HOUSTON -- When Bill O'Brien told his wife at age 37 that he wanted to take a job that required a significant pay cut, she wasn't delighted.
"We had Jack and Michael had just been born," O'Brien said. "For that college coaching deal there, I was making a decent salary. Didn't quite make that same salary in New England.
"She didn't quite have the divorce papers written up then. That came later for other reasons. My suitcase wasn't out on the porch, but I don't think she was real thrilled about the ol' salary."
That job was to become an offensive quality control coach for the New England Patriots, the lowest rung of NFL assistant coaches.