04/23/24
January 06, 2012
Penn State Hires Bill O'Brien to Follow Paterno: Penn State has hired New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien to succeed Joe Paterno. O'Brien, a longtime assistant at the college and pro level, has never been a head coach and has no ties to the scandal-rocked school. He played football at Brown University, Paterno's alma mater. The move angered some former players in the Penn State Football Letterman's Club, who wanted interim coach Tom Bradley or another coach associated with the school. "By not hiring Bradley or a Penn Stater what they have effectively done is turn their backs on 100 years of tradition," said member Brandon Short.
I also wonder how they ended up with O'Brien. It almost seems like somewhat of an interim caretaker appointment. Zook was more credentialed when he took over for Spurrier, and there was hell to pay with Gator Nation over that one.
Maybe the bigger names in coaching backed off when contacted. The PSU program may be more radioactive in the eyes of established coaching candidates than I realize. I was thinking of this job as a good opportunity, but it may be viewed as pure poison among coaches.
Except for Todd Graham. They obviously didn't contact him. If they had, he would have taken the job in a heartbeat. With no need to text his ASU players about it because he hasn't even met them yet.
Well, perhaps this is a good omen for the Pats. when Weis was named the HC at Notre Dame, he stayed on to coach the Pats through the playoffs to their most recent SB win.
posted by beaverboard at 09:14 AM on January 06, 2012
With several top prospects dropping their commitments and multiple criminal and civil trials coming in the next 1-3 years about kids being raped in the locker room, I think the job was completely radioactive.
Coaches don't like to follow a legend in even the best of circumstances. It seems like the conventional wisdom is to avoid being the first coach hired after a legend. Let a Ron Zook come in and crash under the weight of expectations, then clean up his mess with a fan base better conditioned to gratitude.
posted by rcade at 09:49 AM on January 06, 2012
What rcade said. Nothing short of a Rose Bowl win by 2015 keeps this guy employed, and even then, if he follows it with an 8-4 season, he's out for letting the program slide.
posted by Etrigan at 11:02 AM on January 06, 2012
Nothing short of a Rose Bowl win by 2015 keeps this guy employed, and even then, if he follows it with an 8-4 season, he's out for letting the program slide.
Maybe by then, the Sandusky trial is long done and out of the public consciousness long enough that the job is no longer considered so toxic.
posted by NerfballPro at 11:12 AM on January 06, 2012
Meanwhile, it would not be surprising for Paterno's health to take a spiral downward (he's already had some serious issues since getting fired and reportedly hung on to his job for so long in part because he thought he'd wither and die if he had to stop coaching).
On top of all the other challenges he's facing, the last thing O'Brien needs to have to deal with is the prospect of Paterno's martyrdom. That would release a flood of factors and emotions over which he would have no control but would not be able to ignore.
posted by beaverboard at 11:32 AM on January 06, 2012
Nothing short of a Rose Bowl win by 2015 keeps this guy employed, and even then, if he follows it with an 8-4 season, he's out for letting the program slide.
Maybe by then, the Sandusky trial is long done and out of the public consciousness long enough that the job is no longer considered so toxic.
That plus the next guy isn't following a legend, he's rebuilding the once-proud Nittany Lions.
On top of all the other challenges he's facing, the last thing O'Brien needs to have to deal with is the prospect of Paterno's martyrdom.
Oh, I don't know. Didn't Bush get a bump after Reagan died?
posted by Etrigan at 11:54 AM on January 06, 2012
In other news, some Texas fans got Pedobear into Penn State's bowl game, where he was shown on the Jumbotron holding the sign with the team's logo and the words "Keep Quiet and Don't Tell Anyone."
posted by rcade at 11:56 AM on January 06, 2012
In other news, some Texas fans got Pedobear into Penn State's bowl game, where he was shown on the Jumbotron holding the sign with the team's logo and the words "Keep Quiet and Don't Tell Anyone."
Next time, he should hold a sign saying "I'm a fan of Jerry's kids" (with a sincere apology to Mr. Lewis)
posted by NerfballPro at 12:01 PM on January 06, 2012
In this case, bringing in somebody from the outside was the best way to change a corrupt system. Sometimes you just can't fix a system from the inside.
posted by Joey Michaels at 02:22 PM on January 06, 2012
I'm a little bit surprised at how angry everyone seems about this hire. I don't really understand it.
posted by bperk at 02:44 PM on January 06, 2012
Linebacker U hiring an offensive coordinator as a head coach ... hmmm.
posted by cixelsyd at 04:03 PM on January 06, 2012
Things needed to change now at Penn State, so I have no problem with the hire. One thing Penn State couldn't afford to do is talk to several more candidates and risk more and more telling them "No." That would have made the situation worse.
posted by dyams at 04:27 PM on January 06, 2012
Does anyone else get sick of Charlie Casserly being wrong? Me neither. Well, maybe Belichick does.
posted by yerfatma at 04:51 PM on January 06, 2012
I'm pretty sure Casserly ending up being right about Brady's ribs though no one found out until months later. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
posted by bperk at 05:21 PM on January 06, 2012
O'Brien's collegiate coaching record includes Maryland, Georgia Tech, and Duke. Duke and Georgia Tech are both known for insisting that their athletes are students first and athletes second. Joe Paterno in the 1980s vowed that the Penn State program would follow this path. He insisted his players attend class, keep up their grades, and if football interfered, then take a season off to hit the books. He recruited with a prospect's academic possibilities in mind. The letter men who are complaining seem not to understand that Joe Pa can no longer coach the team. The Board of Trustees might have sold out Joe Pa, but his time as a coach was growing short anyway.
While it might be possible for O'Brien to keep some of Paterno's assistants, especially Jay Paterno and Tom Bradley, for the short term, it would not be a reasonable course for the long term. Bradley and the younger Paterno do most of the recruiting for Penn State, so dropping them this season would cause some problems. O'Brien should use this season to settle in, find some new assistants to install in 2013, and get the Penn State fans to understand that he is not Paterno, but will keep Joe Pa's principles in effect.
I'm not sure how many people understand that Penn State and the rest of the Big 10 schools are excellent academic institutions. The athletics seem to get in the way sometimes, but a Penn State education is recognized as a quality education.
posted by Howard_T at 09:52 PM on January 06, 2012
O'Brien should use this season to settle in, find some new assistants to install in 2013, and get the Penn State fans to understand that he is not Paterno, but will keep Joe Pa's principles in effect.
I think O'Brien should just look forward and not try to put a new coat of paint on the bullshit about Joe Paterno's Penn State program being a shining beacon of honor.
posted by rcade at 10:10 PM on January 06, 2012
I don't know if O'Brien is the right guy, but the lettermen seem to have their heads in the sand. Penn State had to hire someone with no association to Paterno and Jerry Sandusky, and he has to clean house entirely with his staff. The school can't afford media scrutiny of whether the new coach knew anything about the child-abuse allegations.