Houston Texans head coach Bill O'Brien is "very intrigued" by the open Maryland Terrapins head coaching position, reports Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports:
O'Brien, who had a successful but brief college head-coaching stint with Penn State before taking the Texans job, coached previously at Maryland as an assistant and, according to sources close to the school, prominent Maryland alumnus Kevin Plank, founder and CEO of Under Armour, and other key figures in the hiring process are aware of O'Brien's interest. It is clear to many in the Texans organization that significant change is likely coming, with O'Brien and Smith not both remaining in the current roles in all likelihood, and owner Bob McNair has long championed Smith, creating an uneasy climate within the franchise.
Maryland fired head coach Randy Edsall on October 11.
The Texans have gotten off to a disappointing 3-5 start in O'Brien's second season at the helm, and while Houston Chronicle reporter John McClain has reported that O'Brien's job isn't in jeopardy, he has his eyes on returning to the college game.
O'Brien was the running backs coach at Maryland from 2003-2004 and views the job as one of the premier openings in college football because of the connection with Plank and Under Armour. Plank is already planning to build several state-of-the-art training facilities in College Park and has shown a strong desire to turn the Terps into a power in the Big Ten.
O'Brien's only previous college head coaching experience came at Penn State, where he followed Joe Paterno and led the Nittany Lions to a 15-9 record (including 10-6 in Big Ten play) despite dealing with sanction stemming from the Jerry Sandusky scandal. He left Penn State after two years to take the Texans head coaching job.
Former Maryland quarterback and current San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator Frank Reich is also thought to be a top candidate for the job, though he has no previous head coaching experience.
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