Sunday, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Penn State has identified New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien as its man to replace Joe Paterno. And the world went all WHAAAAAT.
Penn State has been eyeing, scouting and honing in on the 42-year-old O'Brien throughout the past month, sources said. He fits the profile of the head coach Penn State has been seeking. O'Brien is well-schooled and has a mixture of experience at the college and pro levels. In an odd coincidence, O'Brien even attended and played football at Brown, as Paterno did.
O'Brien is in the last year of his contract as the Patriots offensive coordinator.
...
Penn State has attempted, and largely succeeded, to conduct its head-coaching search at the highest levels of secrecy. What can be confirmed is that, at the outset of the search, Penn State failed to land some of its top choices for the job. Former Colts head coach Tony Dungy and Boise State head coach Chris Peterson all received interest from the school, and each relayed to Penn State that he was not interested in leaving his current job at this time.
USATODAY's Jonny Saraceno followed up later in the afternoon:
Dave Joyner, true to form, denies everything about everything:
So who is this guy? Here's his Patriots bio and Wiki entry. Never a head coach on any level. He was an offensive coordinator at Duke (2005-06) and Georgia Tech (2001-02). Started in the Patriots organization in 2007 as an "offensive assistant" and has worked his way up to offensive coordinator this season.
How real is this? No idea. The Boston media isn't exactly biting, and this could very well be O'Brien and his agent positioning him for a NFL head coaching position:
... there has been no contact and no negotiations. He may be their top candidate, as reported, but nothing has progressed.In addition, O’Brien won’t take anything without seeing what the NFL world has to offer. His star is as bright as possible now. He will sit back the next few days, see if any NFL teams come calling, then move forward. O’Brien is not ruling anything out. Just waiting.
“Any imminent contract signing or agreement (with Penn State) is just off-base,” Linta told me. “The most important thing for him is to win the Super Bowl. But if someone is going to be interested in him in the NFL, it’s going to happen this week. He could be going somewhere else, he could be returning to the Patriots. But we’ll wait and find out if someone is interested in him and seeks permission to talk with him.”
Granted, we're all playing a game of shadows here, but this doesn't sound like someone ready to take the Penn State job. It sounds like someone who wants the Tampa Bay Buccaneers job.
0 recs | 69 comments
If true?
Peter Gray - January 1, 2012
HAHAHA
psualum9931 - January 1, 2012
Actual converstaion in my house last night.
Wifey “Did you see Penn State is going to hire Bill O’Brien as the next head coach? It’s all over MSNBC.”
Me: “Who the f*** is Bill O’Brien?”
Wifey: “How should I know?”
mushdamma - January 2, 2012
Notre Dame
Ask Notre Dame who they would hire,and hire somebody else. Ask the Pittsburgh Rooneys who they would hire,and hire that person.
spudoe - January 5, 2012
Billy, Billy, Billy, Billy, Billy Barue!
joefromboalsburg - January 1, 2012
I am......
so sick of all of these “sources say” stories….right now, I am going to try and enjoy this game, hoping for a PSU victory of course. AND what a difference a year makes….last year McG started and most of us were astonished that Bolden didn’t get to play….well, this year we get our wish. Yes and one more thing, Joyner, you are a complete jackwad. That is all.
DerryPharmer - January 1, 2012
I think Joyner agrees with you.....about the sources, I mean.
joefromboalsburg - January 1, 2012
Also, it is really assuring to hear that there is no 'leading candidate".
They should put Joyner in front of the Grand Jury.
joefromboalsburg - January 1, 2012
I'm not buying this at all.
You’re telling me that our first choice was Munchak, but second on our list is this guy? The guy who led a Duke offense that went 1-22 averaging 15 points per game? The same guy who had mild success with a GT team that was found to have played athletes who failed to make progress towards graduation, and vacated all wins because of it? I see absolutely no reason why this guy would be on a list of the top 500 candidates, let alone the top 2,
Not only would this be a huge step down from other options (Bradley comes to mind), I think he might be a worse option than some guys that we said “no thanks” to (Schiano).
ppfcpp - January 1, 2012
agree, this is horse manure. Clemments is ahead of this guy on the list and Schiano isn't on it at all.
You read crap like this and my first thought is someone’s agent is trying to leverage something. Also, with a statement like that above, waiting on NFL offers, PSU is not lookin for someone that is going to jump jobs in the next couple years. PSU views itself as a coaching stop, you don’t get better than this. Someone is looking to go to the NFL in 5 or so years, that is one thing but this isn’t Pitt.
BMAN13 - January 2, 2012
^ This, many times.
this isn’t Pitt
Amen and amen!
PSU_Lions_84 - January 2, 2012
BS
As I mentioned in another thread, it was clear from the behind the scenes look in a Football Story, that he doesn’t have a seat at the table of the team he’s currently “OC” for. BB and Brady sit in BB’s office and draw up plays with OBrien nowhere to be found.
When there was a vacancy at OC, BB decided initially to go with vacancy over OBrien at the position. VACANCY. This is such a misdirection it’s absurd.
PSUinBOSSton - January 1, 2012
It's funny because he is in the last year of his contract.
He is also in his first season as offensive coordinator.
jesse. - January 1, 2012
Everyone....Remain Calm.....All is well!
joefromboalsburg - January 1, 2012
Look, it's probably Munchack.
The Titans had a must win game this weekend, and then they needed to some help to get into the playoffs. It didn’t happen, and now they can, and probably will, negotiate. This O’Brien thing feels like bull-shit.
And I thought we were hitting a grand slam here?
jesse. - January 1, 2012
If O'Brien is the guy, it would feel more like a Grand Slam breakfast from Denny's.
SubLime - January 1, 2012
ROFL
mjtig - January 2, 2012
Coming back up as vomit.
PSU_Lions_84 - January 2, 2012
If it does end up being Munchak, I will be a happy man
The worst thing PSU could do right now is to hire an outsider. We need someone in to step in who knows, understands, and believes in Penn State ideals (which coincidentally are basically Joe Paterno’s ideals).
The thought of someone coming in who hasn’t experienced that first hand scares me. One thing I’ve learned throughout this whole ordeal is that outsiders do not seem to understand Penn State ideals.
ppfcpp - January 1, 2012
would depend on the outsider
An experience coach that is also a big name and successful would be fine by me, but this Obrien crap came out of nowhere and he isn’t even as popular as the Packer’s QB coach.
BMAN13 - January 2, 2012
If you've been following that @sekrah guy, it appears his game had ended and he think we have Les Miles.
This is all so awesomely dumb.
Chris Grovich - January 1, 2012
Wasn't it definately Nick Saban last Friday?
Like three days ago?
jesse. - January 1, 2012
The idea of Les Miles coming here is so incredibly stupid
I can’t think of a single reason he would come here other than money. And if I have a hard time thinking PSU shells out 4-5 million a year on a coach.
On another note, I’m not sure how happy I would be with him anyway. I don’t think I want an SEC coach.
ppfcpp - January 1, 2012
If there is one thing I've enjoyed out of this entire storm of shit
it is watching sports “journalists” run around like a bunch of damned fools, writing anything and everything to beat the others to the tit.
06Lion - January 1, 2012
It's a rather fascinating process. All kinds of media types in competition.
Some trying to establish themselves, some trying to beat their long-time competitors, none of them really knowing a damned thing.
Chris Grovich - January 1, 2012
Could you imagine a situation...
in which these guys would have to cover a story about a former sports coach in legal trouble? Man, I wonder how much info they would get completely wrong in that situation? Good thing that’ll never happen…
psualum9931 - January 1, 2012
FWIW (or a reminder)
Jon Saraceno of USA Today is a Penn State alum…
Smee - January 2, 2012
Outside of the occasional competent reporter like Sara Ganim,
most of them write for the sports pages or blather on ESPN. If they were really that good to begin with, that’s not where they’d be earning their paychecks.
CvilleLion - January 2, 2012
And now he is saying he does not know
uh
Justin F. - January 1, 2012
Amazing.
Peter Gray - January 1, 2012
I bet our grass taste better than any other team
letsgopsu - January 2, 2012
No doubt --
look how good the ice cream is at the Creamery — it all starts with our cows eating our grass.
PSU_Lions_84 - January 2, 2012
There is a saying that goes something like 'a college's football program is the front porch of a university'
There is no way in hell we would let that retard sit on our front porch.
PSUinOH - January 2, 2012 via mobile
Building strawmen
The media are building straw men so they can say no one wants the Penn State job and we had to settle for Mr x.
ageing lion - January 1, 2012
This is happening.
I don’t think it’s their intention, but it is definitely happening. Regardless of who we get, they will end up being inferior to the Cowhers, Sabans and Petersons that we may or may not have been interested in at all. And then the haters will use whoever we hire as an example of how “toxic” our program is. It’s a very disturbing cycle, and it all comes back to irresponsible “journalism”.
Succss With Honor Always - January 1, 2012
They're not smart enough or well connected enough to find the answer.
Therefore, the job must be toxic. It’s a dullard’s version of an if-then statement.
CvilleLion - January 2, 2012
Smokescreen, not happening, etc
ICEICETHATGUY13 - January 1, 2012
Sad thing is he probably will be a HC next season.
In KC.
PSUinBOSSton - January 1, 2012
look
The longer this goes the better it is for our chances of landing a big name. If it were mullen or ferentz or God forbid that duke coach then we’d all be bitching and moaning right now about what a terrible hire they were. Instead joyner has conducted a search with surprising secrecy to the point where there is a vacuum for information and we’re solving riddles on twitter. We’re down to a couple nfl guys and some top tier college coaches as our best bets. I like where this is going.
millzners - January 1, 2012
Looks like O'Brien's agent is denying that he was even contacted
Link
From that article, it looks like it might have been a move by O’Brien to get attention for a new NFL gig.
ppfcpp - January 1, 2012
Here's the quote
ppfcpp - January 1, 2012
To me this is the Evil Four Letter trying to 'Break the news'
All of this crap coming out of Bristol really stinks of trying to beat everyone to the punch line on the new Penn State HC, period. I also think a lot of people are really getting pissed off at the radio silence from State College and they just want to try to see if they can get Penn State to follow what they want to happen given how much the University has already allowed the Media to dictate certain responses.
Now from the BooB aspect (the nickname those over at PatsPulpit have given him). As both a Patriots fan and Penn State alumnus I would be pissed off if this happened from a Penn State perspective. While he’s commanded a prolific passing attack, the complete lack of a ground game in New England really makes me doubt his abilities. Also his play calling choices and route combinations in my mind leave a ton to be desired. Also as someone else pointed out, he was the OC for a horrible Duke team. I’m sorry but I don’t see a QB right now that is of Brady’s caliber on the roster, let along two TE’s that would resemble Gronk and Hernandez.
Just my $.02
cmdpsu15 - January 1, 2012
Let's put ourselves in Joyner's and Ira's shoes for a minute..
Let’s ignore all the twitter chatters and asinine rumors for a minute (Miles, Saban, Cowher, Jesus et al. ). Here’s what we know:
People interested in the HC position :
1. Clements
2. Bradley
3. Ron Vanderlinden.
4. LJ Sr.
I could be missing some here . Now , even assuming that O’Brien’s a serious candidate for consideration, what does he bring to the table that would put him heads-and-shoulders above the aforementioned guys ?
1. He needed to have been an excellent O or D coordinator : I think save for Clements (Who’s a positions coach), Bradley, Vanderlinden and LR Sr all have great track records as position coaches . Just an opinion. The others trump him here – personal opinon.
2. He needs to be an excellent position coach : I think Clements (tremendous QB record almost everywhere he went), LJ Sr (D-line coaching monster), and Ron V (LBs!) have all very enviable track records here too, if not better than him. Bradley has done a good job with the secondaries in the past, but perhaps a little behind the rest?
3. Personable character : One thing Bradley’s got going for him is that he is absolutely tremendous with the media. LJ Sr and Ron V (see quotes from Hodges ) are also very fiery coaches with these characteristics backed up by numerous players. I am not sure about O’Brien in this regard. He could be good, but it might not be a reach to say that 3 of others are atleast on par with him, if not ahead.
4. High school connections/recruiting: O’Brien could be a little ahead of Clements here , having been involved with GTech , Maryland and Duke till 2006, but the existing coaches are all ahead of him right now , surely
Let’s assume that Clements and O’Brien are the only 2 interested external candidates right now. The only reason to go for any one of the 2 are if:
1. Penn State wants an ABSOLUTE and UNCONDITIONAL clean break from the past. This would mean that there’d be NO way they’d consider Bradley, LJ Sr or Ron V, regardless of the role (even retaining any as coordinators). I could be off-base here, but something tells me that’s not the case. If they feel convinced that none of the 3 had any info about the case, they’d give them a fair shot.
2. One of the 2 outside guys absolutely cracked their interviews with a comprehensive short and long term plan and road-map for the future as a PSU HC. Would a fantastic interview/s be enough to cover the short-comings of a track-record that a HC probably needs to have?
This is what makes me believe that Joyner and co. couldn’t have settled on O’Brien just yet. Don’t shoot me, just sharing my worthless opinions!
We Are!
PennState-India - January 1, 2012
I was starting to be ok with the idea of O'Brien
until I actually looked at how his college teams did when he was an OC.
At Georgia Tech he stepped into a good situation. The team had just gone 9-3 when he took over. He got then to 8-4 and his offense put up 405 points in 12 games. Not shabby. The next year though they fell off to 7-5 and managed only 280. Even worse, if you look at how the ’02 GT offense played across the season it regressed (a la Rob Bolden), managing only 17 points against a 2-10 Duke and failing to break 22 points in their final four games (including a loss to Fresno State in something called the Silicon Valley Classic).
After an apparent demotion to a position coach at Maryland, O’Brien turned up at hapless Duke for 2 years where his teams managed to go 1-21 and managed to put up 177 and 179, respectively.
This went so well for him that he wound up on the Pats staff in an ambiguous “offensive assistant position.” True, he rose up through the ranks, helped no doubt by attrition as Belichick’s assistants went to other posts.
Yes, it sounds good to be Brady’s QB coach – but by ‘09 just how much coaching did he need? Do you mean to tell me the man who couldn’t score 180 points in 2 years at Duke helped Brady analyze defenses? Or taught Brady the system he’d already been winning with for years?
And this year as the Pats’ OC, how much did he really do other than call plays in an already successful system?
I think close and careful analysis of O’Brien’s body of work shows that this isn’t the man we need to hire as our coach (especially in light of the recent failure of Charlie Weis to develop college players). I hope the report is errant.
hatch - January 2, 2012
I hope so too.
If it’s an external hire and the only 2 candidates are Clements and O’Brien, I’d rather have Clements as the guy.
PennState-India - January 2, 2012
This?
This is why I am not paying any attention to mainstream media or twitter rumors.
Because they’re both about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.
Tailgate Shogun - January 2, 2012
If Wetzel at Yahoo breaks the story, then I'll be interested.
ESPN or USA Today? Not so much.
CvilleLion - January 2, 2012
Sources close to Dave Joyner
confirm that he listens to this song as motivation before each press conference/interview.
icavalera - January 2, 2012
+1
for the circle jerks!
jaytay13 - January 2, 2012
Hey guys, question
I’ve read and wrote about several different guys over on OTE, but I’ve never really asked this question:
Who do YOU guys want? And let’s go with the assumption that Miles and Saban are off the table, because if the Sekrah guy is right, I’ll be surprised.
Who is the guy that makes the most sense to you?
Ted Glover - January 2, 2012
Who makes the most sense to me?
Tom Bradley. But, well, that’s not going to happen apparently. Munchak would be next. But that also appears to not be happening.
06Lion - January 2, 2012
I want Gruden.
You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.
Ok. I might be the only one.
The Heel - January 2, 2012
I think many PSU folk would be absolutely fine with Bradley...
if we assume some of the biggest “gets” are off the table. In fact, the only reason I think most people eliminate Scrap from the discussion is because our administration has shown no backbone in this entire thing and expect them to bend to what the media wants. Really, there’s no way they can hire Scrap without there being some sort of fall out. However, if they cultivate the perception that no one wants the job and take a long time to “do a thorough search” at the expense of possibly hurting this recruiting class, then I think many people are more likely to actually accept Bradley. It is personally my opinion (definitely just a guess, but as good of a guess as most of these “journalists”), that they may be slow playing this search precisely so that they can hire Bradley once the season is over and it will get less attention. That explanation is one of only a couple that could possibly explain why this search isn’t over yet.
And I do appreciate you asking us what makes sense to us (although we obviously don’t all agree with each other). That said, does it really matter that much what we think? Especially if we do generally agree that Bradley would be a good choice outside of the possible media fallout?
Most people think we’re:
1) Out of touch
2) Brainwashed
3) Child rape apologists
4) Blind to the truth
5) Football crazed
6) Entrenched in the old boys network
7) Have our heads in the sand
8)
BNittsDeMilo - January 2, 2012
Bradley is a surprising answer to me
I just assumed that PSU would bring in a whole new staff.
Thanks for answering.
Ted Glover - January 2, 2012
Yeah, I'd have to say Bradley would be #1 for me, too.
Fwiw, I really thought that Urbs was coming to PSU before the whole Sandusky shitstorm broke loose.
icavalera - January 2, 2012
Bradley, Munchak, Golden -- all would be fine with me.
I do not support the call for a total outsider. These guys are good people with football ability who I expect would continue the traditions of Linebacker U while also graduating players.
If we end up with someone from the outside who accomplishes the above, so be it. I’ll support him. I just don’t think that anyone should be automatically disqualified simply because he knew or worked with Sandusky.
CvilleLion - January 2, 2012
Want Bradley or Munchak
I am destined for disappointment
letsgopsu - January 2, 2012
Good question
Honestly, my hope all along has been that one of JoePa’s assistants would get the job (Tom Bradley or Larry Johnson are the only real candidates). This was my hope before the Sandusky mess, and remains my hope now. This has been one of the best coaching staffs in college football for years, I would love to see it remain intact; furthermore, these are good coaches and good men who should not be vicariously punished for the misdeeds of others.
Outside of them, I really want someone with Penn State ties. Munchak, Golden… hell, what’s John Hufnagel doing these days? I want someone who was molded in the Penn State model, who feels the same reverence for the traditions of the school and the program that we as alums do.
newenglandnittanylion - January 2, 2012
I would love to see Hufnagel come back from Canada and become the head coach.
He is a candidate we haven’t heard much about but has been a head coach for a few years in Canada, was a pretty good offensive coach in the NFL.
BMAN13 - January 2, 2012
Isn't he a part owner
of the Calgary CFL team though? I think that would make it rather difficult to bring him down. (Although since he’s the guy that actually developed the Pats’ system and Tom Brady, I agree that he ought to be considered.)
hatch - January 2, 2012
If true Billy O'Brien is a stud
O’Brien is the top assistant on the Pats staff, and is one of the elite QB coaches in the NFL. When we talk about a break from the past which is inevitable given the circumstances, few have considered the new HC as an elite developer of QBs.
O’Brien is a strong coach, and a good one. He wants the Chiefs job however, so expect that PSU is plan B at the moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33V0hSri6BM&feature=related
boston_zenos - January 2, 2012
Agree to majorly and extremely disagree.
PSUinBOSSton - January 2, 2012
See my review of his coaching career above.
The guy had an unremarkable stint as a college coach, including a miserable stretch at Duke, and wound up rising through the ranks by attrition. It’s not like he’s the one who built the Pats’ offensive scheme or developed Brady.
hatch - January 2, 2012
I'm going to make myself horse repeating myself here.
But he couldn’t raise to the position of OC in favor of leaving the position open. BB preferred nobody to OBrien at first.
PSUinBOSSton - January 2, 2012
How many of BB’s assistants have gone on to be good Head coaches?
Ben16 - January 2, 2012
With apologies to Dr. Seuss
I do not want Les Miles
With his Mona Lisa smiles.
Nor his difficulties with the clock —
He ponders, ponders, ponders
While it goes tick-tock, tick tock.
I do not want Nick Saban
With his "move around" cravin’.
He roams from place to place,
And while he wins I wish
Against us that was not the case.
I do not want this outsider or that
Who might come in to wear a temporary hat.
I want a true-blue Penn Stater,
Who loves our school, our team, and us
Who restores honor sooner, not later.
Could it be Bradley, Clements, or LJ?
Not sure – not my place to say.
I want the committee to decide
"Success with Honor"
At Penn State has not died.
PSU_Lions_84 - January 2, 2012
My theory.
Lubert is in Tennessee talking to Munchak today. How do you really pressure him into taking the job? Leak this report through one of your media puppets. Then you tell Munchak, if you don’t take the job, your alma mater is going to end up with Bill OBrien.
PSUinBOSSton - January 2, 2012
Brilliant.
With a threat like this, you need to establish that the alternative not only is viable, bit easily completed.
So you need a BoT who is so inept that the threat is not simply a threat but nearly a foregone conclusion.
Check.
MainLion - January 2, 2012
I don't think O'Brien is really a candidate
ESPN is going with this based on an unnamed source, yet the man’s own agent told the Herald that PSU hasn’t approached him. The Herald’s a bit of a rag, but if they were just making up the agent’s quotes, I think we’d have read that by now. I trust that more than unnamed sources.
I think this 49ers guy appears to be much more qualified and the story about him interviewing is more solid. His agent said he interviewed a month ago. If ESPN and their unnamed sources were so great, they’d have reported that.
He’s succeeded at both levels and, I pray, will bring Bobby Engram with him. Engram is currently on the 49ers staff. He could be a great coach. He could demonstrate how to run the routes.
I’m also sick of hearing about all the guys who have supposedly turned us down. There’s no good info that anyone has been offered and some of them – Tony Dungy, Chris Peterson, Mike Munchak, etc, are clearly content where they are.
It’s almost impossible to get a “big name” because all of the big names already have good jobs or are content in retirement. Urban Meyer was the only big name free agent and he was probably destined for OSU regardless.
reedjohnmiller - January 2, 2012 via mobile
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