Penn State QB coach Danny O'Brien heading to Virginia Tech

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Penn State is set to lose another member of its coaching staff to its former head coach. According to reports surfacing on Tuesday evening, Penn State quarterbacks coach Danny O’Brien will be the next member of the coaching staff to leave the program to follow James Franklin to Virginia Tech.

O’Brien, who played quarterback at Maryland when Franklin was the quarterbacks coach for the Terps, joined the Penn State football staff in 2021 as an offensive analyst. He spent three seasons as an offensive analyst and offensive graduate assistant before being promoted to the quarterbacks coach role in 2024. O’Brien helped with the development of Sean Clifford and Drew Allar; Clifford was a fifth-round NFL draft pick and Allar could go on to be a draft pick as well.

The departure of O’Brien to the Virginia Tech coaching staff will leave a spot open on Matt Campbell’s new coaching staff for a vital role. In the eyes of Campbell, the quarterback role is extremely important to the success of the program moving forward, and the relationship between the quarterback and head coach is important to Campbell. So the responsibility of being the quarterbacks coach is a significant one moving forward.

Campbell and Penn State will be busy forming a staff now that Campbell has been formally introduced as head coach of the Nittany Lions. Campbell has suggested there are members of the Iowa State coaching staff he would like to bring with him to Penn State if it makes sense. So, just for informational purposes, it is worth noting Iowa State’s quarterbacks coach is Jake Waters.

Waters is a former Kansas State quarterback and he has been on the Iowa State staff for six years between two stints with Campbell. Waters was a graduate assistant for Iowa State in 2017 before spending a few seasons as a wide receivers coach with UTEP from 2018 through 2020. He returned to Iowa State to be Campbell’s senior quality control assistant, focusing on the offense. He spent the past two seasons serving as Campbell’s quarterbacks coach.

The coaching staff shuffle is already underway for Penn State, of course. Franklin is reportedly bringing Penn State tight ends coach Ty Howle down to Blacksburg, Virginia, to be the offensive coordinator for the Hokies. Penn State will be keeping Terry Smith on the staff, but Campbell is in the process of bringing some Iowa State members to Happy Valley, starting with assistant athletics director of player personnel Derek Hoodjer. Iowa State defensive coordinator Jon Heacock is expected to join the Penn State staff as well, with his exact title to be confirmed.

Virginia Tech is expected to hire Penn State’s Danny O’Brien as its new quarterbacks coach, sources tell @CBSSports.
The former Maryland QB had been James Franklin’s QB coach at Penn State. pic.twitter.com/uDxHydxUGz
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 10, 2025