotal year.
There is no denying that O'Brien's latest stint in Foxborough under now-former head coach Bill Belichick did not end well in 2023 – coloring much of the initial, possibly muted reaction to the hire – but the veteran coach has historically proved to be an adept offensive coordinator and quarterback developer at both the pro and college levels.
While at Alabama just two years ago, he helped guide Bryce Young to the Heisman Trophy and had the Crimson Tide in the top 10 in scoring offense for both seasons in which he called plays in Tuscaloosa. Prior to that, he had the Houston Texans as a consistent playoff threat and was around for several of Tom Brady's best statistical years with the Patriots. Throw in an adept job navigating a tough situation while leading a Penn State program out of the Jerry Sandusky aftermath and there's plenty on the resume to sit up and take notice that O'Brien's next career move was to head to Ohio State.
Maybe more notable is the message sent by the man who made such a hire.
There is no question that Day, despite a still hard-to-fathom 56-8 mark as a head coach, has felt the heat emanating beneath his seat from his own fan base the past few months. Though outsiders cannot understand where such sentiment comes from, given that overall record, one only has to look at how sullen and despondent the 44-year-old was in the wake of a third consecutive loss to rival Michigan last November – the measuring stick above all measuring sticks for the program.
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