Bill O'Brien's success at Penn State and his past experience at the NFL level has the coach's name on top of the Houston Texans' list for their vacant head coaching position.
If O'Brien leaves — and it seems likely — the Nittany Lions have their eye on Greg Schiano, who was fired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Monday, as a replacement, NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reports.
From #NFLGameDay: Penn State is preparing to lose Bill O’Brien. Their AD is ready to make a strong push for #Bucs coach Greg Schiano.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 29, 2013 Penn St. AD Dave Joyner is mulling flying down to Tampa soon to make a push for Schiano in person. Schiano has said he wants to stay in NFL
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 29, 2013Schiano successfully built a previously dismal Rutgers football team into a respectable program.
The Buccaneers went from 3-13 before Schiano was hired to 7-9 in his first season (2012). Despite an 0-8 start this year, accompanied by quarterback drama, Tampa (4-12) accomplished a bit of a turnaround since.
After an overall rough season for the Bucs, though, many considered Schiano's job security to be fragile.