The Houston Texans have brought on Bill O'Brien to replace Gary Kubiak, who the team fired before the season ended.
According to ESPN, the news has been reported by league officials and several new sites, but the team has yet to formally announce O'Brien's hiring as the head coach.
O'Brien fits owner Bob McNair's criteria of having NFL and head-coaching experience. For the past two season's he has been the head coach for Penn State's Nittany Lions, where they went 15-9 under his guidance and he was named Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2012. His NFL experience consists of being a New England Patriot assistant for four years as well as its offensive coordinator.
The Texans ended up firing former head coach Kubiak after the team crashed and burned with a 2-14 season after going to the playoffs the previous year. Wade Phillips, defensive coordinator, was named the interim head coach, but the team remained relatively uncompetitive in the final few games.
Penn State has already made it clear they expect to hire a new coach quickly, reports Sports Illustrated. Athletic Director Dave Joyner said they'll likely have the coach in only a few days and that they have "begun a very robust search that will bring us a great next football coach."
According to The Associated Press, Joyner believes that the Nittany Lions area much more appealing team to coach as the team further moves away from the Jerry Sandusky scandal and the NCAA punishments that followed.
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