James Franklin's first Virginia Tech coaching staff continues to expand and have a strong Penn State flair, with the Hokies set to hire Penn State QBs coach Danny O'Brien as their new QBs coach.
Sources: Penn State quarterbacks coach Danny O’Brien is expected to become the new quarterbacks coach at Virginia Tech. O’Brien spent two years as the quarterbacks coach at PSU and worked closely with Drew Allar closely during O’Brien’s five total seasons there. pic.twitter.com/XKKqLhlUxN
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 10, 2025
O'Brien is the third on-field assistant hire to be reported for Franklin's staff, joining the rehiring of Brent Pry as defensive coordinator and hiring of Penn State co-OC/TEs coach Ty Howle as offensive coordinator. O'Brien had been Penn State's QBs coach for the past two seasons after joining PSU's staff in 2021. He also overlapped with Franklin at Maryland when O'Brien was a quarterback for the Terps and Franklin was OC under Ralph Friedgen.
Here's a rundown on his various coaching roles since he retired from the CFL in 2019.
- BC Lions Offensive Assistant - 2020
- Penn State Offensive Analyst - 2021-22
- Penn State Offensive GA - 2023
- Penn State QBs Coach - 2024-25
O'Brien has worked with Drew Allar over the past few seasons with decent success but also development that seemed to slow down as Allar's collegiate career progressed. He also worked some with Sean Clifford early in his Penn State tenure.
Having a proper QBs coach is definitely an improvement from the previous quarterbacks development structure that the Hokies had in place. It's fair to have some questions about the development of Allar, though O'Brien has proven to be apt at landing high-end quarterback talent on the recruiting trail.
