Black Shoe Diaries

Yeah, good write up

Absolutely.

Thanks, Chris.

Very well done guys.

Excuse me while I put out this grease fire

With my stream of justice. That scenario only happens when you’re drunk. Therefore, I think it’s safe to assume that Joyner has been on an 8 week bender. Talk about your all time worst hangovers.

Well,

He’s better than Jim Caldwell. I think.

Based on what?

Caldwell has at least been a head coach at the college and NFL level. He gets a bad rap because of the Colts current season…..but who really thought the Colts would contend without Manning. At least now they get Andrew Luck!

Caldwell...

gets a bad rap because he’s a terrible coach.

Caldwell

Actually did a decent job at the college level as a positional coach, something O’Brien did not do, so much.

I say Caldwell is a bit more likely to succeed here than O’Brien.

I have agreed with you twice today M1EK

Damn.

I'm still hoping and praying.

This is all because of you and WorldBFat on Wiki yesterday.

mvrck - January 6, 2012 reply

Haha what if it was!

I’d demand drinks from all of you.

If it is we have won the internets for life

I watched Caldwell..

coach the Colts. He was terrible. He was also terrible at Wake.

My opinion is based on his personality

His resume and PSU ties are great, but the man is a walking zombie. He would get killed by Urban on the recruiting trail. For better or for worse, O’Brien is at least reportedly a bit feisty.

I'm interested in the introduction.

That will say a lot about who he is.

wow, I agree completely

yes exactly

424E. - January 6, 2012 reply

yes

the one saving grace for Lubert and Joyner.

Barf!!!

Anyone who is an alum on this site……needs to fire anyone on the current BOT they can. They have handled every facet of the Sandusky scandal, Paterno firing and quite potentially the hire of the Paterno successor in the worst possible manner. I only hold out hope O’Brien is not the guy based on the fact that ESPN (who looks only for ratings) broke this story with two unnamed sources from the NFL. They also acknowledged another source had indicated that no deal was done. Joyner is supposed to meet with Short and others today and I hope they light into his candy ass! This article should be linked to this story:
http://bwi.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1315395

No doubt that will happen

I’m confident none of the alum-voted board members will win their next election. Normally, there isn’t much attention on board elections, but there will be now and there’s no doubt that the people who are mad will turn out in droves. I don’t see a constituency that supports them.

Is there a recall process in the rules? I don’t know. I’m not an alum. I’ve supported PSU my whole life because I grew up here and my parents worked for PSU but I can’t vote.

I’m not sure about the governor appointed seats. I can’t see Corbett shaking things up since he’s married himself to the current board’s decisions. If he gets voted out in two years, the new governor might turn over some seats but that’s a long time from now and I don’t know if it’s going to help. Governors all tend to pick the same kind of boring rich lawyer types, don’t they?

There’s a case to be made for totally reforming the composition of the board and who gets to pick how many seats, etc, but I imagine only the board can do that so it’s a Catch 22.

Vote in this gentleman if you hate the BoT

Dale A. Lehman, PE, CFM
Vice President

Graduated with a BS in Agricultural Engineering in 81, MS in Agricultural Engineering in 83, also served on College of Engineering Industrial and Professional Advisory Council for Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department, was President of Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity, was in Blue Band and Symphonic Wind Ensemble and a member of Parmi Nous.

Not trying to jack the thread, but I posted some info and my plea on this fanpost a week ago, http://www.blackshoediaries.com/2011/12/29/2669063/board-of-trustees-vote, and it certainly still seems relevant, thanks Board…

wek5000lion09 - January 6, 2012 reply

Does Joyner live in a cave? Name me one Pats coordinator who’s been a successful head coach? Oh wait, that’s right. You can’t.

Being the head coach at Penn State is not a part time job. Either pack your bags for Happy Valley right now or don’t bother coming. I’m sure the Evil Empire will find a way to soldier on without you.

God, this sucks.

michellemtsu - January 6, 2012 via iPhone app reply

Hug

We needs one.

Just because other Pats coordinators weren't successful doesn't mean he can't be

I don’t know if he will be, but he could be.

But yeah, get the hell to work.

Nick Saban and Kirk Ferentz both come from the Belichick coaching tree

So I’m reserving judgement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrvkB3pK8lg

This is how I hope his first press conference will go

Not really, but I do hope he grasps the situation he’s in.

I agree that the issue isn’t so much O’Brien but the way that this whole thing was handled. If they’d picked O’Brien a month ago, this would all be a very different conversation right now.

On the plus side, a lot of guys who have played under O’Brien are saying good things. Apparently the third-string QB for the Browns, Lewis, played for him at Duke and attributes his success to O’Brien. Granted, Duke won only one game with him and it’s just the 3rd string for the Browns. But last time I checked, PSU doesn’t have any QB currently listed on the active roster of an NFL team and it’s hard to judge anything related to Duke football.

That is not a ringing endorsement

I hope there are better ones

All the negativity

is counter productive. It’s likely to scare off recruits and potential assistants and sets O’Brien up for failure before he even gets started. For these reasons, I don’t understand why everyone is being so negative.

We (Penn State people) have the ability to define whether the hire was one to be optimistic or pessimistic about, and we chose pessimism. Why would any recruit want to come play here now? If we had chosen optimism, recruits would have been excited as well.

O’Brien will likely fail and be out and 4 years and I’m pretty sure we’ll look back and realize we never gave him a fair chance by choosing to hate him before we ever heard him speak.

I was cautiously optimistic until not leaving the Pats until they get kicked out of the playoffs thing. That says to me that he’s not committed to being the head coach. And if that’s true, I don’t want him here.

I would dearly love to be wrong. But I have bad feeling about this. :-(

michellemtsu - January 6, 2012 via iPhone app reply

Negativity is warranted

And so is a backlash in donations if O’Brien is the hire……Joyner and crew did not go about making this a PSU hire. They did not include the football family at all in the search……this hire needed to be someone who was openly embraced by PSU fans, alumni and most importantly former players!

Can't entirely agree

It should have been a more open process, but hiring can’t be by referendum. That’s just not practical.

Bear in mind that Joyner is part of the PSU football family, so one would expect him to be more open to input from others.

Really the only candidates available from the PSU “family” were LJ and Bradley. We don’t know exactly why they were not, apparently, picked. There could be good reasons. I don’t know. But I’m afraid they were passed over simply because the board is concerned that they’ll constantly be asked about Sandusky. If that’s the case, then they really have caved in to the national media, etc. And that is sad.

On the other hand, maybe they just thought we needed an offensive mind. If LJ and Vandy are retained, I’ll be persuaded that was the case. Of course, that begs the question of why Roman or Clements weren’t hired instead, but they have less college recruiting experience, so there is that.

Wrong....

PSU choices included Bradley and LJ from the current staff.
Al Golden and his sidekick Mark D.
Whether you love him or not Greg Schiano (better hire than O’Brien!!!)
Mike Munchak who apparently didn’t want the job.

That said if you don’t get a PSU guy at least get someone with PA roots. Tom Clements would be a much better hire as would the guy from the 49ers (yes he is from NJ…but still from out recruiting grounds and he has recent college experience with Andrew Luck). Why bring in some JO from Boston???

Don't understand the obsession

with getting a PSU guy. We’ve seen schools like Alabama fail for years when sticking to guys with ties to their school. Why limit the candidate pool to just guys with ties to the school. Just find the best guy willing to take the job. As far as that goes, they may well have done so because there’s now way anyone here can say with (justifiable) confidence that the QB coach for Green Bay or the OC for the 49ers is better than O’Brien.

Me either.

I wanted a guy from the outside all along. Nothing against Scrap, but I felt that’s something we needed to do.

Because this is about more than winning

I’d rather have a guy come in and go 8-4 every season, but do it the right way than some jerk come in and win 11 while not graduating players.

Penn State has a reputation for having some of the most educated, well spoken and respectable people come out of it’s football program. This is NOT something that I take lightly, and if it does not continue I will be pissed.

The need for a PSU guy is that many people are skeptical that an outsider will understand the desires for coaching boys into well respected men.

I agree

Would rather win fewer games the right way. But of course, want to win them all the right way.

This...

is something I have trouble believe when people say it. I’m not calling you a liar so please don’t take it that way. A lot of people may honestly be okay with 8-4 every year, you could be one of them.

But we’ve never really had to choose between 8-4 with graduation or national prominence without it. We’ve been spoiled. After several years of 8-4, I think some might start to waver on that one.

Don't get me wrong, I want us to win a NC badly

And it would be a shame to see us turn into a sub-par program wins wise. But that would be a lot easier for me to take than to see this program become like every other school. I went to Penn State, and I’m very proud of that. I think the ideals of the football program spill over into the overall university. And I think it’s a damn shame to try to downplay those values.

I think there are quite a few people who share my opinion on this.

Agreed

PSU has to stand for more than wins or it’s pointless. No matter how good a college football team is, it’s still just a college team. If you watch college football just to see high quality football then you’re doing it wrong. The best football is on Sunday and PA already has two pretty good pro franchises. PSU has to be different.

We have proven over the last several DECADES

that we can win and stand for something more. It is not realistic to expect that to continue.

No

Al Golden re-upped in Miami. He never said he wanted the job. Neither did Munchak or Schiano, according to reports. That’s just our tough luck.

I don’t put much stock in “PA roots” but, yes Clements and Roman do look like better ideas on paper, I agree. Except Roman has very little college experience and it’s in the west while Clements has none, I believe.

FWIW it was reported that Joyner told Schiano "no thanks"

If true, that surprises me

I’d think he is at least a safer hire than BOB

Re-upping in the current world of College Coaching means nothing

IF we wanted Al we could have had him. Schiano was not even given an interview as noted above. As for the obsession on getting a PSU…..the fact that you don’t get it is disturbing. As Brandon Short put it….PSU does stuff differently. The Joyner and the BOT is trying to erase the Paterno legacy which is so much a part of the PSU program! Disturbing!
http://bwi.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1315395

I am very impressed with Arrington's and Short's passion and concern.

I really have to think whether or not I agree with them, but their emotion shows just how tight of a community we all are here, and what a special place Penn State really is.

Sabotaging the new HC doesn't show community, IMO

YES

IT can

when the people hiring the new coach are doing everythingt hey can to dismantle the community that has been built for years, and you feel like you are trying to hold it together.

Look, this hire doesn't excite me

But I don’t see how it dismantles the community. If anything dismantles the community, it is refusing to even support a guy that you really know nothing about just to show that you’re upset with the search committee. I’m not liking what I’m hearing about him staying in NE one bit, but if he fails, PSU fails. So I want him to succeed. That will be a lot easier if we all show some support.

IF he doesn't commit to us

I will not commit to him. It’s that simple. Passing over loyal people to get someone who will not commit, in ym opinion, tears apart just about every shred of the community that has been built here.

But yes I do want to see him do well.

How can you say he's not committing to us?

With the amount of money involved, who’s to say he’s not going to get private planes and such to fly all over the place to recruit AND coordinate?

And let’s be realistic here: How many recruits in this class are going to change their minds now anyway? Some may. But that’s really a stretch. If the search committee fucked up, it was by not landing a name like Urban Meyer when he was available and allowing him to fall throught the cracks to one of our rivals. That, to me, is a colossal fuck up. More so than hiring O’Brien.

Urban Meyer,

Nick Saban, or Les Miles were never coming to Penn State.

Urban is an Ohio State guy through and through.

Nick Saban relies on oversigning, which the B1G doesn’t allow.

Les Miles isn’t going to coach in the B1G unless its at Michigan.

1LisHell - January 6, 2012 reply

I know that it's moot, and unprovable

but I have heard some pretty compelling evidence that Meyer was absolutely interested and making preparations to coach at Penn State after this season. I brought it up as a rumor I’d heard (Meyer was interested) and someone with legit insider knowledge of these things who doesn’t normally deal in rumors actually took it a step further and said it was more than just interest, but there was actual communication and handshaking, and that the week after the Sandusky indictment, Meyer actually wrote a letter informing that he was no longer interested in the job. Who knows, though.

^ 100% true.

snydo5976 - January 6, 2012 reply

I mean

how accurate have all of those “legit insiders” proved to be over the last few weeks?

So, without JoePa announcing a retirement or having put a plan in place, Urban Meyer was agreeing in principal to be the next HC? I’m calling BS on that whole concept.

Onestatewest - January 6, 2012 reply

Ok, more info

My source lives in Boalsburg. I joked with him about “I heard Urban Meyer bought some property near your house”. He said it was true. Not like, “yeah, I heard that too.” But “no, he really actually did.”

If that is the case I will be thrilled

but the chances of that happening with what we are hearing seem very very slim.

Suppose...

it was one of our Coordinators who was offered a job in the NFL before the teams bowl game and he stayed with the team through that game rather than leaving right away? Wouldn’t we be praising that guy for his commitment?

Depends

Is his NFL job dependent on the bodies he recruits to play for him? Plus, the NFL wouldn’t stand for that garbage. BOB’s agent must be amazing, or the hiring committee worse than imagined.

Well I think BOB’s agent has the BoT by the balls, which is an issue in itself and they have to go along with this if they want BOB to be the coach.

Hire carolinaeasy?

It isn't O'Brien that is dismantling the community

It’s the way he was hired. The idea that Joyner and Lubert conducted this thing by them selves, all the while being arrogant and smug aboutit is what pisses usoff.

It pisses me off too

but I’m not gonna take it out on BOB. I’ll judge him based on HIS actions and I’m not gonna call for his head the instant he does something I don’t like.

If O'Brien is in fact THE guy,

he deserves a chance and deserves our support.

If we start going 3-9 with players who can’t spell “C-A-T” if you spot them the “C” and the “T”, then get out the flaming torches and pitchforks.

If that happens

I’ll be right there with you

What is your basis for that opinion?

Golden said his family likes Miami. What evidence do you have that he wanted to come here? And really, what has he done? Yeah, he made Temple no longer a doormat, but they never won the MAC and Miami hasn’t set the world on fire.

Disagree - PSU is special

If we were hiring a coach every 5, 6 years, then I agree with your referendum statement. But this is a VERY special circumstance and PSU first hire in 50 years. So yes, I do think there should have been an element of democracy / referendum.

Next time, they can do what they want. This time, they should have polled the constituents.

BooyahPSU - January 6, 2012 reply

Still not realistic

Letting the fans decide sets a bad precedent. Teams that make decisions based on talk radio are never successful.

If Arrington and Short want a say, they can run for the board or apply for jobs at Penn State.

I know we think this is a public trust, but ultimately our only vote is with our wallets.

Having said that, I think they should have picked a more popular choice for the sake of recruiting and booster donations.

Of course, if O’Brien is a success, than all of this is moot. I disagree with Short’s comments about hiring Cael. Cael is a winner. PSU needs SUCCESS with honor. Not just honor. If we have to go outside the “family” to get it, than so be it.

I support BOB (assuming) he's our coach

But I do not support those in charge these days.

I don’t think the fans should decide, but they need to be seated at the table. Perhaps, Brandon Short could represent the former players. And you could have a representative for alumni, students, administators, boosters, donors, whatever. They don’t all need to have actual votes or equal votes, but I think it would have been prudent to include their voices in the process. Brand Short has pretty much confirmed this didn’t happen.

BooyahPSU - January 6, 2012 reply

Agreed

Somehow those constituents need to be brought into the process formally. Not just shouting from the periphery. However, isn’t Joyner a member of the letterman’s club. Doesn’t he represent the player alums somehow? He should.

But now is not the time to gripe about it. We have to hope for the best and support the guy we got, regardless of how he got here.
?

Agreed

We know why they weren't hired...

They were part of the current regime and therefore tainted in the view of the world.

Cock D - January 6, 2012 reply

That's not all

That’s probably part of it, but if LJ and Vany are retained, I’ll be more inclined to believe that a big part of it was wanting a fresh start on offense and a guy who might be better able to recruit and train QBs. The fact that the other two NFL guys they were looking at are also offensive guys lends credence to that hypothesis.

Being negative

is a choice here. He’s the offensive coordinator for the Patriots, not the O-Line coach for a high school. The man would have been in line for NFL head coaching gigs soon.

However, I feel like most of the people were going to be disappointed regardless of the hire, because many had convinced themselves that there was some super bowl or national championship winner out there that would end up taking the job. Based on what we know about who was interviewed, no one at that level was interested.

He would have been an NFL head coach in a year or two

And a coordinator again 2-3 years after that. Is that how it works for these NE guys?

Then Todd Haley gets fired and they get put back in charge and I love every second because it's no longer for the team I like.

I don't care if it's a non-PSU hire.

Frankly, I think that’s overrated. There are plenty of people in the world who exemplify the ideals that PSU has been espousing for years. Also, I don’t think you properly address an institutional scandal by hiring someone from within that institution. JMO.

I agree.

While we all like to think we at Penn State have morals and have high ideals, we’re not the only ones that do. I think part of what happened in this whole sordid affair is that certain people in the administration got complacent and believed their own bullshit.

A person can try to lead a noble, honorable life, but it requires constant vigilance and care and self analyzing. The minute you think you’re moral, you’re not. You always have to strive to do better.

Agreed

It didn’t have to be a PSU guy, just someone that could become a PSU guy. Maybe BOB can do that,but if he doesn’t even care enough to start coaching now, then it seems unlikely.

BUT,

It very much looks like the PSU BOT & Joyner have been trying to disassociate themselves from what we all consider our ideals, no?

I certainly agree that non-PSUers can and do have PSU ideals. But the current administration seems to be distancing themselves from these known ideals at every possible turn.

BooyahPSU - January 6, 2012 reply

+1

Depends

Are your ideals the things that Paterno pushed for years – graduation rates, good behavior, etc?

Or are your ideals irrevocably attached to the actual man himself?

I'm not sure how they've been trying to distance themselves

I’ve been pissed at the way some things have been handled, but distancing would be hiring someone who doesn’t care about academics and wins at any costs.

That's right

I don’t see what Joyner et al are doing as “dismantling” or “disassociating” just because they didn’t pick Bradley. If PSU always picked in-house, many of our sports (all ???) would be a lot worse than they are.

Curley, whatever his sins, picked a lot of good coaches, most of whom had PSU background.

Cael Sanderson – best ever. class guy.
Guy Gadowski – perfect hire. Loves PSU. Believes in the ideals. No PSU background.
Bob Warming – could have taken Creighton to a soccer NC, but chose to try it at PSU. Loves PSU. loves the ideals.
Erica Walsh – same (but her dad went to PSU, I think).
Jeff Tambroni – coach of the year at Cornell. One inch (literally) away from a lax national title. Chose to come here because he believes in PSU and wants to be part of building a power.
Pat Chambers – results so far aren’t much, but the attitude is great. Recruiting is looking positive. No PSU ties, but he loves PSU.
Coquese Washington – same.

ETC.

I'd say their actions have pointed that way, not the choice itself

Perhaps or perhaps not

The only “action” they’ve taken, other than the hire itself, that we know of is choosing not to listen to Brandon Short et al. But as much as I love Brandon Short I’m not willing to say that I know he’s right. It’s possible that Joyner and the committee were willing to listen to those guys but, for whatever reasons, just felt like they couldn’t select Bradley and therefore there wasn’t really anything more to discuss with the Lettermen. The Lettermen seem to be very entrenched on this.

I think Chris pointed out their actions in his summary above

O'Brien

Had an academic scandal at GTech, that is going against out standards and ideas of a Student athlete.

AriesGD - January 6, 2012 reply

That wasn't "his" academic scandal.

He was the a coach during the time when that scandal took place

He may not have been the head coach, but he can’t be completely unblamed.

Not sure

Do you know the details?
It’s unlikely that he had any contact with the academic compliance people. Assistants don’t usually, do they?

If non of the psu coaches could have been hired because they "knew" or were "toxic"

than this guy is the same.

To clarify

So you’re saying that if we used that dumb logic with respect to Bradley then why not apply that same dumb logic it with O’Brien?

That’s a fair point, but it is dumb logic, isn’t it? And the only people who really think like that – random national media types, bloggers, etc – probably won’t remember the GT thing or care about it.
Besides, it’s not child rape.

Not saying that’s the right way to see it, but I think that’s how it will be understood.

It seems like the BOT

has been trying to see how many wrongs make a right (Jeese’s quote I beleive). I want some damn consistency. If he is untainted from that scandel, then bradley should have been from this scandel and should have got the job.

I don’t care what others outside think.

I guess the "grand experiment" didn't specifically mention child rape,

But I’m relatively sure Joe was anti-child rape. The grand experiment did have a hell of a lot to do with academics. This actually has a lot to do with my disinterest in Mr. BO’B.

He was OC during 2 years of that

i you’re really curious, it’s easy enough to google and old ESPN article. The summary of it is:

GT was found to have played several"star players" who were later found to have not made progress towards graduation. They vacated all wins from a period of about 7 years because of it. “Star players” makes me think some of these were offensive guys.

I’m not sure how much contact an OC would have with academic compliance people, but I think he would have some knowledge of the offensive guys grades and if hey go to class or not.

I agree with this

and note that it’s entirely contrary to everything I’ve learned from the Sandusky scandal.

If he knew something,

he should have done more!!!!

Sorry, old habits die hard.

ah damn you

writing this before me, and so low that I didnt see it till after i replied.

but... but.. WHY DIDNT HE DO MORE TO STOP IT?!?

Then why are Joyner and Erickson still there?

I don’t necessarily disagree with you, just playing devil’s advocate.

?

It takes a long time to find a new president and new AD. This just blew up six weeks ago.

So far a chatty kathy doll

could have handled things better than joyner.

yeah, well Erickson isn't exactly interim at this point

If they’re going to clean house – clean house. If you ok with keeping key people because they’re awesome, keep them. But don’t come out and say we need to clean house and leave people like Joyner and Erickson.

IF you don't commit to the job

Then you don’t deserve any commitment from the fanbase or alumni. I don’t see why that is hard to grasp.

My negativity...

…stems from the fact that Penn State still has not any statements. So I still have a glimmer of hope that with enough alumni/booster dissent they can pull the plug on this decision. Happened at ASU at least.

I’ll start supporting O’Brien when/if he actually starts full-time at Penn State.

sReck3 - January 6, 2012 reply

Agree with...

the anger of a lack of clarification from the school. If O’Brien is the guy, they should be shouting it from the rooftops and be proud of the choice. The PR department at Penn State is incompetent.

Anyone ever think that the Patriots

might be the ones screwing things up?

“We’ll give you permission to talk, but only if conditions A, B, and C are met if you hire him”

1LisHell - January 6, 2012 reply

Boy, they sure keep screwing up then

and yet manage to do perfectly fine after each screw up.

That wouldn't really be screwing anything up

Because Penn State is the party that had the job to offer.

Right

I thought the PR effort would improve following the scandal, and it has a little bit, but it needs to improve a lot more than this.

I'm not trying to be negative

I honestly want the guy to succeed. The negativity for me comes from the apparent reality that no one higher up on the list wanted the job and that other PSU guys who did were shown the door. That just sucks.

So we're supposed to be happy

with absolutely any candidate the search committee dumps on us….. because they work for the school where I earned my diplomas?

No dice.

You don't have to be happy

but don’t undermine him. Keep it on the DL at least for a little while and give the guy a chance.

you dont have to like the hire at first glance

but you should wait until a press release comes out at least before you run him out of town.

NT

So many Simpson's references come to mind.

This is my favorite…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVuIWUB1bA0&feature=related

Wow this is uh … a black day for baseball.

You can call them Whitey Whackers!

So genius

Whitey Ford – such a random guy to put in that scene. He’s famous, but not really that famous.

He was.

YES

I don't get YouTube here, but I'm just going to throw a pretzel at my monitor anyway.

Save your pretzels for opening day 2012

We can call them Whitey Whackers

STU Boy - January 6, 2012 reply

Good points

So far, my impression of him as a man and as a teacher of players is very positive. So that’s something.

We have to hope he’s like Tomlin and will win over skeptics.

He was offensive coordinator at Duke.......

When the lost like 22 in a row! Brady makes everyone look good! Fat Charlie and the others have failed miserably as head coaches. THIS IS A HORRIBLE HIRE IF TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomlin...

had Dick LeBeau. That helps a lot.

He is no Patrick Chambers.

That is all I wanted to say.

Eric Gibson - January 6, 2012 reply

This....

Yes, O’Brien deserves a chance. However, his apparent decision to remain on the Patriots’ staff through the playoffs is an enormous red flag, especially with an already-crumbling recruiting class and the incredible likelihood that the Patriots’ postseason will last through National Signing Day. Give O’Brien credit for walking into a firestorm — good luck finding many people willing to lead a scandal-plagued program with a temporary Athletic Director and an unstable administration — but he needs to get to work. With the fanbase so united in its distaste for this hire, O’Brien can’t afford to stay in New England any longer. Not to completely minimize O’Brien’s role with the Patriots, but Bill Belichick and Tom Brady will find a way to manage. He needs to be reaching out to current and former players, recruits, the Pennsylvania media, and others closely associated with the University.

Yeah this is what bugs me the most. I want someone who is going to go all in from day 1. Which assuming the report is true, that he is staying with the Patriots until their season is over, then he is not all in from day 1.

Yeah honestly this would be his best shot to win over the alumni, fans, etc.

Quit your joke Patriots job and go to work, that will go a long way. Build a relationship with your NEW team, idiot.

Fuck me, has he ever quit a job before?

You accommodate your 2 week notice obligation IF YOU CAN.

Good question

But I don’t think quitting an NFL coaching job is the same as us quitting our temp jobs at Saul Goodman’s law firm.

snydo5976 - January 6, 2012 reply

Fair enough. Why?

I'm not sure....

I just wanted to fit “Saul Goodman’s law firm” into a comment, and that one was about as good as I could do.

snydo5976 - January 6, 2012 reply

I support this.

BETTER CALL SAUL!!!!

My anger is over how this whole thing has been handled

Why wait until Saturday to make known what has already been in the press for almost 24 hrs? At this point they need to make an announcement today – whether it is confirming or denying. This saying nothing is only hurting the situation more. What are they hoping to accomplish in the next 24 hours?

Well – the Alumni Town Hall in Pittsburgh on Wednesday sure has heck got a lot more interesting!

amandakt - January 6, 2012 reply

Something needs to be said today

The University needs to say something TODAY about this. Agreed. Either deny it (God willing) or say that there will be a PC tomorrow and then talk to the current staff ASAP.

I’ll give them a pass for not being in front of this last night. By all accounts, this story came through NFL sources – agents, probably other GMs – and PSU can’t really control all of those people, but now is not the time to sit up in the ivory tower.

I feel for Erickson. He’s a friend of some friends of mine and I know he’s still not used to being in the public eye. He needs to hire some people that, you know, know how to use the internet and have some concept of how media works in 2012.

I think he needs to step aside

for someone who could handle the job.

In time...

It takes a long time to hire a new president and an interim person usually doesn’t have much clout. They needed somebody who could take over now with the full support of the board. It’s just the crapness of the whole situation.

I suspect he’ll do it for another year or two at most.

Erickson is a quality guy, he’s just more of an academic type. He doesn’t have much experience with sports, although he does support them.

Joyner needs to step down. I understand why they needed an acting AD asap, but now is time for a real professional.

Didn't they remove his interim tag?

Doesn’t seem like they are looking for a new guy? If Ericksson is just an interim guy taking the ehat, I would respect him more. But if we think this is the next actual leader….oh god.

Joyner should be run out of the state, west virginia style.

Yep, Erickson is the permanent guy

They took away the tag

but not the intent. They felt that in this time of distress the president needs more power and clout and shouldn’t be limited by the “interim title”. But I’m pretty sure they’ll be ramping up a national search in the next year. These things take time and really should be done in a deliberate manner.

You mean,

Take 2 months and hire Earnest P. Worrell?

Gordon Gee

Not quite

They removed the interim tag to show him more support but he doesn’t have a contract yet, and I have it from good sources that he doesn’t plan to stay long.
That makes sense. If he’s planning to shake things up in the administration – especially the PR ops and so forth, he’s needs authority. Nobody listens to interim bosses.

Joyner on the other hand is explicitly interim, which suggests they do plan to replace him sooner rather than later.

If they still haven’t started a search in two years, then we’ll know different.

Texas Style . . .

I don’t even remember what this is. I just remember Kirk Douglas using the term adamantly in an old western.

Then he shouldn't be our president

If he can’t handle the responsibilities that come with the job.

thoughts

I’m interested to know if anyone here has ever met BOB, interviewed him, or really knew of him before this search. People seem to be pissed because they never heard of him, and he’s not a PSU’er. What if he is actually a great coach? What if he is polished in the way he conducts himself and blew Joyner away in an interview? Here is some news for you folks…Dr. Joyner is a wordly man. He hasn’t been living in the isolated dreamworld of State College the last 40 years since he graduated. He has a sense of the gravity of the situation that was forced upon us and realized that this hire had to come from the outside. I, for one, trust his handling and instincts.

Regarding, Short, Lavar, et al; shut up. You do not represent former players and the FLC, or an entire alumni/fanbase. Sorry Tom Bradley got caught in the jetwash, and that he was "your boy from the ‘Burg". Get over it. This situation is bigger than you, or anyone else who ever played or went to PSU.

Give the guy a chance. Give me 4 years, 32+ wins and an 80% grad rate and we’ll talk in 2016 about re-upping your contract. After that, the stakes get higher.

I want to hate Joyner...

but this coming from HBeach makes me think differently.

Good words, beach

Very nice to know you trust Joyner’s instincts.

Sorry if you’ve weighed in on this before, but have you ever met / interacted with Ira Lubert?

no

Next question, then

Have you ever had sex with your wife in the shower?

LOL WUT.

It's a valid question.

LOL

comment culling again I see

ha, nah

Just my fucked up memory.

I gotta get off this Ira Lubert kick. Go get some lunch or something.

If we sing Soft Kitty in the round, will it calm you down?

ha! It might

It really worked last time.

Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?

Do you like gladiator movies?

In light of the circumstances and recent events

Let’s not post the next logical question here……

He said...

only like twice a year, jtot.

ha, yeah that was the revisionist version iirc

The OP asserted something more manly, like ‘all the time’ or something.

Ok, that’s enough of my commenting on beach’s sex life…and now I suppose hot dogs are off the menu for lunch ;)

Or does it put you in the mood for a hot dog?

"Is that the foot-long?"

“And then some…”

Of course it's a footlong. How else you gettin' filled up?

Size does matter.

With sauerkraut?

did I spell that wrong?

Well said.

I’m hoping O’Brien understands what it means to be a Nittany Lion. And graduation rates are a key factor here.

Totally, totally agree with your last paragraph.

Your Ideas Are

intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter

Since I don't have a coherent arguement to make, or a wiseass comment...

I’ll just say: thank you for this.

I get why you are mad with Arrington/Short

But I have to admit, I kinda like the fire in their responses more so than being passive. Although I agree they are being too exreme right now, I like the thought behind it more than what you are saying..

understood

I am glad/hope you took that as respectful

because I was trying to be. I do respect your opinion.

agreed

I like their passion, but they need to calm down.

eternalpessimist - January 6, 2012 reply

Or...

Give me 32 wins and an 80% graduation rate over the next 4 years and then bolt for the NFL leaving LJSR in line to be the next head coach…

I really hope

your optimistic reading is right. But if BOB really did completely blow Joyner away in an interview, just coincidentally after the ‘home-run hires’ kept saying NO, and we finally got down to the 28th guy on the list,

then we’re a lot luckier than I think we are.

we'll find out over the next few months/years

How does graduation rates work?

Does the palyer have to graduate from Penn State or can they graduate from any school? Assuming Devlin graduated from Delaware, did that positively or negatively affect the grad rate?

What I am getting at is IF a lot of players transfer, would the 80% be possible?

psupride - January 6, 2012 reply

not sure

I think Devlin graduating from Del counts towards our grad rate though

Either that or it's discounted altogether.

If I remember correctly (and I may not be)

Players need to be in good standing when they leave. Meaning that if a player transfers, or leaves early for the NFL, it doesn’t count against the grad rate as long as they were on track to graduate.

However, this is just something I remember hearing, so if someone else has a better idea, please correct me.

Best Post Ever!

I know Dr. Joyner.....

He worked on both of my knees. I used to have tremendous respect from him until the BOT acted in the manner they did with firing Joe. Even if they decided it had to be done there was a correct way to do and they Failed miserably. Joyner and Suey being former players should have demanded more from the BOT if the termination was deemed necessary. I have not met Coach O’Brien but a close friend of mine played for him at Duke. He was not a fan. That said he may in fact be a good coach….we don’t know. Was he the best available option IMO…No. As for Lavar and Short……whether you agree with them not I think they are rightly disturbed that no PSU letterman….outside Joyner were included in the search. I am glad they are speaking their mind as that is their right as alums.

Great post

^

Hey, Bradley is from Johnstown

He might talk like he’s from the ‘Burgh, but he’s from a much, smaller, less-employed and depressing place.

I know, I know

He recruited the Pittsburgh area for years, and Short and Lavar are/were “his guys”

You say Dr. Joyner is a worldly man

as if worldliness is necessarily a good thing. Worldliness might lead one to rationalize things like selling memorilbilia and oversigning. Just sayin’.

Didn’t Paterno say “where’s a kid going to go if he wants to be an idealist?”

Joe 96alum - January 6, 2012 reply

My wordly comment

is in regards to being able to step outside the PSU circle in this instance and knowing what needs to happen. I feel we had to outside PSU for this hire, and I think whoever made the hire needed to be able to think outside the PSU world for a moment, and I think Joyner was the right guy for that job. Did he rub people the wrong way? Apparently. But we needed someone to not give a f*** for a moment about rubbing people the wrong way. Joyner is certainly also in touch with PSU core values. So I’m not worried about oversigning and crap like that.

I would have loved for people to not give a fuck about others before

you know they caved to public pressure, fired joepa, apologized for crimes we didn’t commit, etc.

that would have been the time to find a nutsack. hiring outside the community for shits and giggles doesn’t sound like having guts to me, it sounds pretty damn pathetic.

I agree with you about the Joe firing

it was messy, and doesn’t seem to have been handled very well. But I think Joe not being on the sidelines the last 3 games was necessary.

I don't agree with that

but can understand the logic. And if that is the stance, to do it the manner it was done is unforgivable and I will never have any respect for anyone who was associated in any way with it, and didn’t speak out against it. Joyner is scum for that alone.

I agree.

Everything about Paterno’s exit was wrong, but he could not have coached those last three games.

I agree with this

I didn’t at the time but there is no way he could have led the team and not been a distraction those last games. There was a much better way to handle it. As for BoB, my biggest complaint is the not being here at this critical juncture for recruiting. Does he really respect the job and school because letting a recruiting class that is decent just go to shit does not reflect long term commitment to me.

My anger with Joyner is now aimed purely at how he's handled this hire for the last 24-ish hours, at least

I’m fine with O’Brien, he comes from a strong academic background and working with Brady and the Patriots won’t hurt his recruiting. We’ll see how he is as a coach and a person.

I’m angry with Joyner because he has left all of Penn State hanging for almost an entire day now, and maybe it’s been longer than that. Bradley and the players should have been the first to know a decision was made, they should have known FAR before ESPN did. The moment after the handshake was made, he had to have had a phone in his hand calling a meeting with everyone to fill them in. It is so disrespectful for him to just leave these players and coaches who have already gone through so much and given so much these last two months hanging. All you have to do is pick up the phone, and he’s had far too long to do it and hasn’t. He’s made no effort to control this narrative, that’s why he needs to go and be replaced by someone capable of the job.

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/rap_sheet/index.php/2012/01/06/pats-owner-robert-kraft-weighs-in-on-pending-departure-of-oc-bill-obrien/

Thanks hbeach

We just have to give whoever gets this job a chance. It’s a terrible job right now. You’re following Joe paterno, the fan base is pissed at Joe’s treatment, we may still get additional punishment, you don’t know who the permanent AD will be. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people steered clear of this.

PaJoe - January 6, 2012 via mobile reply

Looks like Bob Kraft

Pats owner has let the cat out of the bag, so to speak

I see.

That is is shit.

Sucks

but in the immortal words of Green Day: “NIce guys finish last”

Apropos of nothing:

I get extremely pissed whenever they show Bob Kraft groggily celebrating a Pats touchdown on TV.

Why is he always so groggy?

Heavy medication?

Nah, he's just dehydrated

Dehydration makes you very groggy.

He should liquefy money

and drink it.

That all the mind control chemical

that go into paper money can’t be good for you. Not to mention the trace amounts of crack.

.

Personally, I'm excited that this has finally come to an end.

If O’Brien is the guy, then we have to rally around him if he’s our coach. He’s ours now. Going against him and not accepting him before he even does anything is counterproductive to what the program and university needs.

Who’s to say he can’t recruit right now? Say New England lights the scoreboard up in their first playoff game and O’Brien is interviewed afterwards. One of the questions he WILL be asked about is Penn State. So he can say to a recruit via TV “See what we just did today on offense. We plan on doing that at Penn State.” He can say he game planned for Tom Brady. He can use this as a selling point. And I said before we may have to sacrifice one recruiting class in order to get the right man.

So what if he hasn’t been a head coach before? Where did Joe Paterno head coach before he was named the head coach at Penn State? Nowhere. And you see what that got us: The greatest coach of all time. And believe me, Joe was the greatest college coach of all time. 409 wins. 2 MNCs (who knows how many he would have had had there been a playoff. Probably enough to have renamed college football “Paternoball” and renamed Saturday “JosephVincentday”). Players who graduated. Became doctors and lawyers. Who the fuck was Urban Meyer before he landed in Florida? Coached Utah. Big deal. You have to start somewhere. And also, look at Mike Tomlin: What did he do in his second year as Steelers coach? Win a Super Bowl. Went back again in his fourth year. There are a lot of talented people in this world in all fields who deserve a chance. With the exception of coaching here for 40+ years, who’s to say O’Brien isn’t the second coming of Joe Paterno? He did graduate from Brown, after all.

Lastly, I’m ready for a change. 30 years of practically the same offense. With scholarship limits and such now, we can’t just stockpile talent and overwhelm people. Those days are over. We are so predictable. Maybe O’Brien will run an offense where we use the tight end at the goal line as opposed to 4 straight runs up the middle. Maybe we’ll run quick slants over the middle behind a blitzing defense. Maybe we’ll get lockdown corners and safeties so we can blitz and disrupt people. Maybe this is a coach who WILL play the people who deserves to play, and not just an upperclassmen.

Paterno

was a very successful assistant at a major college for a long time before becoming a head coach. You might have heard of the school he worked as an assistant at.

Yeah, Paterno was pretty much being groomed for this job years before he took it over.

He also was a hell of a recruiter in his younger, assistant days. Major, major difference.

mleepsu08 - January 6, 2012 reply

This is awesome, and entirely true.

As for the football production, yes, he’s done a good job with the Patriots’ offense. He also has Tom Brady throwing the ball. I’m sure if you took every positive aspect from all three Penn State quarterbacks, mashed them together, then eliminated every negative aspect, you still wouldn’t have Tom Brady.

Math

I’m pretty sure when you actually calculate the result of that equation, you end up with some kind of anti-matter quarterback.

Lovethosefreakinnittanylions - January 6, 2012 reply

he also invented the internet

I'm very intrigued by Nate Bauer's tweets about the verbal exchanges

between Brandon Short & Ira Lubert. Why? Umm, well because it’s the only fucking thing we’ve heard about Ira Lubert since the search committee was named 6 weeks ago.

Short (cont.) “… the booster culture in which those guys are trying to create at Penn State.”

Short (cont.) says fans “smarter than that. (PSU) has never been all about winning and (fans) will not accept…”

Short on ‘booster culture’ says Joyner/Lubert think, “if they hire a big name coach (O’Brien) they’re going to put fans in the seats.”

Short, “LaVar Arrington put a petition for the players on his Facebook site and got 100 guys in two days.”

Short, " He mentioned that if I got 100 guys on a list saying they support Tom Bradley, that would have some sway with the committee."

Said Short, “I mentioned that I was having a conversation with close to 200 guys and Ira said, Where’s your list?”

Should be noted that Ira Lubert asked Brandon Short to produce list of players supporting no one but #PSU guy to ‘sway’ committee.

’Where’s your list?’ Gawd, I wanna hear more from Brandon Short on what it was like interacting with that guy.

I'm sorry, but I don't think Bradley is the guy.

Unfortunately, I think the entire staff (and I’m all for keeping LJ and Vandy, but sadly, I think they have to go too) has to go in order to put this whole Sandusky mess (and did you fucking hear that, ESPN, SANDUSKY MESS, not Joe Paterno mess) behind us. Whenever this thing goes to court and any new allegations come up, any coaches connected to this staff are going to be caught up in it. And, I’m just throwing this out there as a possibility, and I’m not saying it is, but what if it winds up being proven Bradley or somebody else on the staff knew what was going on and that becomes know. Then we’re right back where we are now.

With a new coach and an entire new staff, any questions regarding the Sandusky scandal can be answered simply, repeatedly, and truthfully: I don’t know. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I wasn’t here at that time.

I completely disagree.

Just sayin’

Just my opinion. Doesn't mean I'm right.

Time will sort all of this out.

Yeah, I don't even care about that part

I care that somebody is on record as having spoken to one Ira (middle initial) Lubert.

About the Penn State football coach position.

I knew a guy from Greencastle named Ira Crooke

and he sold used cars. great name I R A Crooke, parents must have been stoners

Greencastle

Figures.

/eyes notcarlotta suspiciously.

When you say "Bradley is not the guy"

and then mention Sandusky in the same paragraph, you lose me. EVERYONE IS NOT GUILTY. By the way, it’s approaching noon on the east coach and according to Nittany Rich, neither Larry Johnson or Tom Bradley have been told anything by Penn State. That is pathetic.

run4peach - January 6, 2012 reply

Why is everyone so upset???????

This is the architect of the ‘05-’06 Duke offense. That’s a squad, if you remember, that almost beat Wake Forrest twice. Bring it.

tzuker - January 6, 2012 reply

You guys are way more emotional on Twitter

Lots of measured, reasonable stuff here.

speedomike - January 6, 2012 reply

I'm mostly retweeting things that I think are funny.

Also, a good night's sleep helps calm things.

This is true

I feel I’m playing the “I’m being more rational than all of you” guy right now. I don’t like that.

FIRE SOMEONE.

There. Better.

speedomike - January 6, 2012 reply

I'm calmer than you are.

No your not

You are twitching out over your new found wikipedia prophecy skills.

Calmer than you are, dude.

I'm only pissed because I showed up to work and the entire internet was blocked

because we have idiot IT people that didn’t realize when we moved our e-mail to “the Cloud” that having every e-mail use the internet it might just saturate our network that only has one external fiber optic connection fo 4000 employees.

LMAO. Classic IT move.

Everyone needs to chill out.

Whether we like it or not, Penn State is absolutely toxic right now.

If you’re a parent with no bias towards Penn State, you’re likely raising an eye-brow if a guy like Tom Bradley, who spent decades by the side of Jerry, is coming in to your house to recruit your son. People are ignorant and they don’t know the facts; I get it. And imagine if Tom Bradley’s name even so much as comes up in court next fall, it would mean a complete meltdown at PSU… Again.

I’m not crazy about the hire, but what high profile coach, who could go just about anywhere, would want to A) replace Joe Paterno (the saying goes don’t be the man to follow “the man”, right?), B) go to a university with uncertainty surrounding the president and the AD, and C) is mired in one of the most horrific scandals of all time… ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

If this guy if good, good. We win and everyone eats their words. If he’s not, what did you expect? If you pictured Penn State football just returning to form within one year of the scandal then you’re drowning in Kool-Aid.

HorseKick2008 - January 6, 2012 reply

Nothing I have ehard from non-psu people

in real life leads me to think that the school or football team is toxic.

Even so

Even if you are right (and you probably are), BOB was not the best choice. Lots of good coaches out there have (1) head coaching experience; (2) would prefer college over the NFL; and (3) would be willing to quit their current job to start at PSU. We don’t know if BOB will be a good coach or not, but we know he fits none of these three criteria. So, in my opinion, the hire is an epic fail.

Of course, why should we be surprised? Since the day PSU found out its head football coach received a subpoena to appear before a criminal grand jury, PSU has failed in everything related to this. That’s because PSI is not a football program, a “tradition,” a “mystique,” or even the equivalent of an NFL franchise. It is a massive institution led by a board of 47 members capable only of groupthink and engaged in an effort to protect its taxation-dependent budget. It is, in effect, an arm of the state government. From the moment PSU fired/suspended the leaders of the football program and placed the BOT in charge of all things football, you knew how this would work out. If you don’t, go re-watch the movie Brazil.

Feel free to name some of these "lots of good coaches out there"

I'll give you one.

Tom Bradley.

Joe 96alum - January 6, 2012 reply

was not going to happen

If it was going to be Bradley or anyone on the staff wouldn’t you think it would have been done already

jetskijoe - January 6, 2012 reply

correct

this hire had to be outside

Only because

The Board made a decision, either intentionally, or via doing nothing, that anything Penn State pre-November 7th was wrong and evil. not just JS, not just Joe, but anyone and anything. And I wholeheartedly believe that.

only if the people doing the hiring

are a bunch of pussies.

Could you please explain why?

Other than the media for a week or two, I don’t get this argument. Why couldn’t Joyner have grown a spine told ESPN to f***off if they didn’t like it? He wasn’t involved in this mess, and very well may have been the best candidate.

OK

And let me preface this list with saying that a response of “that guy sucks” or “BOB is better than that guy” is nonresponsive. I’ll give you a list of coaches that meet the three criteria I set out, and that therefore, would be better hires right now. We don’t know how good BOB might be: he might crash and burn, he might go into the collegiate hall of fame. But that is also true of every name on this list. What we know RIGHT NOW is that BOB has never been a head coach, openly prefers an NFL coaching job, and doesn’t have the commitment to come to State College right now to begin getting recruits in line.

-All 113 other FBS head coaches
-All of the FCS head coaches
-All Division II head coaches
-All Division III head coaches
-Doug Martin
-Kevin Steele
-Jim Knowles
-Paul Johnson
-Al Groh
-Mike Locksley
-Jim Ried
-Brian Knorr
-Phil Bennett
-Dana Dimel
-Del Miller
-Mike Stoops
-Don Brown
-Mark Snyder
-Ken O’Keefe
-Gary Nord
—yeah, I could keep listing them.

Did the PSU search “committee” talk to all of these folks? No. Any of them? If they did, it doesn’t seem like it.

Stop it

Kevin Steele lol he was hospitalized wednesday because of blood pressure problems. His BP was 70/33 LOL

Paul Johnson? You think people get pissed about the offense now? LOL

I understand your point, but just stop trying.

OK

Since it’s clear I have made the point.

We may not get some recruits this year...

but maybe we start getting some quality JUCO tranfers. I personally like the hire. He’s young, savvy, and has designed a prolific offense in NE. It would be nice to have a prolific offense at PSU. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want Petersen but since that isn’t happening I am somewhat intrigued by this hire and welcome it. I am looking forward to the 2012 season to see what he can do. I bet you he will do 100x better than what Tom Bradley would ever do. I cannot even believe ex-players want Scrap as coach. It’s time to move on!

Umm...

and has designed a prolific offense in NE

Whatever. I don’t believe this for a second.

We all know Belechik designed that offense

And Brady runs it. So remind me again, what O’Brien did?

As a Pats fan,

the idea that his presence is needed in the playoffs is laughable to me.

He needs to stay

Because a super bowl ring will look good when he looks for a head coaching job in 3 years.

I don't see Belechick calling plays...

Then don't...you're entitled.

I have nothing against O'Brien.

But there is no way he is the architect of that offense. The playbook is mature and has been for awhile. They have essentially been running the same offense for a decade. There is a reason the Pats don’t miss a beat offensively when the O-coordinators are out the picture.

Until this is announced, anything surrounding

it is hearsay – including B.O’B staying with the Patriots through the playoffs. Sure, Chuckwagon Charlie set a precedant, but I am hopeful that was a protectionist statement and wil prove to be flase.

rahpsu92 - January 6, 2012 reply

Well

In this link , Kraft says O’Brien has accepted the job but will stay with the Pats through the playoffs. Which includes the huge recruiting weekened.

Shaking my head.

And I’ll continue to do so every time I hear that he is staying in NE through the playoffs.

At this point this is pissing me off more than anything.

This makes no sense.

Exactly.

I want commitment from whoever is chosen, and I will follow him.

Without commitment he can suck it.

Made me think of Braveheart

“Now tell me, what does that mean to be [Penn State’s football coach]? Your title gives you claim to the [a great position], but men don’t follow titles, they follow courage. Now our people know you. Noble, and common, they respect you. And if you would just lead them ~~to freedom~~, they’d follow you. And so would I.”

Don't you get it? This is how it has to be.

Anyone who would be excited by this job supports child molestation

And

Anyone who went to Penn State or supports Penn State supports child molestation

You use the sarcasm font

But I’ve had a co-worker or two actually say this. Not sure if it was just them trying to get under my skin, or if they really believed it. Regardless, I had to walk away or I very well may have gotten myself fired.

Yeah.

Talking to you anyone who isn’t a fan of PSU just leads to anger in most cases.

People who actually think like that are complete and total fucking idiots.

I can understand your having to walk away lest somebody get lit up. Nobody has ever actually said something that stupid to me, and I hope they don’t. The meltdown and tantrum could be frightening.

I've never gotten into a real fight in my life

but if I head something like that I think fists would have started flying

If people are honestly saying this to you at work.

Bring it up with PR. That is grade A workplace harassment.

mvrck - January 6, 2012 reply

I know you made a mistake and meant HR.

But if you really read that the way its written, it looks like you want them to shout from the mountains that their employees think PSU alums are all child molesters. which is also funny

The main person who has said these things

Is actually kind of a friend of mine. As such I think he’s mostly just trying to get under my skin and I’m a lot more inclined to just tell him to knock it the fuck off, rather than going to HR,

The rest are usually not things aimed at me, but rather me overhearing other peoples conversations.

Yes Yes and Yes

To everything you said about getting to work NOW!

Support the new coach

As someone with over 700 NLC points I have this to say. Remember Joe had no head coaching experience when he took over, so I’ll give O’Brien a pass on that. BUT if he does not hit the ground running with both feet on Saturday, then while I will continue to support the team I will not donate another penny to the school/athletic department. I can buy tickets on the street for less than face value for any game I attend.

bluebellgolfer - January 6, 2012 reply

My outrage is two fold.

1) Why have no statements been released? Seriously. What possible good could come from the delay? If you’re still drawing up papers, it’s okay to still put out a release and say, “hey, we have a tentative deal but are still ironing out the details.” The current players and coaches don’t need to find out this way.

2) The fact that O’Brien plans to finish out the year with NE. You want the respect of the fan base? Get your ass on campus yesterday and hit the recruiting trail and try to salvage some of this disaster we call a recruiting class. It’s hard for us to accept you when you’re coaching in NE.

Apparently there are no public relations or communications skills with the BoT or this administration.

Just look at how Joe was fired. That says it all.

If BO’B were to walk out on the Patriots at the beginning of the playoffs, how many people would be holding that up as an example of how he has no honor or integrity?

It's worse...

To sign with a college knowing that recruiting is the key to future success, yet there is a real possibility you’re still at your old position when recruiting ends, without ever having a chance to pull in players. Just doesn’t make sense.

Honestly, I think I would think LESS of O'Brien if he walked out on NE now.

Granted, as a Steelers fan I totally despise the Pats, but I think you finish what you start. And when New England is done, I expect O’Brien to THEN be on the first available plane to State College.

I see where you're coming from, but it's extremely irritating.

I get it

but I disagree. We’re not talking about a Petrino-like bolt in the middle of the night. He isn’t the HC. And the NFL is a business.

But even still, he did make a commitment and he has responsibilities.

Look, I’m not saying his not being here right away isn’t going to hurt this class, but right is right. And you honor your commitments and finish what you start.

If anybody should be blasted, then it’s Joyner and Ira for not finding someone who was available right away. But then again, after the interview, maybe they felt O’Brien was the man for the job and that they had better get him NOW. And maybe they also reasoned (and who knows) we can afford to lose one recruiting class if he is the man and that’s what it takes to get him.

Has nobody here ever quit a job before?

I did once

well, it was more I was “asked politely to leave”. And by that I mean I was escorted out by security. And by that I mean I was tazed and thrown out the back door while unconscious. But yeah, I was able to leave right away.

yeah it's no big deal

Honestly though quitting a job for a good reason is the best. You feel like a living god.

yeah

I was just confused. And cold from my urine soaked pants.

If you are not available for the job, then don't be hired.

We need a coach now. Not, later.

Can't he do both?

This part of the issue is not clear. It’s only been reported in rumors.
He could, Charlie Weiss-style, be recruiting for us while wrapping things up in NE.

After all, coaches have to recruit while coaching their teams full-time. It’s good practice.

But it is another reason to hope the Steelers can knock the Pats out of the playoffs.

If he does this

it will alleviate some of my concerns. It still isnt’ ideal, but it’s better than doing nothing.

During his lunch breaks?

Charlie's lunch breaks were 30 minutes of every hour, so he legitimately could recruit during them.

Maybe...

The plan was “recruit offense on lunch breaks” and "recruit defense… Hell, I can’t even make those awful defenses into a joke right now. DAMN YOU BOB!

Also, he used a hands free phone that used voice commands and understood food stuffed garbled words.

Read what I wrote above about commenting if New England lights it up in the playoffs.

I think he will definitely be doing this. I know there are a lot of lunch break jokes to be made about Charlie Weis, but if an OC was calling to recruit my son during his break of planning for an NFL playoff game I would be pretty excited.
Unless of course it was Charlie Weis, because he’s a fat jerk and would probably have his mouth full during the conversation.

Its not a joke

He was given permission by Belichick to recruit during his lunch breaks.

The Coach We Have

Assuming (always a dangerous practice) that O’Brien is the new coach, I think we need to divorce him from the BoT/Lubert & Joyner cabal. He’s a 42 year old career assistant coach who was just offered the job of a lifetime. He deserves a chance to succeed and/or fail on his own merits, not based upon the idiocy of the search process.

As to some of the concerns, they are understandable. Some have expressed concerns that he might be looking to the NFL at some point, leaving us in the learch. That’s valid. But, I recall reading that Joe Paterno was going to coach for a few years and then go to law school. After 46 years as HC, I hope he’s updated his LSAT score.

As to his staying with the Pats through their playoff run, my position is one of respect. Think about it, what is the key component of Paterno’s legacy? Honor. Coach O’Brien is getting his shot to be an HC at one of the premier college football programs in the country. He is realizing a dream. Yet, he is putting that dream on hold for a few weeks to honor a committment he made to the New England Patriots. He gave them his word that he would be the Offensive Coordinator through this season and he is keeping his word, despite the fact that most would understand if he left early. That, my friends, is honor and makes me feel beter about his hire.

I stated this in another post, but I want to reiterate my wishes of Good Luck and God Speed to Coach O’Brien. Welcome to the family.

Keith Platt - January 6, 2012 reply

If he quits his fucking Patriots job expediently (and gets chin replacement surgery), I'm all in.

The chin is growing on me.

Then again, Peter Griffin has always amused me…

Actually if you recall...

Peter’s chin was actually identified as his testicles in one of the episodes “Oh, how did they get up there?”

irz813 - January 6, 2012 reply

We tried to get Cowher

And all we got was the chin!

Good luck, Bill. I’m glad this search is over!

PaJoe - January 6, 2012 via mobile reply

I couldn't agree more.

I think some of the people in this post need to flip this around: Say Bradley would have been offered a job on December 15. Would you have expected Bradley to leave immediately, or wait until after the bowl game?

You can’t have two standards.

A head coach in a bowl game is different from a cog in the machine in the NFL playoffs.

I do understand your point, but for a guy in BOB’s shoes, building relationships moving forward is his only chance to succeed.

That's easy, for me.

The minute Tom Bradley accepts a new job, his loyalty lies with that new job. It’s not like he was coaching the national championship game.

I remember when I quit my last job.

Gave them as much of 2 weeks as I could (maybe 7 working days), did as much work as made sense (started no new projects), picked my butt in my office.

They understood.

College is a little different for me

There is more loyalty to players, and the season ends before signing day. The NFL is a business with virtually no sentimentality.

Apparently

he doesn’t feel it is the job of a lifetime, so why should I feel excited about getting him? Especially if he isn’t even here working?

Your job of a lifetime

His is an NFL head coaching position.

@ Chris Grovich

Dave Joyner (and Ira Lubert, behind the scenes) arrogantly conducted this search with what appeared to be no help or input from anyone else, strung along Tom Bradley and the rest of the remaining coaching staff, acted coy in the media, assured everyone that Penn State knew exactly what it was doing, let the process drag out until the very last weeks of the recruiting period, and came back to us with Bill O’Brien.

I have to say you guys have probably posted your best work here. Given all authors a chance to clearly state their piece in an organized fashion is great. And you summed up the feelings of many with your editorial at the beginning. While I have been critical of some of your work, I will say this you have handled this well.

And who's to say Bradley was strung along?

We don’t know what Bradley was told. We really don’t.

Thanks, sir.

I agree very much with the process argument Grovich articulates

The process of hiring this candidate — at least from a public relations standpoint — sucked.

The product — let’s wait and see and hope for the best.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:7431704

God help me.

I find myself agreeing with Skip Bayless

Summary for those holding to the ESPN boycott?

Basically...

It was a clip from First Take.

Ritchie and the other guy were arguing that nobody would want the job.

Skip basically he said that since the “slate has been wiped clean”, Penn State is still Penn State and a new coach shouldn’t have to worry about following in Joe’s footsteps because it wasn’t like Joe left on a high note.

Thanks for reminding me

not to listen to ESPN.

Yea, Joe didn’t leave on a high note, but he did manage to accomplish one or two small things over his 60 years.

Any coach of ours in the future has huge shoes to fill.

Huge.

And I want the next guy to fill them, and exceed them. I really do.

e$pn boycott FTW

Glad to hear someone else is boycotting them too.

Gopher Broke - January 6, 2012 reply

There are many of us doing that

The only time I turn on ESPN is if that's where Penn State, the Steelers, or the Celtics are playing.

No more Sportscenter or none of the rest of their idiotic bullshit.

+1

ESPN Boycott for life!

Someday, my kids will ask me why we don't watch ESPN

It will be teachable moment.

I cancelled my cable

Really, now that PSU’s seasons is over, I don’t need it. I can watch hockey on the web.

yea last night some choad

compared the tight lipped nature of the coaching search to “business as usual” as penn state was always tight lipped about jerry sandusky.

I then flipped to NBC Sportstalk and breathed a sigh of relief. Nice to finally see another outlet in which to get sports information and analysis from people interested in doing that work instead of just promoting themselves.

I actually don't think NBC has been any better

I want so badly to like it, but I just can’t stand watching it so far. And that’s surprising, because the Versus NHL coverage was so awesome.

i agree its not fantastic

but its scores, its highlights, its some commentary without all the fake camaraderie, its less catch phrases, more balanced and not all yankees, red sox, duke, SEC, Packers, Cowboys, Giants , Shameless Disney tie-ins.

Oh yea, and the best feature is that its not ESPN.

They used to be my background noise

Now it’s NatGeo. I actually chose a different New Years Eve bar this year because Plan A had ESPN on.

Jon Ritchie was the only one who made any kind of sense there.

I kind of agree...

But everyone seemed to agree that “penn state is still penn state” and its not like anyone would expect the new HC to immediately live up to Paterno in light of what’s happened.

really?

wow, if i’m hiring for an important position in the business world i think i would follow the process these guys took. the exception is if you want someone you already know and trust. i also think most comments about O’Brien are only related to his football background. i think other things play into the selection. also, you want this process to be under wraps. if everyone knew who was being interviewed it would have been much more of a circus. plus that would play into any negotiations for terms.

ohpa - January 6, 2012 reply

As upset as I am (very),

I will give O’Brien a chance (when I’m ready). In the meantime, can we please hire a real AD?

Agree completely. If nothing else, Joyner has shown that he shouldn't be the AD

Seriously, can someone explain to me why it was ok for the board to fill all of the administrations openings with inside guys (from the BOT) but the coaching staff must be complete outsiders?

Political move...

BOT and admin want to be “in charge.” They no longer want the football program representing the university.

84lion - January 6, 2012 reply

When the Sandusky garbage came out

we told everyone to “wait and see” before they rush to judgment

When people said Paterno was culpable in the whole mess we told everyone to “wait and see” before they rush to judgment

Now we hire Bill O’Brien and our own response is to go batshit crazy andjudge everything before we know any of the details. Its a hypocritical response.

Look, I am not happy with this hire much like everyone else. But I think I will take the same approach I preach to outsiders when they bring up the Sandusky crap. I think I will “wait and see.”

I will wait and see for the official announcement. I will wait and see for his his address to the fans in his press conference. I will wait and see what his recruiting plan is for the time he is unnervingly away trying to win a super bowl ring. I will wait and see what the recruits decide. I will wait and see what the rest of his coaching staff looks like. I will wait and see what his offensive game plan is and how any of these players improve throughout the Spring.

After all that then I will decide what i ultimately think of the hire. But if Im going to degrade a rush to judgment in all things PSU related to other people, then why shouldnt I at least practice what I preach for this?

+1

Sorry... couldn't hear you

these pitchforks and torches I’m carrying are making a ton of noise right now.

I waited.

I saw. I don’t like it.

does your car get up to 1.21 gigawatts?

cause none of those things have happened yet.

I've been following this shit for more than two months now.

My wait and see was premised on how the coaching search/hire went. I saw, it sucked. Even if this guy is a good coach, it’s a fluke.

Yeah,

He could be JoePa 2.0, but it’d be more a case of finding a diamond in a cow field than anything.

That really is true.

There is no way of telling whether this guy will actually work out or not. If he does, I don’t think you can really say it was because anyone knew he would be. It might be a great hire, but there just isn’t enough justification for it right now.

I don’t think you can really say it was because anyone knew he would be

why not? Because it doesnt fit the current narrative of “we all need to immediately hate this guy and hire?”

SO if he wins its because its a fluke, and if hes a bad coach its “I told you so”

Sounds like we should have just hired JayPa

The point is that

If this was a toxic situation that “nobody” wanted a part of, and “nobody” could possibly succeed Joe Paterno, that doesn’t mean that “nobody” is the man for the job.

No, there is just nothing in his resume to point to be a successful college coach.

I will give them credit if it works out, but at best it is only a hunch.

and I would have rather had JayPa honestly.

If he is a good coach

I will say “he is a good coach” I dont need to praise or refrain from praising anyone but the coach.

CoburnsCuddleBuddy - January 6, 2012 reply

Penn State’s got some low self esteem

I AM NOT O'BRIEN!!!!

Does this mean

the Offensive Coordinator will be Art Vandelay and the DC will be Cartwright?

LMFAO!!!

Mr. Rosewater - January 6, 2012 reply

I guess

we should expect Kramer to be charged with retrieving the kicking tee?

Keith Platt - January 6, 2012 reply

Can't wait for LaVar to get on the air

Can’t remember the last time I really really really wanted to listen to sports talk radio

Mr. Rosewater - January 6, 2012 reply

Akron made a better hire than PSU

Seriously. I am not joking. I thought this was supposed to be an exhaustive search for the next coach? Didn’t Joyner say he wanted someone it to try and salvage recruits? Bottom line….If this joker was offered the job but said he will stay with NE through the playoffs the offer should have been rescinded on the spot. That’s not a rush to judgment….that is right out of the mouth of Kraft. Seriously….what did Chambers do when he was hired? Within 24 hours he was on a jet crisscrossing the country meeting with the current players and talking up the program. That is a PSU guy (kudos to him and the guys on the upset V last night btw). If this joker stays with the Pats through the playoffs he has already shown himself to be unworthy of the head coach position. I hope Lavar and Short rip Joyner’s arms off!

Another day, another...

MainLion - January 6, 2012 reply

Great!!!

We fired Joe freaking Paterno and got the guy fired by Tom Brady.

JIMPSU - January 6, 2012 reply

Wolverine hands all over this

Mr. Rosewater - January 6, 2012 reply

At least we have ample reason to root against the Pats.

Not that many of us need any more reasons. ;-)

michellemtsu - January 6, 2012 via iPhone app reply

Awesome

I hate that organization.

Pats already are seeking permission to talk with McDaniels.

Yet PSU remains silent. smh

how great will it be

when they hire McDaniels to replace OBrien before he even leaves for PSU. Which will all probably happen before PSU makes its announcement.

O'Brien wasn't coming back. His contract wasn't being renewed.

Pats were going a different direction at OC no matter what. PSU got a guy that was getting “laid off”

Now that's values.

Keeping America Working.

Dave Joyner 2012.

Small Question how

did a guy who played defensive end and linebacker in college end up coaching on the offensive side of the ball, i know this is a stupid question but i was just wondering how that came to happen. How is he a defensive player supposed to have the insight needed to make one of the PSU quarterbacks any better.

The same way Mike Tomlin was a WR at VMI and then developed into a DC before becoming the Steelers HC. Not meant to be an obnoxious answer, it’s just not uncommon for offensive players to become defensive coaches and vice versa

happens all the time

sound out

it just kept popping into my head for some reason thanks for the great example, please god he ends up as good as Tomlin

William and Mary

Not VMI, I think. I know someone who went to school with him.

Thanks, can’t believe I messed that up. I work with some W&M people that love him.

It's weird, but really common.

I was an olineman and TE in college and now I coach QBs

You evolve and change. The biggest things you get from being a player that will help you as a coach is credibility. Most of the other stuff I would argue is learned.

I see it as an advantage

When you focused on beating the guys playing the position you’re now coaching, you may be more able to coach your players to avoid making mistakes you exploited yourself.

Thanks for putting my mind at rest about that guys

In my uneducated opinion it doesn’t really matter how good a position coaching he is himself, but it really matters how good the coordinators he brings in are and how much determination and fire he brings to trying to make the team better and his ability to carry on the traditions that make PSU as good as they are and i think he deserves the chance to show what he is capable of. That said he is not the most sparkling candidate but i can get behind him and fingers crossed he makes a hell of a head coach.

Lots of ands there and im rambling sorry my bad.

From an outsiders perpesctive...

This could end up being a superb hire in the long run. Penn State will undoubtedly suffer in recruiting this year, but next year’s schedule is favorable. They could very well go to a BCS game. Then, Penn State has a shit-load of scholarships leftover from the previous year and can load up the 2013 class.

I’m optimistic for Penn State because I think Obrien is a smart guy and a good coach. I’m going to wait until I see who he brings in as assistants though. If he brings in a top-notch coaching staff, then this will be great for PSU long term, and you didn’t have to pay as much.

Thanks for sharing.

I’m not quite as optimistic, but I’ll give the guy the benefit of the doubt and see what he can do.

well

hes bringing the Titans Offensive Quality Control Coach so…uh…

Yeah, what is a quality control coach anyway?

Anyone, anyone…

He records every decision on tracking charts developed by Toyota.

We're all kinda QC commenters

That was Munchack's contribution

He felt bad for turning us down.

PaJoe - January 6, 2012 via mobile reply

yeahhhh sorry about that...

here, you can take our Offensive Quality Control Coach. We totally weren’t using him anyways.

Do they have a spare coffee table?

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

HERE’S YOUR COFFEE TABLE! I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT!

To think...

I thought we would all be talking about the first big win of the Chambers era today. Looks like that got derailed a bit…

Calling out Short and Arrington, and questioning their loyalty to the school

Top 2013 target Adam Breneman

Agree with him

I understand the anger they feel toward Joyner for him not listening to the letterman. At the same time it sounds like Short and Arrington already are assuming that O’Brien is going to be the next RichRod.

psfann - January 6, 2012 reply

If their attitude prevails, he will be

A lot of the UM fanbase had it in for RichRod the second he was hired. He got very little help up there. That is why I have pleaded with people to not be Michigan in all of this.

I respect Michigan fans for that reaction

Not for much else, but they were right about that guy even if their AD wasn’t.

I can't comprehend this

Please, explain to me what you respected them for.

I'll take a shot at this..

Knowing that the traditions and rich history of their school meant more than any Big East flavor of the week. And they were right, they just found out the hard way.

They never gave the guy a chance

Not all, but a significant portion of that fan base wanted RR to fail and jumped on every opportunity to attack and discredit him. That may not be the sole reason for his failure but it sure as hell didn’t help. I’ll be very sad if that happens here.

I don't think it will happen here.

Sure, most aren’t happy with the hire, but we’re going to give the guy a shot. And why? Because deep down we all know that at least the offense will get better. It can’t be worse than the cluster it was this year.

Their fan base really doesn't take enough credit

For RR’s spread offense and 1-1-9 defense.

Instinctively knowing that RichRod was a bad fit.

Arizona State should have had the same backlash towards the Todd Graham hire (or U of Arizona toward RichRod), but they’re not that plugged in to what their school stands for.

I don't think RichRod is a bad hire for Arizona.

I bet he has some success there.

You may be right, he isn't half a slimy as Graham

But he clearly wasn’t the right fit at a school with an established culture.

I think you're right

And sometimes that means big schools can’t get someone like Rich Rod who would truly be a bad fit, and sometimes it means they can’t get Leach or Holgorson, who would dominate everyone and melt their brains.

This is true

i dont think they are as upset about the hire per se

as they are that it didnt go to a PSU guy, and their fear is they are straying form the PSU model. Even Brandon Short said “we may as well join the SEC”

Huge overreaction

"we may as well join the SEC"

And not helpful.

yea maybe

but i see where they are coming from. I dont have to agree with it to understand their viewpoint.

Its not “lets join the SEC cause i hate BOB” “Its lets join the SEC cause you didnt hire a PSU guy and therefore are distancing yourself from the model of success with honor.” Is his tactic correct, maybe not. But his viewpoint is completely understandable in my opinion

I guess I understand it to

but it is arrogant to think only PSU guys can do things the right way. We don’t have a monopoly on success with honor.

no the stanford guy could have done it too maybe

other than that…..

Right. It's not a monopoly but an oligopoly.

The majority of my friends and all of my family did NOT go to Penn State

And they all got success with honor long before I set foot on campus. They may not have called it Success with Honor but they lived by it nonetheless.

we are speaking about football programs

i admit there are people who live their lives honorably and have success. Very few FBS programs do as well

I'm sorry

but it is the height of arrogance to think that Penn State and Stanford are the only programs in the country that have people that care about running a clean program.

That's true,

but it obviously was much lower on the priorities list. Penn State and Stanford are the only programs in the country without a major NCAA violation.

No, I believe it

Because athletic departments and schools are using the business model of “wins = $$$.” Nothing about running a clean program even pretends to be worth a cent. Penn State and Stanford made it work by being successful on field and off.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree

Agreed

you can believe that its fair

the facts dont necessarily back it up however.

Short and LaVar are wrong.

Mostly their just pissed because Tom Bradley didn’t get the job. And to bring Cael Sanderson into it was folly. The two of them can be quiet now as far as I’m concerned.

Short seems to be mad they picked an NFL guy

A lot of his comments suggest he believes no NFL guy should get the job, because it’s just too different and he’s inferring that they hired an NFL guy because they think it’s “splashy.”

That's it...

Until he proves himself (I’m thinking at least until halfway through the 2013 season) I will be referring to O’Brien as ‘Zazzles’.

phanatic's phloozies - January 6, 2012 reply

Isn't this guy a freakish TE prospect?

I guess O’Brien can sell him Gronkowski’s success this year. I think more than Brady its guys like that that O’Brien probably can actually take credit for making better.

(I’m trying to be positive…)

Yes, he's actually quite excited about O'Brien.

He even retweeted you. Kind of him

Yeah. An offensive coach will utilize the tight end.

What a novel concept. I can see why a tight end recruit would be excited about O’Brien.

im excited in devon smith becoming a wes welker type

we just have to teach him to catch.

It's a good hope.

We’ve complained for how long that our offensive playmakers aren’t used correctly?

Really, I have two huge issues right now:

Who will be on the coaching staff?

How will he recruit while coaching the Patriots?

Everything else, really, is kind of inconsequential to me right now.

Is he tight with Bradly? That was my thought...didn't TB say they were friends?

SweepTheLeg - January 6, 2012 reply

ok wait

by “Bradly” and “TB”, did you mean Tom Brady or Tom Bradley?

Recruiting during the playoffs

It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out. The one benefit of him continuing to coach the Pats is coverage. Jim Nantz and whoever else announces the Pats’ games will reference him and the Penn State job over and over and over again.

How it affects this class is unclear. It should definitely have a positive impact on subsequent recruiting classes, though.

It is double-edged.

We could have the offensive coordinator of a Super Bowl champion. I mean, that’s nice. A little late for our short-term needs, but nice.

Hell, a simple “hey Recruit, great talking to you, I have to go get ready for the Super Bowl now” isn’t so awful.

also if he gets that ring

its kind of a big deal. It is a better selling point to say “I was OC in a Super Bowl” than “I was OC of a team that won the Super Bowl”

Charlie Weis' 4 super bowl rings

Respectfully disagree

Charlie Weis was a terrible coach

but a very good recruiter. His main recruiting problem was that he only went after skill position players and didn’t recruit the trench guys, but he sent a ton of guys to the NFL.

Was it him that was so good?

Or just Notre Dame recruits itself?

fair question

he was able to consistently get the top rated or close to top-rated QBs in the country, and ND never was able to do that before, so I think he definitely helped.

But I think that’s true for Penn State and all colleges. The school is just as, if not more important than the coach for a lot of these kids, or at least that’s my guess.

It sounds silly now.

But everybody assumed that Charlie Weiss was the smartest offensive mind in the history of the world when he went to Notre Dame. He was able to hand pick offensive recruits for at least two years when he started there. It was all reputation.

We’ll see how he does at Kansas.

I was under the assumption

He wound up there because they still had all of Mangino’s sweats around, and he’d fit. Those things cost money, you know?

he had a million recruits

I talked to a friend of mine at work today who went to ND and he said “Charlie Weis used the Pats thing a s a recruiting tool all the time and rarely missed. What sunk him was that he was just a bad coach and surrounded himself with poor evaluaters who didnt know which guys would fit in which schemes”

I could really give a shit not about this recruiting class.

I am way more worried about restoring the longstanding legacy of PSU football…hopefully this is the first step in the process

Yeah, the long view is the proper one.

But those are my short-term concerns.

How do you view his staying on with the Pats?

A testiment to his committment and loyalty which should translate to his coachign here? Or a testament that he sees this job as not important enough to take on full-time while he can still build his NFL resume which will be helpful when he is looking for his next job?

I’m personally torn.

Initially I saw it entirely as a sign that he didn't take this job seriously

In literally the last 15 minutes some of the comments directly above this have sort of maybe started to sway my opinion that it might be a good thing in the long run.

I still don't like it, though

Instant reaction? Hate it.

But hey, beyond our control.

How will he assemble a staff while coaching the Patriots?

I mean, a staff could recruit for him, but you can’t assemble a staff effectively when you are an active NFL coach during the playoffs.

Seriously though

Tight ends, slot receivers and quarterbacks have no reason not to love this hire. I mean, 1. you’re going to be used heavily if he brings any of the offensive playbook over and 2. you’re going to be used in a way that your position is used in the NFL. It’s really a plus in that regard.

People who should be excited: Devon Smith, Haplea, Belton, James, Breneman, Mornhinweg, our current QBs…

Any WR should be happy

If teams are now worried about a serious crossing pattern game then that should free up one on one coverage on the outside and allow a true playmaker (ala Alshon Jefferies type of player) to make plays down the field. If you can vertically stretch the field & complete crossing patterns you are in business.

If you can run the Pats offense at like 60% capability

You would absolutely destroy college defenses. I mean Holgo-level destruction with the right players in place.

Seriously, I don’t love the hire, but let’s say they run an offensive scheme similar to the Pats. Plug in a couple of capable to very good TE and teach them the routes and concepts you used with Gronk and Hernandez. Put your Devon/Belton in the slot and run your WR screens, crossing routes and other short/intermediate routes. Then put your Justin Brown types out wide and let them either go 1-on-1 with college-level CBs or draw safety help, which leaves the middle more open for the TE and slot guy. If your quarterback can get the ball out of his hand even moderately quickly with decent accuracy, you’re going to hurt people. And that’s not even mentioning use of the RB, since college D’s aren’t as able to adjust and effectively cover all the intermediate passing routes and stop the run. I like to think of this.

important to note

he’s been the play caller since 2009, so he has 3 years of calling plays in this offense. He only because OC in 2011 because they didnt have an official one the two years prior

Of course one obstacle

is that you DO need the players to make this type of thing effective. I think I undersold the importance of the quarterback. A couple bad incompletions and you’re looking at 3 and outs instead of mass domination.

Also, while you could make some players into a Gronk-lite (obviously not as skull-crushingly awesome), you can’t simply plug anyone in for the Hernandez role. He’s sort of a joker, and you’d need someone who is more of a TE/WR hybrid to make that work correctly.

You need Tom Brady and an offensive line.

Those two things make all of the other spare parts that team is cobbled together from look awesome, when in fact they are spare parts.

I'm not sure about that

Also, NFL spare parts are different than college football spare parts. The playing field is a lot more level in the NFL. If you have a couple gamebreakers at TE or WR in the college game, there’s really no way the average college defender can stop them. There is a much lower median level of ability, and much less time to practice.

And Gronkowski and Hernandez are both absolute game-breakers. Some of the advanced scouting sites have Gronk rated as both the #1 pass-catching TE and blocking TE, and Hernandez is a joker (think Polamalu at safety) that is such a hybrid at his position that opposing defenses aren’t equipped to stop him. If we can get the absolute best TE prospects to come to Penn State, they aren’t going to be covered by college linebackers or safeties. You just have to get them the ball.

And here lies the problem.

You just have to get them the ball

Here’s hoping O’Brien can develop a competent quarterback.

A question for jesse.

You’ve written on here in the past about how much you love Mike Tomlin. What’s so different about Mike Tomlin when he was hired by the Steelers and Bill O’Brien now?

To me the only real difference is that one had the blessing of the Rooneys, who clearly know what they’re doing. The blessing of Joyner is admittedly mixed, if not just a flat negative.

Well.

If you read some of the things I’ve written about Behind the Steel Curtain, or screamed at him during games, you might disagree that I love Mike Tomlin. But there are a couple of things that are different.

Initially, the credibility of the people doing the hiring and the transparency of the process. The Steelers were going to comply with the “Rooney Rule” so they interviewed the man who was considered to be the top, young, black assistant coach in the league. And even with all of that, I was skeptical at the time. Everybody in Pittsburgh was, and anyone who tells you different is a liar.

Second, unlike alot of people in Pittsburgh, I was never terribly impressed by Bill Cowher. I thought his Super Bowl was much more like a blind squirrel finding a nut than any sort of coaching genius. Frankly, I’m sure I’m in the minority on this, but I’d rather have O’Brien than Cowher. I’ll take young and hungry over old and rich any day. But the manner of this coaching change is totally different.

Third, Mike Tomlin’s coaching credentials might have been a little light for the job, but they were top notch. This is in retrospect, but if they would have waited for him to be fully qualified for the Steelers job, he’d be somebody else’s head coach right now. While it’s possible that it’s the same with O’Brien, his track record is concerning to me.

Finally, and this is a problem I’ve had with everything Penn State has done since November 5th, they won’t fucking say anything. Their ongoing attitude that I am not entitled to any manner of explanation of anything ever is pissing me off. I’m god damned sick of being told to “let it play out”. Tell me what the hell is going on, and why I should continue to support this program. I’m entitled to that, we all are.

Entitled is the wrong word

It’s just a question of communicating with the people they expect to buy tickets. They’re entitled to run the operation as they see fit and you’re entitled to not buy tickets. That’s all, unfortunately.

I had high hopes for Tomlin because he was in my college graduating class. I don’t know him, but we don’t produce a lot of sports superstars so we’re very, very proud of him.

Tomlin had one very good year as DC of the Vikings. Vikings fans I know say he got them playing much better than before with the same personnel. Before that, most of his NFL experience was under Tony Dungy, who gave him his big break when he took him from an assistant job at U of Cincinnati to an assistant job with the Buccs. That kind of “spotting young talent” is what we need here too, but Dave Joyner is no Tony Dungy when it comes to football coaches.

I disagree.

Entitled is exactly the correct word. This isn’t an NFL franchise, it is not a billionaires play thing. It’s a public trust that belongs to hundreds of thousands of Penn Staters. Dr. Joyner is the guy in charge, but it’s no more his than it is mine.

They’re entitled to run the operation as they see fit and you’re entitled to not buy tickets.

They think this. They are sorely mistaken.

But that's not how it works

Sure, it would be better if it worked as you described it, but I don’t see how just asserting that gets you (or me) anywhere.

The athletics department is run as an “ancillary business.” The AD is beholden to the board and the board is beholden to the various constituencies that vote for it. The coaches are not hired by popular vote. You don’t get to make the decisions. You pick some of the people who pick the people who make the decisions. If you don’t like what’s going on in the program, you don’t have any power other than to not show up. I’m not saying that’s how it should be, but I don’t see anyway around that reality.

Most of the time, at least, it’s better that way. The problem is that right now, things are being run by people who never really asked for these jobs, they just volunteered because it was a crisis. But enthusiastic amateurs are no substitute for professionals.

In Europe, it’s becoming increasingly common for soccer clubs to be owned and run by their supporters. I wish it were like that here.

No, that's not how it works.

You think the AD would pull this shit at Oklahoma, or Ohio State. Their head would be on a pike in front of the football stadium to warn the next guy not to pull shit like this.

What do you think the reaction would be at Alabama if an interim AD and one one fairly anonymous donor decided to take two months to hire a head coach, in consultation with nobody, and then came back with Bob O’Brien and no explanation.

Bull Connor wouldn’t be able to stop that riot.

I think there'd be an uproar

Just as there’s an uproar here.

I’m not sure what point you’re making. That this sucks? Well, no disagreement. But so what?

I’m saying that, in reality, we’re stuck with this guy now and not supporting the guy we’re now stuck with doesn’t help anybody. Yes, you should write letters and run for the board if you can or whatever, but the options are pretty limited right now.

My point is...

Those schools would never have administrators so arrogant as to believe that they could so totally alienate their fan base and have their be no negative repercussions.

I think these people honestly think they are going to sell out Beaver Stadium next year. And if they do, they’ve lost their minds.

Grumble Grumble.

It’s going to be fascinating to see attendance numbers next year. It was kind of crappy this season, even before the university alienated practically all of its supporters in one way or another since November.

There are 2 people who haven't been alienated

Erickson and Joyner. And here’s to hoping

They will be a STEP down

in attendence. How much? we’ll see. I go to one game a year, two if I’m lucky. I’ll still go to one next year.

yes it will be

lucky me, my bro in law played at ohio, so I’m taking a big family group to that game…I don’t think tix will be a problem

Yeah, it leaves a really bad taste in my mouth

That these are good and quality people in charge of this, based on they’re rich and successful.

That's not totally true

Didn’t Alabama go through a string of questionable coaching hires between Stallings and Saban?

And it’s not clear that they expect “no negative repercussions.” They may believe the negative repercussions would be worse with Bradley. I don’t agree with that, but I can see how they might.

I think the negative repercussions for Bradley would be worse from everyone outside PSU

The negative repercussions for O’Brien are within PSU

What does that even mean?

I don’t disagree with your opinion, but what negative repercussions could really come from outside the program?

If the NCAA wants a poke,

They’ll take it no matter who the coach is. Same for the Big Ten. We’d still sell out at home. Oh, no! Maybe less fans would show up at away games? How does that affect Penn State?

Really?

You really can’t conceive of any?

Every time a new Sandusky revelation happens, the coach has to answer pointed questions because he worked in close company with the guy for years and years. That’s what would happen with Coach Bradley. And it’d kill us with recruits.

This basically proves that

Bradley would have been the best hire and that we are doomed. Just based on the poster’s track record.

Bunnies

STAT!

Yeah..

I wouldn’t want my kid playing for someone who might have met JS. Bill O’Brasky it is! Woo!

Stupid is as stupid does

If you want to claim there’s no difference between somebody who “met Sandusky” and Tom Bradley, the guy who was his understudy for a decade or so, you write your own story, don’t you?

His understudy on what?

Child-raping? Its completely feasible that Tom Bradley wasn’t involved in any of this, but babies and bathwater and all that jazz.

Of course it is feasible.

It’s also reasonable for the national media to keep asking him about it, over and over again, because it’s not like Sandusky is a guy he just ran into once or twice in the office.

And that’s a ball of wax we can’t afford.

M1EK is right about this.

Actually,

I wouldn’t want my kid playing for anyone who thought a ragged sweatshirt is proper work attire.

I agree with you about the failure of Joyner and Ira

If nothing else, Penn State football is sold to the alumni and the public — at a tremendous profit to the University — as the most accessible way to interact with and support the University. They need to be more transparent and responsive to the supporters of the football team as they’ve gone through this process.

[Penn State has been very good, actually, in not asking me for money through this whole thing, which they usually do with some regularity.]

But the fact that they process sucked, to me, means very little about the product. I do my best work when I’m hungover and strung out on coffee. It’s terrible for my long-term health and I’m a bear to be around, but the memo that comes out the other end is magic. The process: ugly and bad; the product: poetry.

no coaching search is transparent; no AD/University puts out status reports, etc.

Honestly, i don’t understand the sense that PSU should be saying or should have said something. You get nothing — you’re not entitled to anything — before the press conference is announced.

go google stories about Illinois, for example. Pretty much no information from the AD’s office; lots and lots and lots of internet rumors.

Bottom line: PSU got the same sort of coaching search as every other school got/gets.

Wow.

I can’t agree with this. Our coaching search was 2 months long. I don’t think anyone needed to know anything during the search itself – I appreciated the discretion because I wanted them to be able to do their duties without distraction and interference.

But now? Joyner acted arrogant and dismissed everybody the entire time. Now the cat’s out of the bag. I’m sure he didn’t plan it that way. But as of 10 minutes ago, no player or coach has heard anything from anyone. If they did in fact agree with BOB, and the story is obviously in the media, why not talk to the players and coaches? It’s ridiculous.

Maybe Joyner...

thinks it’s someone else’ responsibility to notify the players.

Who’s currently filling Gary Schultz’ position?

Not trying to ruin anyone's holidays?

Bull Connor would have incited the riot.

Dan Connor

would have pranked the riot

John Connor

would have cried and been an annoying child actor throughout the riot’s sequel.

Roseanne Connor

would have eaten the riot

Rosanna Arquette

would have gotten naked in a 1980’s version of the riot

David Arquette

would have starred in some weird, straight-to-dvd B-movie version of the riot.

Alexis Arquette

would have changed genders in the middle of the riot.

A Lexus Sedan

would have driven through the Riot with a bow on it during Christmastime

the Sudan

would be thirsty during the riot

Cliff Arquette

would have been the Secret Square.

David Mamet

Would written the riot into the wilderness and cast Anthony Hopkins or William H. Macy as Joe Paterno.

Boom

excellent. Though I dont share your opinion that you’d take O’Brien over Cowher. I do agree he was a bit overrated.

So of your four points, three are based on the people that hired him

and one is based on his resume…so substantively: do you have questions or concerns or both? And what are they?

I was specifically asked to compare this hire to Tomlin.

I’ll start here, I had questions and concerns about Tomlin as well, then I saw his first press conference. There is a difference between a coordinator and a head coach. There needs to be a certain not quantifiable “it” factor to a head coach. And whatever “it” is, Mike Tomlin showed he had it in about six seconds. I’m not saying I knew he’d be a good coach right away, but I am saying it was instantly obvious why they hired him. Maybe this guy is like that too.

Substantively, my concern is that he is a lifetime offensive coach that doesn’t really have any accomplishments that don’t directly relate to work that I can’t easily credit to three or four other people off the top of my head. Moreover, not for nothing, the Patriots haven’t won a playoff game in how long? The Steelers defense shut down Tom Brady for the first time this season in how long?

I don’t not like this hire because O’Brien is an unknown. I don’t like it because it strikes me as something a bad NFL owner would do. “Hey our offense sucks, I know, let’s hire the Patriots offensive coordinator. Look at those statistics, he must be good”.

I admit that it’s not fair to judge the guy before he’s even had a press conference. But here is what I know so far, his former employer is a scoundrel, he’s is being vouched for by fools, and I’ll I’ve heard from him so far is an agent saying he’s looking for an NFL coaching job.

If they don’t want this decision to be judged harshly, they need to give out some more information.

Exactly

Excellent.

Strong points

Definitely agree that the presser will give us a better impression. First impressions are important, and he’s yet to make his to us.

The last two paragraphs are very fair.

You lose me a little in the middle, though. Who’s responsible for the offense at New England isn’t clear to me. Sure, having Brady makes those numbers possible; but BOB very well could be the one directly responsible for using tight ends more effectively than they ever had been before. Maybe it’s BB or someone else; but no one here knows.

I really don’t get the vibe that this is a “bad-owner” hire. But maybe my spidey sense is down. It seems like maybe Joyner made a strategic decision to get an up-and-coming NFL coach, which wasn’t a bad tactic. Given this guy’s ACC pedigree and new england roots, he was probably a better fit than others. But you could very well be right on this one; hope your not, but the balance of evidence suggests Joyner is punching above his weight.

My point about New England's offense...

…is that it’s not as good as it usually is. The Jets beat the hell out of them in the playoffs last year. It’s an offense that can not handle any measure of physicality at all, and I don’t see that as being a great fit with the way the Big Ten plays, and more importantly, how things like defense pass interference is call in the conference.

Moreover, it’s not a transferable offense. It requires Tom Brady. No coach has been able to replicate the Patriots success, anywhere. I don’t think it’s realistic to think were buying the Patriots offense with this guy. And if were not, what the hell are we buying?

Bill Belichick coaching tree ftw!

You are missing the most important point, in my opinion.

Josh McDaniels left. Belichick, the person who knows BOB the best at this point, elected not to promote him to OC for a very long time IN FAVOR OF LEAVING THE POSITION VACANT. Inspire confidence to you?

but he eventually promoted him

and he hired him in the first place.

At the very least, O’Brien’s a good playcaller, much better than the two-headed monster we’ve got right now. And he’s been in that position for a few years.

The Steelers beat the Pats offense by keeping them off the field. I’d need to look at the stats to see how they compare to other years.

Who says he is a good playcaller?

He hired him from college OC, to offensive quality control. From attrition, he became WR coach, QB coach, and was not given the vacant OC job while Belichick (at least claimed to) called the plays with some “input” from BOB. Then after two seasons of OC vacancy, in the last year of his contract, BB says he is the OC this year. Doesn’t sound to me like someone he trusts offensively. He was a college OC and wasn’t trusted to take the vacant position in the NFL for 2 full seasons.

The Steelers beat the Patriots offense

By jamming their receivers at the line and getting Brady out of rhythm and then kicking the shit out of their terrible defense.

If you can get Brady on the ground

you can stop this offense. It’s not even much of a secret.

But Dante is the best coach in this

business so it’s easier said than done.

This is true.

He’s just good at getting the ball out quickly.

You don't even have to get him to the ground.

Disrupting the routes is enough.

Disrupting the routes

is effective because it buys you time to get to him. Once you start to hit him a few times he gets happy feet. Anytime you see him start to dance a little you know things are about to get ugly.

Correct.

didnt he call the plays though

even if he didnt get the actual title.

Ok, to be fair, interpreting a Belichick presser is not easy,

but his statements usually amounted to BB called the plays with BOB’s “help” or “input”.

And Brady changed them at the LOS?

Bring back Quarless

If he didn’t already burn all his Penn State shit with the rest of the lettermen

"He has a knee"

Oh Dear Lord — I’m going to miss having a coach who says stuff like that.

It is going to make me cry at some point

probably many points next year.

Wish the current QB's were unhappy.

I’ve had about enough of them.

look on the bright side

Maybe Jones gets his academics in order since he sees a clear path to NFL draft with a good coach running an NFL style offense.

If I were them, I'd actually be worried

That this guy tosses them aside. But who knows. Moxie probably can’t even comprehend the possibility.

Can't get this image out of my head.

That has O’Brien in Moxie’s face on the sideline for throwing it deep into triple coverage. Although, with Moye graduating, maybe his propensity to do so will deteriorate.

Only his propensity to GET AWAY WITH IT will deteriorate

My opinion.

Also Skylar M. is going to be the next Tom Brady so don’t worry about it.

People can be pissed off about the hire

I am….but that doesn’t mean PSU people won’t support him. This has been emotional rollercoaster. Like many people here I don’t think O’Brien is the right hire but we aren’t Michigan and I am sure the alumni base will fully support the new coach next fall.

I love that he is doing that.

Dude lives in Mechanicsburg, I’m on the West Shore, maybe I should shake his hand and thank him for actually making some sense.

Stop freaking out

Schools never announce these things until it’s official. Often there’s no announcement until the coach can be there to be introduced after the contract is signed. Ohio State fans weren’t freaking out when the rumors about Urban Meyer were swirling and they didn’t make an announcement until it was official. The last thing we want is to make an official announcement and then have something happen (him back off or us change our mind).

Yes, the search was handled poorly. No, Bradley could not have been the coach. He couldn’t. Perception matters. You can ignore public perception when you have a lot of goodwill built up, all our goodwill has been taken away recently. That’s reality. We need to move on and accept this. It is definitely unfair to Bradley, but let’s face it all of this is unfair. It’s what’s best for Penn State to have a new coach. We need a new AD and president as well.

Also, stop sounding like Michigan fans. We don’t know what O’Brien is like. It’s a little early to say he won’t understand Penn State values. He has coached at good academic schools in the past. He went to Brown. He’s currently coaching for one of the few organizations in the NFL that cares about moral character. Give him a chance. I know Belicheck is smug and annoying, but that doesn’t mean O’Brien will be as well. Now, if he comes in and gets recruiting violations and doesn’t care about academics, I will be with you on this. Until then, give him a chance.

psfann - January 6, 2012 reply

Recruiting Issue

I think a big issue a lot of people, including myself have, is that if O’Brien is the guy as is likely…..he is not leaving NE a week ago. Someone can correct me if I am wrong but as an active NFL coach I believe that he cannot speak with high school recruits under NCAA guidelines. We need someone out there RIGHT NOW! If O’Brien is not willing to do that…..any offer should have been rescinded.

He’s currently coaching for one of the few organizations in the NFL that cares about moral character

huh?

1LisHell - January 6, 2012 reply

cheating is moral

if you look at it from a standpoint of “im just trying to educate myself before I decide what Im going to do.”

If you look at it like its cheating, which it is, then its immoral.

A little

For the most part, their players are much better behaved than other teams. Yes, the taping was immoral. It’s the NFL. If you care a little about morals, that puts you on higher ground than half the teams. I’m not saying their saints, but I’d rather have someone from the Patriots organization than the Raiders or a lot of other teams.

psfann - January 6, 2012 reply

I'll say screw and support the guy once he's in State College doing his job.

But this staying in New England shit is totally unacceptable, and should have been a deal breaker.

I'm with you there

It makes it look like we were pursuing him, and being able to coach the playoff was his dealbreaker. I can’t believe Joyner would be that bad at negotiating.

The conspiracy theorist in me says this could all be a giant distraction...

To keep the news away from the real hire: Leslie Miles or Nicky Lou Saban.

Unlikely… but if so, then that’s some quality poker.

PROBABLY BOTH

You're close

My inside sources tell me Miles as OC, Saban as DC.

Head coach? Russ Rose.

I'd prefer Cael Sanderson as HC

Ooooh

Maybe Russ Rose can coach special teams!

Remember when our biggest argument was why didn’t PSU have a dedicated special teams coach?

Ah, the glory days of old.

Now there's a choice I could get behind

Agree 100%

I just hope BOB retains Spider.

Seriously.

They fire Spider

and I’m done

JIMPSU - January 6, 2012 reply

Absolutely.

BTW, what about John Thomas?

HIT or change-it-up?

I'm a JT fan

but who knows now?!?!

WHAT DID HE KNOW AND WHEN??

Seriously though if I wanted a job at PSU as a low level assistant would I have a chance?

It seriously crossed my mind to call and apply for a job. I know typically that GAs get these jobs, but would a young high school head coach have a shot from your inside opinion?

Only one who was good with the wiki

Well.

N77CV (BE20) has just filed a flight plan. It is scheduled to depart from University Park (KUNV) at 02:00PM EST heading for Boston Logan Intl (KBOS) for an estimated arrival at 03:11PM EST.

Welp...

There you go.

I'm just happy he'll be at his press conference in person

Logan?

Generally private planes tend to fly to regional and municipal fields, not busy international airports like Logan. It could very easily be dropping the fencing team off to catch an international flight out of Logan to Italy where they are competing this weekend. It would explain why they’re going to Logan as opposed to a regional or muni field. Wouldn’t be surprised if it was for Obrien though.

(also, it’s cost prohibitive to send a plane somewhere to pick someone up. Very expensive. It would be more likely that they would charter a plane that’s already on the ground in Boston. That’s what OSU did with Urbz. They chartered a plane from Gulf Atlantic Airways in Gainesville to bring Urbz to OSU regional airport).

They haven't made a single good decision yet

why start now by picking a better airport?

Ha! Very true!

It just struck me as odd. My brother works for one of the larger private jet companies out there, and he agreed that it would be a big waste of money to send a jet to pick someone up (which is why their company and many others try to avoid it). But yeah, it’s not like the BoT or administration has been making the best decisions as of late.

That's why they brought

Ira Lubert, huge donor, into the mix. So he can pay for NetJets to fly back and forth with empty planes to throw reporters off the trail.

IT'S A TRAP

Check the train departures from New Orelans to State College

Rec'd because I laughed.

I support BOB!

even if he is just a cartoon character….

jaytay13 - January 6, 2012 reply

Here's my angry take

This guy is just looking for some padding to his career before he jumps ship on us. I take it he burned some bridges with Tom Brady, was looking to bounce, and this was the best opportunity he could find since basically all D1 head coaching positions are currently filled and he was unlikely to get a shot as head coach of an NFL team.

I see this (alleged) hire as more penance for our fans and alumni. 2-3 seasons of utter despair after this reckless hire should be enough to wash the stink off the program and move forward with a decent hire.

Unforunately

Of your two comments, this one is the clear future to me

ReddWhitenBlue - January 6, 2012 reply

I disagree.

He didn’t need to burn any bridges, I think he already knew his contract wouldn’t get renewed once his deal is up at the end of the playoffs.

Yeah, I'd have to think screaming at TB on national tv

Equals “zero job” post-season.

I see nothing wrong with screaming at Brady

especially if they get along in general. It just shows that both he and Brady are passionate and Type A guys. I’d be more worried if there was an actual rift or some long-standing pissing match or something. Sometimes people butt heads.

Of course not.

I actually like the passion. But, if they aren’t “palsies”, I’d think his days would be numbered at NE.

Here's my upbeat take

If this guy comes in, keeps LJ Sr and/or Vanderlin, let’s them recruit through the end of the playoffs and then gives us a decent offense with a comparable Bradley-coached defense, we’re looking at a scenario pretty close to what I wanted. Give me a string of defenses from 2000-present and an offense with a pulse and we’re in the B1G title contention most seasons.

In 2-3 years we’ll laugh at all this freaking out and be fondly refering to Bill or Bob or whatever the fuck his name is as BoPA or OPa, or something.

Cooler Heads Must Prevail

Look, I knew from the git go that whoever followed Joe was going to incite riots. The problem we now face is the one that every other university faced for the last 50 years…

If he’s not YOUR guy, then you hate him and hope he’s fired. Look at how bad things are at Georgia. If Richt doesn’t get ten win and a bowl game, there are billboards on I95 calling for his resignation.

I was at UNC in the early 2000’s. The partisan bickering (in both basketball and football) over the coaches was deafening.

I’d hate to see that happen here at Penn State…but here we go already.

What I’d like to see is a good brisk discussion among ourselves and a big blue wall to rest of the world. Once he’s hired, let’s accept him. Let him succeed or fail on his own merit. If he sucks, then we’ll hold him accountable.

But with the cluster-f&^k that this search was…why would we be in a rush to do it again anytime soon?

87Townie - January 6, 2012 reply

Blockquote fail sorry.

If this joker stays with the Pats through the playoffs he has already shown himself to be unworthy of the head coach position. I hope Lavar and Short rip Joyner’s arms off!

87Townie - January 6, 2012 reply

A potential, probably nonexistant positive that I'm still excited for

Seen him play several times. He is the best high school player I’ve ever seen in person by a mile, and I’ve seen people like Arrellious Benn, Kenny Tate, Jelani Jenkins, and Marcus Coker.

But I’m definitely getting my hopes up. How we never offered him is beyond me.

Somehow this didn't post correctly?

http://bwi.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1315482

GOD DAMMIT

I cried only once in the past two months.

When I watched 324. Specifically when the players yelled Sue’s name as she appeared and Joe himself teared up.

I have very little emotional reaction to this hire. I have no more emotions.

I wish Coach O’Brien the best, but I will not be following this program for some time.

You'll be back.

With all due respect, you don't know me.

If you want me to let it rip to prove it to you, fine, I will. But I’ve already hashed and rehashed my issues with Penn State.

No need.

But Penn State is still Penn State. As long as the players keep suiting up with the black shoes, and name-less jerseys.

They better not mess with the uniforms

i will be livid.

If they think this reaction is bad

They can’t even fathom what would happen if they touch the uniforms.

Seconded

I think people would start to really go into rage mode if that happened

If that happened

I would drive right on up to old main and riot myself. I’ll even bring my own torch.

If he messes with that, I'm done

As Seinfeld said, supporting a team is supporting Laundry, and ours is the best.

and we'll welcome you back

Joe is/was a HUGE part of PSU football, but he is/was not ALL of PSU football. This has been coming for a long time. It happened in the most gut wrenching horrible way possible, but it is here. We need to pick up the pieces and move on.

I am glad you are on these boards

This has been coming for a long time.

If you had told me as a kid that Penn State would fire any man or woman as a media scapegoat, I never would have become Penn State fan.

Damn it, I can't talk.

I can’t put this into words. I’m done trying. I’ve written fifteen different comments, but nothing works because I can’t talk. This is as good as I can do right now.

Joe Paterno the person isn’t Penn State football. Joe Paterno’s ideal is Penn State football. And I have seen nothing in the last two months to indicate anything other than the fact that Penn State’s administration doesn’t get it. Everything about the way they handled the scandal was wrong. Nearly everything about the way they’ve handled the search has been awful.

We had something good and they’ve either disrespected or thrown nearly every bit of it away. I can’t freaking talk any better than that.

I’ll see you all some other time. I wish O’Brien the best, but Penn State football is fading away.

I'm not sure there was a "good" or "proper" way to handle these two months.

I am as heartbroken as any over these events, but I’m trying to move on.

I would have settled for professional

You don’t fire a 40+ year janitor via messenger/via telephone let alone JVP who represents so much more than just PSU football. The BOT looked like inept fools in their presser instead of a strong governing body. They knew this s.storm was coming and should have had plans in place for dealing with the media fallout. Also as Rambler has alluded to…..they have sought to distance PSU from all things Paterno in spite of all the good work he did for the University. If they had to move on fine…..at least be a man and do it in person. Moreover…..don’t look to distance yourself from someone who has done so much for both the football team and the school!

As for the search for the next coach, if Joyner and Erickson thought it prudent to include a bunch of people on the search committee that know nothing about football….fine……but why not include some distinguished football alums too…….people that should have input on the way they want the program to continue. Franco and MRob come to mind right away. The fact is they didn’t want that input. Instead they have hired a guy who may work out ok….but in reality….doesn’t seem willing to jump into the job asap and doesn’t have that good of resume (see his work at Duke and GT).

you're making me soften my stance a little

and I agree with your points/ideas

I just don’t get the huge backlash about the hire is all

He could turn out to be great....we'll see

The cupboard certainly is not bare and if he can turn PJ, McG, Bolden or Morninwhig (sp) into a decent QB, PSU could have a very good season next year. I have issues with his body of work but as I was telling my dad the other day……a so-so coordinator can turn out to be a good head coach if he hires great assistants. IMO….he needs to hire some people that know PA and OH recruiting. If he could retain any one of the current staff defensive staff it would be a plus for him….though that may be out of his hands. He at least better bring some guys in that can recruit against Urban. NFL ties are a positive recruiting tool (as Fat Charlie showed at ND). That said I don’t like it that he isn’t jumping into the job right now. Roman said all the right things about the PSU job…..this guy (though his agent) hasn’t done the same. He needs to start winning over the alumni base now so he doesn’t face a RR situation.

I don't think its backlash about the hire

Its backlash about the entire process. Anyone who coaches Penn State will always have my support, so long as they coach with the ideals of Paterno in mind: win honorably, graduate players, understand that you are part of something bigger than yourself, behave humbly, etc.

The issue is that BOB has been ‘named’ head coach without Bradley, LJ, or Vandy being informed. This process has been drug out much longer than it needed to be. That the search was handled arrogantly and seemingly in an attempt to distance itself from the Paterno era is disheartening.

Everything about this has been handled in the most unprofessional way possible, while the same silence and arrogance that dominated the headlines in November continue to be the norm for these administrators.

Outside hires can succeed at PSU. Paterno was an outside hire. The backlash isn’t against someone who isn’t from PSU, but rather against PSU alumn that don’t seem to represent who we are as a community.

I agree with everything except the last paragraph.

Paterno was an assistant coach for years under Engle before he was hired. So, granted he didn’t graduate from Penn State, but he was definitely “from the family” when he was hired.

mleepsu08 - January 6, 2012 reply

Well...

But Rip Engle was an outside hire!

taking for granted that

LJ, Scrap etal weren’t informed is speculation IMO…unless there is some info out there that i missed

They're saying that they weren't told anything.

Doesn’t necessarily that they weren’t. LJ just showed up at Lasch and disavowed any knowledge of anything…said he’s just back from a recruiting trip.

gotcha

well, nowadays, it’s tough to keep a secret…PSU probably wanted to have BOB on hand for a formal announcement, maybe that wasn’t possible until tomorrow logistically. in the meantime the cat got out, etc. Sucks all the way around, but waddyagonnado?

Well that doesn't bode well

for his chances of staying on the staff. Don’t you think someone would have run that by him?

I've based a lot of that on

The fact that there were reports from bowl week about the angst amongst the coaches who didn’t know if they’d be back or not. I believe there were a few direct quotes from LJ Sr to that point. And really, its fairly obvious that no one on the staff (Scrap) was really given fair consideration for the job. Thats absolutely fine, but they shouldn’t have been led to believing they did. Also, the fanbase shouldn’t have been led to believing that either.

I would have been disheartened had I heard 8 weeks ago that Scrap wasn’t getting the job, but I’d at least respect Joyner for being honest about it and giving the guy the chance to interview elsewhere.

Yes

I specifically remember Joyner saying publicly that tires to PSU (and I think current ties were implied, if not said explicitly) were NOT a deal breaker. I certainly took as a statement that they would fairly evaluate the current staff and other ex-PSU guys. Unless O’Brien absolutely killed in his interview, I have a hard time believing that they really thought he was better than Bradley.

Unless they were just THAT infatuated with the NFL thing. Which really brings into question their competence, as well as how much they even pay attention to college football today.

well....

perhaps Joyner was keeping all his options open…re: he may have needed Bradley as a fall back option. It makes no sense to jettison the current staff with uncertainty about who could/would take the job

I guess my point of contention is

Shouldn’t Bradley have been a fall back option before it got to O’Brien? It sure as hell seems that way. And since it got past Scrap, he clearly wasn’t a fall back option, period.

OH hell yeah

Bradley is superior to BOB in every way at this point.

I don't think these hacks in the administration will last long either

I pray you're right.

What was everyone expecting? The program is tarnished for the next decade. Lucky it didn't shut itself down for a year.

Our recruiting is going to suck and we will be a non-factor on the national stage for the next 10 years.

Slawsc - January 6, 2012 reply

I refuse to accept that as innevitable

me too

I live in florida and I hear about this crap every day on sports talk radio. people rather talk about Sandusky than the Gators.

I hate to believe it, but I think it will take us longer to get back on the top than what anyone
wants or wishes.

Slawsc - January 6, 2012 reply

Fortunately the slack-jawed yokels who call into FL sports radio have very little power

Just shut up

with that crap.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7408041/tennessee-titans-coach-mike-munchak-not-dead-set-penn-state-nittany-lions-sources-say

so it sounds like they wanted Munchak

but since they couldn’t get him O’Brien was the next one.

jetskijoe - January 6, 2012 reply

If it was really only between Munchak and O'Brien

then O’Brien must have absolutely rocked the interview. Maybe that is reassuring?

THIS JUST IN

Munchak to be named next PSU head coach.

Bill O’Brien to be named next Tenessee Titans head coach

HOORAY

Horse N Buggy - January 6, 2012 reply

Because my sources say so.

Quick!

To the Twitters!

Hugo Bezdek, Bob Higgins, Joe Bedenk, Rip Engle, Joe Paterno, Bill O'Brien

One of these things is not the like the others…

IRISH

Explains why no one around here likes him

Higgins is a pretty Irish name isnt it?

every Higgins I ever met is Irish

Was shortened at Ellis Island

D’ Higginzino was the family name.

my neighbor was named higgins

dont think he was irish. He was a Michigan fan though…

well then it wasnt worth talking to him about.

so what if we hired Tom Clements like some expected

Would still be having the same argument that he is not leaving the Packers right away to go to Penn State to be there for National Signing Day. Everyone would be up in arms because he won’t be there for National Signing day. Wouldn’t the same thing have happened with any NFL Coach that made it into the playoffs. I guess it just sucks for him being on a team that wins. Wouldn’t it be the same thing if Munchak and the Titans made it into the playoffs?

jetskijoe - January 6, 2012 reply

He's not the OC in charge of the offensive game plan

if he wouldn’t leave early, that wouldn’t make much sense at all.

That's a bit of an assumption

BOB could very easily walk away and wish the Pats luck right now.

Please tell me this is fake

Bill O’Brien @OBrienPSU
“I understand the frustration some may have here. You should know that I have a tremendous amount of respect for Tom Bradley.”

runlikeanantelope - January 6, 2012 reply

Fake

That is a fake twitter account

So I wonder what the interview questions were?

1) So what’s it like to spit in Tom Brady’s face – I always wanted to do that!
2) Does Bill B. personally cut off the sleeves of his hoodie?
3) You knw we FIRED JoePa – don’t you?

GoodOleDays - January 6, 2012 reply

The best part about the hoodie

Is that they put his initials on the front. Like, in case you can’t remember which hoodie with sleeves cut off is Bill’s.

http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2012/1/6/2687322/everyone-needs-a-zook-from-an-unpublished-manuscript-by-dr-seuss#storyjump

If you need a laugh (and I think we all do)

stop what you’re doing and read this now.

Very nice. Very nice.

So very nice to see
And it did. It did.
Get a chuckle out of me.

A Warning

I think it’s a joke that a sizeable contingency of the PSU community has already come out and voiced their displeasure with the hire. While I understand that one must critique the performances of those in charge, coming out in force only hours after the man was hired, publicly, does nothing but seriously damage your brand – a Penn State brand that needed serious repair prior to this anyway.

Trust me, I went through it for three years in RichRod’s tenure – we had a whole host of former players, famous alumni and the general fan base that constantly "hated on" RichRod throughout his three years here. And trust me, as an avid fan and personal friend of many that were part of our program during these three years, it DOES have a serious effect on the team, the Coach’s ability to do his job, and the program as a whole. A negative one at that.

We can debate this all day, and I can assure you that I recognize that you cannot draw simple conclusions on "who knew what" and "who didn’t do what", but the fact of the matter is this – the most despicable acts a human being can commit were committed in the halls and locker rooms of your football facilities, and your program is tied to that. Bottom line. I can assure you that when someone thinks’ "Penn State Football", images of Kijana Carter and "black shoes" are now replaced by images that are too graphic to describe. While it might not seem like that to you because Penn State Football is close to your heart, the average fan, players, recruit – heck, even those who are intertwined in the world of football – have those images.

I understand your feelings that this hire was not at the top of your list – and I understand your anger. But guess what? A lot of second, third, fourth etc. choices worked out very well for some programs. Penn State has a serious, serious image problem and I am not taking a huge leap in assuming that it was very, very difficult to attract a lot of candidates for this job, even those potential candidates that are coaching at programs well below the level of Penn State. I followed your coaching search closely and thought it was absolutely laughable the names being thrown out there. Nick Saban? I legitimately have more of a shot bedding Vida Guerra tonight than Penn State had a shot at Nick Saban.

Look – I’m not trying to sound like a rival fan poking fun at you guys, because trust me, I’m really not trying to be. All I’m saying is this – give this guy a chance. A public outcry against the hire – before the guy has even had an opportunity to address the Penn State community (and before the hire is even announced!) is ridiculous and doing nothing but seriously damaging a brand that already needed serious repair before this happened. Trust me – I experienced it for three years in our program, and we had much better circumstances to begin with. Brandon Short publicly threatening lawsuits and referencing the "tangible standard at Penn State" will do nothing but make you guys the laughingstock of college football.

Stand by your coach. And stand by your school. And if things aren’t going well, keep the finger pointing and criticism in-house.

Penn State’s #1 issue right now is to repair the glorious brand and reputation that took so long to build, not winning football games. In the end, your brand and reputation is the most important thing you have.

"In the end, your brand and reputation is the most important thing you have."

Wrong.

No, Right.

Reputation is the most important thing you have. Always.

This explains a lot about Michigan.

Yes, It Does

And Penn State’s reputation will need to be repaired before it can get back to where you guys belong.

In an effort to be less obtuse...

… I care about what the university is and does a lot more than I care about its brand and reputation. What you think, what ESPN thinks, what mouthbreathers on sports radio think, all the things that add up to reputation, are not the most important thing we have.

Yes it is - You don't understand

Perception is reality. How do you guys think you’ll recruit with your current reputation. Not well.

If you think that, then brand and reputation aren’t the most important thing to you, winning is. Brand and reputation are just critical components of that.

What does it matter?

The world is full of haters. At this point, our reputation to outsiders will never be what it was.

dees ees en drama - January 6, 2012 reply

Character > Reputation

Reputation is what people think of you. Character is what you actually are. Character is who you are when nobody is looking.

A little cheesy, but it got to me once on the intertubes

well said.

Solid distinction.

And the Perception = Reality thing

Is so trite, it’s become ignorant. Or juvenile. Which often are the same thing.

Yes.

yup

It's worked out a lot better for ya

since you brought a UM guy back into the fold…..hasn’t it? I am not happy with the hire….don’t like O’Brien’s body of work. His greatest achievement seems to be as OC for Tom Brady (who makes anyone look good). Duke sucked while he was there and GT was so-so at best. Regardless of all that this guy may turn out to be a good coach. That said……his failure to dive into his duties as HC RIGHT NOW is disturbing. Also the composition of the committee and process that went about choosing this guy did not include any of the PSU football family (which it should of) outside the AD….Epic FAIL!

He was almost going to ND

According to what I’ve read, O’Brien was set to follow O’Leary to Notre Dame until it was discovered that O’Leary lied on his resume. O’Brien’s connection to O’Leary doesn’t help, btw. But they did do well enough at GT to merit the upgrade to ND. At least, I recall from the time that most people thought that was a good hire for ND.
After that blew up, O’Brien stayed on with Chan Gailey, but then left to be Maryland’s RB coach with Friegen. That’s suspicious. Why would he take downgrade in job like that? Maybe he just didn’t fit into Chan Gailey’s picture and he would have been friends with Friedgen from before, so I guess that sort of makes sense. Sort of.

GT has been ok at best since I have lived in Atlanta

They play in a crap conference and usually aren’t that good. Granted Tech is a very small school and they have their own recruiting issues but still Tech never lit it up under O’Leary. As for Gailey the guy took all his teams to bowls but never could put forth a dominate team. This is the ACC not the Big 10 or SEC. Struggles there do not leave me with a good sense of security. Tom Brady is the Pats….so I give this guy no credit for any success at NE. I temper this by saying he may turn out to be a good coach and I will support him……but his failure to jump into the job now is not a good start!

Didn't GT win a co national title?

But that was with Bobby Ross, right?

Yes....early 90's

I always thought RichRod was overrated as a coach...

But, I agree with many of your points. We can hate the actions of Joyner and the BoT but we should wait and see how he does creating a staff, recruiting, etc. I don’t want this to turn into that situation. Even if UM did end up with the right guy eventually in Brady Hoke, there was a lot of unnecessary angst before that.

So I totally agree with you.

I do too.

RichRod

Made mistakes, but he wasn’t given the real opportunity to succeed. There were a lot of tough years that shouldnt have been under him.

I’m glad we have Hoke – I can assure you that I wasn’t 100 percent behind the hire as he was my third choice. Having said that, I am confident he is going to work out well.

This is the difference

O’Brien wasn’t in anyone’s top 50, top 100 at the onset of this coaching search.

Was Les Miles coming here? NO. But no other coach in America wanted this job?

119 Div-1 schools

So, he’s not in my top 119. And that’s just college!

RichRod was a terrible hire from day 1.

Even outsiders saw that. That criticism was due. I actually would have supported the Hoke hire from day 1. I like the idea of hiring an up-and-comer.

Yeah, I agree

I didn’t like it either, especially because of the total change of philosophy, and then the reaction by everyone inside and outsite of the UM community….I knew it was going to fail.

I can honestly say, I DON’T KNOW about the Bill O’Brian experience, how it will turn out. I am skeptical, but I am willing to wait and see what choices he makes in hiring, how he does in recruiting, etc. for the next couple of years.

RichRod got plenty of opportunities to succeed; if he had worked to keep Mallett, et.al, hired a good D coordinator, won more games, etc., he would still be the HC.

this constant need to defend RichRod is baffling. he was awful; fielded the worst defense in Michigan’s history in 2009 and then fielded an even worse defense in 2010.

mattison takes basically the same guy and you win 11 games.

if RichRod had won even 9 games, he would still be the HC.

stop with the revisionist history

Um

Stand by your coach.

Worked pretty well for you guys & RichRod

Sometimes, people criticize decisions because the decision needs criticism.

This...

Sometimes, people criticize decisions because the decision needs criticism

Not every decision is right. It is a little early to judge, obviously, but criticism is certainly due.

Sometimes the soup is cold.

Sometimes the soup is cold.

And the waiter sneaks off with your wife to the restroom.

Oh damnit, not again

STACEY! STACEY WHERE ARE YOU, YOU CHEATING BITCH!?

Stand by RichRod

Anyone who thinks Michigan stood by RichRod is crazy

And that's the point

You advise us to stand by O’Brien, yet no one at UM stood behind RichRod (and deservedly not).

Though as I said before I thought he was overrated at WVU

I agree he was set up to fail at UM.

this is revisionist history. go actually look a the media reports, etc., about RichRod

RichRod got plenty of support from the Michigan old-guard; if he had won more games, he would have gotten more and more support from the old-guard.

stop spewing this revisionist history on other websites.

Steel guitar . . .

Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Tammy Wynette!

Thank you for your concern

I will file that advice away, in an appropriate folder..

Thanks for offering your POV

I had the same exact converstation with my roommate

and he is a Michigan fan. The fractured fan base will only lead to massive problems for the program.

At Michigan, once Miles turned it down, or was shot down they went into full scramble mode and grabbed RichRod. Once there, RichRod was basically setup to fail because everyone that wanted a Michigan man was the vocal minority and went off. From that no matter what he did, nothing was going to make people happy. Throw in that he decided to crap on Michigan traditions and not reach out to alums and you have a recipe for disaster.

O’Brien if he is confirmed will need to talk with the lettermen, alumni, players, recruits, etc and be honest that he knows all of the tradition that Penn State has had and will continue to do that. If he doesn’t, welcome to the RichRod Era of Michigan Football.

cmdpsu15 - January 6, 2012 reply

No

If I remember right, RR went out of his way to shit on Michigan traditions: giving up the #1 jersey, for example. They wanted a Michigan man, and got a West Virginia man. We wanted a Penn State man, and got.. Well, we’re not sure yet.

this pure MGoBlog revisionist history. why does a certain segment of the Michigan fanbase feel the need to defend RichRod. He lost too many games. End of story.

I'd love for the press conference announcing the new coach to begin with Joyner at a table with 5 hats

One with O’Brien on it, one with Schiano on it, one with Clements on it, and ….nevermind. That might be a bad idea..

Spats - January 6, 2012 reply

I'm not sure how it'd look when

We inevitably select the Oregon hat, though.

SVP Show

hahahaha SVP an Ricillo make interesting points, yet they just dont get it. Ugh this is so frustrating all around.

Don't know if this was already discussed above and in other comments sections of posts...

I was wondering if anyone knew (or if it has been reported, rumored, etc.) whether we had someone else, a bigger name, but they bailed at the last moment. I would be astonished if the BoT was this incompetent, I mean we know they aren’t the brightest bunch, but this is beyond stupidity. The action of Hiring BOB seems of desperation and it led to the thought above.

Thoughts…or whispers anywhere about this??

Absolutely reasonable assumption.

However, we will likely never know the full truth, so the speculation will continue.

Yeah, you are probably right....

was just curious if anyone saw anything about that on the blogosphere or something. You youg’uns are all in tune with this internet…I’m just old and slow….

Greg Roman seemed to WANT the job, why not him? And he has done more with the Niners than (Alex Smith is his QB for goodness sake) than this guy

gnuf - January 6, 2012 reply

Because he didn't come from the mighty Belichick coaching tree?

This “staying through the playoffs” thing is what bothers me the most. You need to catch up on lost time and hit the pavement and get to work

gnuf - January 6, 2012 reply

Reading about him wanting the job

really made me like him. This guy, not so much.

whaddya know?

The FLC released an internal statement saying any comments by former players prior to a formal announcement by the University would be “premature” “reckless” and “against FLC protocol” and does not represent the views of our membership.

I guess Lavar, AND me should shut our pieholes :)

In American, we have the right to remain silent.

More people should make use of that right. :)

Joe 96alum - January 6, 2012 reply

Or just keep on being reckless!

i'm certainly immature

if not premature

I think there's a pill for that...

IcersGuy - January 6, 2012 reply

Always better than feckless.

http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/2012/1/6/2687151/bill-obrien-hired-penn-state-robert-kraft

Have people seen this yet?

Orange and Black Forever - January 6, 2012 reply

Just to confirm: The FUNNIEST thing we'll read about this unfortunate hiring mess

from EDSBS. Who else?
http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2012/1/6/2687322/everyone-needs-a-zook-from-an-unpublished-manuscript-by-dr-seuss#storyjump

I'm beginning to calm down.

While I still hate how the search was handled, I’m willing to hear BOB out. That is if we ever schedule a press conference. I have a feeling this farce will be on the syllabus for the How Not to Handle a Crisis PR class, coming soon to Communications Departments around the country!

michellemtsu - January 6, 2012 via iPhone app reply

I just can't see how O'Brien was a desirable candidate.

Is he a “young up and comer”? I think that implies success maybe at smaller opportunities, someone off the radar. 1-22 at Duke and RECORD REDACTED at Georgia Tech don’t imply any success to me. I haven’t played football since HS, and like to think I could have success as the OC of the Patriots. Was he the only guy still returning the committees calls? Probably. Does this say more about him or the hiring committee?

I mean

Jacksonville had the chance and said no. JACKSONVILLE!

Dude is almost 60

the only ‘up and coming’ for him is retirement

hes 42.

That's almost 60!

very true

Apologies

I read somewhere he was 57

Just change that to: Dude is almost 60

The only ‘up and coming’ for him is the Rams job. And you’ll be golden.

Wait..

Dude is 42*

think it was Clements who was/is 57; not sure to be honest; these internets have told me the "next PSU coach" was like 40 different guys. :-)

Yeah..

Clements was almost 60, I think.

58

Not Poe Jaterno?

http://www.change.org/petitions/psu-alumni-for-reorganization-of-the-board-of-trustees

A bit off topic

…and I’ll probably make another FanPost of this info later. But, here are two more links, if you are interested:

and

http://www.facebook.com/groups/REORGANIZE.PSU.BOT/

More later…

Orange and Black Forever - January 6, 2012 reply

Forde sums it up well...

What the university has done well in the tawdry two months since the Jerry Sandusky scandal broke couldn’t fill an eye-dropper. What it has done poorly about the situation would overflow an Olympic-sized pool.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=pf-forde_penn_state_bill_obrien_010612

There are no boob pictures or boob puns in that article.

True, but he makes many of the points that we have been bitching about.

Yeah it's actually not bad, but Forde = boobs.

but but ... boobs are good, right? :-)

I like 'em.

Crud

I’ve agreed with M1EK and now PAT FORDE all in the same day?

Maybe the Mayans are right….

I know, right. Make 2012 count...

And

Skip Bayless (forgive me mr diety, I clicked on a

I've always liked Forde...

And that pretty much sums up the situation. So glad he left the EVIL EMPIRE over at ESPN.

I didn't read his initial reaction back in Nov.

Was it fair or ESPN-like?

guess

I really did read any initial reactions.

Because I was already so pissed off. I didn’t need a journalist to push me over the edge.

Yeah, honestly I don't remember....

I know many of the other writers followed the herd in condemning PSU. He must have written something about the scandal, but ESPN probably doesn’t have it anymore. Didn’t he leave around then as well. They probably won’t have any articles in their archives.

He was already working for Yahoo! at that point.

I think he started at Yahoo before it

He definitely was not at ESPN when it broke.

Thanks, and my bad...

So he must have written somthing.

something

I would be surprised if his reactions were any different than the myriad of sportswriters out there, except maybe for Joe Posnanski (sp?).

I remember reading that he was with Posnanski

when they visited the Joe and the Media class at PSU during the week after “It.” Just saw a few tweets by one of the students in the class but he gave the impression he fell more along the lines of Posnanski, but not nearly as eloquent or strongly.

I haven’t read anything he’s written about it.

psu87intn - January 6, 2012 reply

Very interesting.

maybe he didn’t want to voice his support for JoePa because he was worried about the reactions of his bosses at Yahoo! Posnanski, being older and more established, doesn’t care about stuff like that.

Forde’s articles have always been a good read and he’s usually been pretty fair, so maybe he didn’t follow the herd.

I just read the current piece

And he’s failed in the sense of not grasping what the PSU community is all about—not understanding what the “riots” were really in response to. (And I’m not saying they were right—but it’s not nearly as simple as “outsiders” want it to be.)

I will be looking forward to Posnanski’s stuff, should he write about it someday. Based on his other stuff, I trust him to at least try to grasp the complexity of the situation.

psu87intn - January 6, 2012 reply

I'm actually shocked

that people think there was a mass riot of people who were very angry that Joe Paterno could no longer coach and wanted to demonstrate. Sure, some people were upset about that, and most were still upset and confused at the whole thing. But what it was was an “event” – people went out because people were going out. Dudes did meathead things because if they weren’t flipping a news van, they’d have probably thrown furniture out of a 3rd story window or done something else stupid. I know because I did stuff like that all the time in college, for absolutely not reason. When you’re in college and immature and afraid, it’s fun to cause havoc, and especially to do it in groups.

Riots?

If that was what kids call riots today, they should be ashamed. 2001 basketball’s win over North Carolina was a substantially bigger “riot” than that was, and WE WON.

I don't remember a riot post-UNC

Now granted that year is an alcohol-fueled haze, but I do distinctly remember that there were no riots post-UNC because that game was played the day after St. Patrick’s and most were too hurt to drink, let alone riot. The big riot was a week later, after a Sweet 16 loss to Temple.

But I 100% agree w. your premise – that was a weak excuse for a riot. The NCAA b-ball and Arts Fest riots were actual riots.

PhilaLion - January 6, 2012 reply

Hmm, Temple was bigger.

But I was certain from my Penn Tower perch that there was one post-UNC, too. Eh, could be time and Yuengling warping memory.

Just discussing this with someone at work

His recollection was showing up sober with a huge crowd near Acme Pizza (dearly departed), but no mayhem. Mayhem following Temple… As I said, definite haze in my memory. Either way, there sure as hell wasn’t ESPN there to blow it out of proportion. And I don’t remember burning couches so we’re not WVU!

PhilaLion - January 6, 2012 reply

Then again

A riot on Temple’s campus would probably be one of the nicest and more pleasant events that have happened on that hell-hole of a campus in the past 60 years or so.

I wrote about that in a separate post yesterday...

A lot of those kids were just milling around. And there were much less being violent and aggressive. The national media totally distorted it, it was nothing compared to the Arts Fest riots…

I always liked him

and hope he didn’t. I sort of boycotted everyone who did.

Same here...

I don’t read anyone anymore, just BSD and everyone else here…

I also am looking forward to Posnanski’s piece, if he does end up publishing something on this.

There's nothing more likely to put me squarely in BO'Bs corner

than the media predicting his failure. Forde’s “career assistant” remark in particular.

My position is...

They are not ALL bad..just most of them. Forde, even when he was at ESPN, was pretty even handed, unlike say Mark Kneown (who I absolutely hate).

Ask yourselves a question...

Lately, when has ESPN broken a story before Yahoo or the blogosphere/twitterverse?

It helps that supposedly

JAWS was involved in the hiring process, if Pat Forde is right. But is he ever?

I hate JAWS.

Hate him.

If JAWS really had their fucking ear...

/brain explodes, leaks through eye sockets

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE.

If JAWS had their ear

and they were telling lettermen to get fucked…O DIO MIO

If JAWS had their ear, they're probably fucking deaf now.

If JAWS had their ear

that means Gruden was nearby, and they’re REALLY deaf now

Seriously, JAWS.

JAWS.

WHY WOULD ANYBODY WANT HIS OPINION ON ANYTHING?

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE.

I don't believe it

Why in the world would the seek him out? I have a hard time thinking he sought them out.

Supposedly he's friends with someone on the search committee

Lubert lives in Philly

Jaws I think lives in the Philly area and is involved in business ventures. Wouldn’t be surprised if they knew each other through something.

Co-partners with Bon Jovi on an Arena Football team?

Jesus H. Christ

So much for the aura of Ira Lubert

He keeps a pretty low profile

and spends a lot of time at his house in the islands.

I doubt he’s hanging out at Jaws’ house, but who knows.

I have no idea

I was just speculating that IF Jaws was consulted at all, that could possibly be the connection. Or it could be something else. Or he could not have been consulted at all. Or he could have been consulted after they had been seriously looking into O’Brien as a “hey, you know the NFL really well – can this guy coach?” Who knows?

I imagine

the search committee just threw some darts at a dartboard, rather than consult with anyone for advice, let alone Jaws.

Yeah, the way I put it

talking to a reputable expert in his field (as Jaws really is – he does know his shit) about someone before hiring them would actually be a positive move. Consulting him on the whole search would be stupid and insulting, but asking him his opinion on something that falls within his expertise would have been smart.

NOT JAWS DAMMIT, NOT JAWS!

Maybe an expert in the field, but NOT JAWS.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE.

I love that you're doing this by the way.

"We'll take....

the n*****S and the c^^^^s but no Irish!…grumble, grumble, grumble…Oh, prairie shit, everybody!"

DerryPharmer - January 6, 2012 reply

It's the kind of thing Pat Forde would make up only if he was looking for a way to piss me off specifically.

“I need to write something that will piss off WorldBFat today.”

I actually find it easier to believe that someone on the committee thought JAWS would be a good person to ask about candidates.

(that fucker got me too good with that wikipedia highjinks)

When you put it that way it starts making sense.

HE IS THE ARCHITECT OF THE PHILADELPHIA SOUL!

And was also the Grand Marshall in what looked like the world’s saddest victory parade.

So a Yo'Town State guy

gets more input than Penn State guys?

I think the conversation went like this

Joyner: I’d like to move us right along to a Bill O’Brien. Now we had a chance to meet this young man, and boy that’s just a straight shooter with upper management written all over him.

+1 for the Office Space reference.

Mmmmmmmm....

yeah, I’m going to have to go ahead and disagree with you.

I just can't seem to wrap my head around this interviewing process

So this hiring committee took their sweet old time over a few months to carefully find candidates, interview a whole bunch of them (I hope), and then all of a sudden O’Brien walks through the door, they interview him and immediately LOSE THEIR MINDS IN EXCITEMENT and hire him on the spot? Seems a bit…odd.

Maybe he walked into the room and pulled one of these:

Yeah, really

Even if plans A through KK fell through, you’d have to think someone with a better resume still would have liked the job.

I'm really Arrington and Short have this much passion now-

I’m curious to know where it was as they dropped three straight games to finish the ’99 reular season, inculding two 200 yard rushers in the same game?

Alright, alright

let’s stop eating our young.

I'm all in on this hire

Maybe its a false hope to put the past two months behind me- but if the bandwagon needs a new driver, count me in. If we need to stop and let off some folks- so be it. I don’t care how big your name may be- I’ll be back in section EJ come September.

For the record- only blue kool- aid on this bus

the twin 200 yarders

was aqainst sparty in ’97

get your defensive #EPICFAILS right :)

Sedrick Irvin &....

who again?

Marc Renaud?

Sigh

big sigh

I still had a fun weekend in deetroit city that weekend anyway.

tj duckett

I forgot about Duckett

Bigger sigh. I’ve tried to “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” that out of myself for, uh, 15 years now. Thanks for the correction.

ha!

Was thinking Renaud didn’t sound right. But was also remembering the amount of drank consumed that weekend so it kinda washed.

I just remembered he was a big deal at the time.

I kinda thought Duckett came later.

i'm 90% sure it was duckett

and i believe he was a frosh

Nope

You’re totally right. On both counts. Sobs uncontrollably

I think you're right.

I never would’ve remembered Sedrick Irvin.

I must have those two stinkers married in my mind

Thanks for the correction.

no problem

stinkers they indeed were

poohy bottoms!

Is this too soon?

Be careful which part of the anatomy you reference- those were Sandusky defenses…

But never with pooh!

That was strictly JoePa domain.

We may all be pissed about this hire and everything that has transpired, but in no way shape or form am I going to “take down my psu memorabilia and wipe my hands clean”. Fuck that noise. Shows Lavar’s true dedication, or lack thereof.

Agreed

I’m really uncomfortable with what Lavar and Short are saying. They look like whiny little babies to me. Feel free to say you’re disappointed with the coach and the process, and that you question his commitment or whatever, but don’t act like a 5 year old throwing their toys around the room.

Listening to Boston sports radio

Felger: “How do you feel about losing O’Brien?”
Mazzarotti: “Uh, I’m not worried about it at all. Maybe we can get Josh McDaniels back, that would be great.”
Felger: “Yeah maybe we could have a real coordinator back in there.”

I’m feeling even better about this hiring now.

Sigh.

Eh, Bastin Tahmy never cares.

Superbahl arr bust, pissahs!

MainLion - January 6, 2012 reply

FACK YOU!

Tammm Brady...

doesn’t needa an offensiva coordinata.

Does anybody know if the players have been told about this yet?

I keep hearing reports that they haven’t even been told yet and of course have to hear it from Twitter and the MSM. (I know, shocking with how well PSU has handled things to this point)

It's actually a secret

Don’t ruin it. SHHhhh

Why would they hold a press conference on wildcard Saturday?

When all the networks will be focused on the NFL? Do they want people to not watch?

It certainly is a good way to take some focus away from your press conference.

Probably.

They may just be ashamed that it has come to this, but realize a press conference should probably happen.

It's going to be held in a secret fort inside of Mt. Nittany

GoodOleDays - January 6, 2012 reply

As a member of the Mount Nittany Conservancy

Damn sensitive laptop touchpad! (twice on one freakin' post!)

Anyway… As a member of the Mount Nittany Conservancy I can assure you they will not be allowed access to the secret fort to announce this, this, this… catastrophe.

Hmm

Do they want people to not watch?

Exactly, they don’t. First rule of PR: bury bad news on the weekend. Mildly surprised they didn’t announce this at 5:30pm on Friday.

They haven't announce it yet.

They may never announce it. He’ll just show up at spring practice.

And never inform the current staff or players.

Fine by me.

This would be hilarious

There is one man whose input they could have used...

… and that was Joe Paterno. Instead, they burnt that bridge*.

*I do think out of love for the University, Joe would have been more than willing to offer his two cents on the coaching search, but I’m sure they’ve distanced themselves from him.

They couldn't publicly say that they even talked to him

Everyone would have penned articles that Joyner was a Paterno puppet, etc. etc. Sad, but true.

Actually Russ publicly said he wanted Joe's input

I imagine that didn’t go over too well. Erickson (I think) later specifically said Joe was not consulted.

Notice

you never heard anything again from Russ Rose on this search?

Isn't he on vacation now?

Like last season's winners, Whitman, Price, and Haddad.

His debt to the search committee paid in full.

YES YES YES YES YES.

SUBZERO…NOW…PLAIN ZERO.

The Running Man references

Will always win my recs. Bravo!

Well played.

Because the "committee" was a joke from the very beginning?

As some of us said 3,000 times.

HE probably gave them his middle finger and left.

BUnch of twats.

do we honestly feel entitled to know if Russ Rose was consulted or not on this?

do we expect real time updates about the thoughts and tendencies of who may or may not be searching for a head coach?

I mean, I get that we as a PSU community don’t go through football coaching searches very often, but damn….

Depends

Was he named as part of the search committee? Then yes. I didn’t name Russ Rose as part of the search committee. If they didn’t want his opinion, why include him on it?

he was the only one on the comittee i trusted

would have been nice to hear something other than silence after he said the most appropriate thing in this whole mess.

I don't feel entitled to know every detail of the committee's discussions

or to have regular updates about progress. But I do feel entitled to not be lied to, and if they formed a “committee” only to have two guys make all the decisions, then I sort of feel lied to.

I'm chooing not to speculate on how this whole thing went down.

Lubert and Joyner may be the mad scientist illuminati behind all PSU decisions for all I know, but I don’t think so. Those men answer to people.

I'm telling you,

it’s the reptilian humanoid thing.

I can't focus on anything else

It’s similar to ‘follow the money’, but it’s follow the power. And while this maybe could be kinda true:

Those men answer to people.

At some point in the Power maze, the buck does actually stop. It’s very like wrestling: while for a long time, there might always be somebody out there better, at some point the winner is the absolute best and there are no more opponents.

This Board’s structure (some elected, some appointed, some something in between) and makeup may actually be diverse, but it’s performance to date has been remarkably singular. And a group of 40+ people rarely (like if EVER) operate like that unless the Power is chiseled down to a very very few and it is unmistakable.

Einhorn is Finkle; Finkle is Einhorn...

EINHORN IS A MAN!!

I see serious structural issues

flowing largely from the fact that the majority serve at the pleasure of the governor.

I cannot wait until we do

However long down the road it is.

Just as a random side note......

I watched a bit of ESPN today and saw PSU on the bottom line. It talked about O’Brien being the next head coach and had some of the negative quotes from LaVar and Short, but you know what wasn’t on there? Anything about the scandal. And for all the negativity and angst toward an outside hire, that’s why one had to be made. Because it was the only way that……“was a part of PSU coaching staff while Sandusky was there”……wouldn’t be a direct quote/follow up to who got hired.

yes, was going to say eariler --- but wasn't sure if anyone would be offended ---- was going to say how nice it was to be talking football.

Well I'm sure people would have been offended because of your team allegiance

but it’s just the truth. And Chris has been saying this since the beginning. There was NO WAY that a person on the staff was getting hired for this position. The only way that the scandal conversation to at least not be apart of every PSU conversation was to bring in somebody else. It doesn’t mean this person has to denounce the past or anything, but the university has to try and move forward.

yeah, that is why i did not say it earlier; thought it might be okay as a "reply." and even with this discussion, IT looms in the background.

and IT for sure will be part of any PSU discussion for awhile.

O'Brien finishing what he started with the Patriots

Why wouldnt he want to see the playoff run through? I respect his decision to stay and not jump ship when a coaching staff needs its offensive coordinator most – the playoffs. I hope he shows as much dedication to the nitts. We have to see past this years recruiting class and hope he can really string it together for us in the near future.

Go lions!

BillyGoats_DC - January 6, 2012 reply

I know, right

People screaming Loyalty! Commitment! If he doesn’t COMMIT to us then I’m not supporting him. He made a commitment to the Patriots and he’s seeing that through, like he should.

A lot of people are embarrassing themselves today.

coop247 - January 6, 2012 reply

When you accept a new job.

You change your commitment.

Not until you finish current business

I put in my two weeks notice and I make sure to finish up any outstanding projects and make sure my job is done.

So because we have to wait a week or two for him to give 100% instead of 50% youre going to kill the guy?

coop247 - January 6, 2012 reply

Or a month

and after the recruiting time is over. Yeah….no.

New Job >>> Old Job

Yeah, the Patriots suck.

Like you two.

If you are not available to do the job, you shouldn’t be hired.

So only hire the unemployed?

I’m glad to hear you were dead set against Munchak, or Golden, or anyone currently employed.

coop247 - January 6, 2012 reply

Well, Munchak would be available right now

So would Golden, since he doesn’t have playoffs for da U. I fail to see your point.

He is an offensive coordinator for a team that needs one so badly

They didn’t even have one the last two years. Hell, VACANT probably has a better college pedigree.. Is it too late to see if he’s available?

No,

Munchak and Golden, and any other college coach would now be available.

See how easy that was?

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N77CV

FWIW

The PSU plane to Boston is now “delayed”:

I prefer to think that it’s because Dave Joyner is hanging by his underwear on a hook in a janitor’s closet, while D.J. Dozier laughs hysterically.

I hope

someone is kicking joyner in the nuts, over and over and over….

In reality, Joyner is a bad-ass dude.

He’s some sort of doctor-ninja, not to be trifled with.

Maybe a few years ago

but now he is old, grey, and spineless.

I'm picturing that scene from Casino Royale

where Daniel Craig says “now the whole world knows you scratched my balls”

RE: Kicking Joyner in the nuts

I’d prefer if it were handled this way:
“Lay your nuts laying on a fucking dresser and bang them shits with a spiked fucking bat.”
/bsd ain’t nothin’ to ’eff with

Guess I'm getting my sense of humor back.

I laughed out loud at that one.

that's funny

picturing Tim Manoa nearby with a cane at the ready

You have been...

on another plain with this BoB stuff. Kudos good sir.

Ha!

I helped DJ Dozier carry a cooler out of a bar last year (Alum Assoc HH prior to the Indy game at Fedex) and dude is vital and thick. Now, of course Joyner was a star grappler, but there’s what, a 25 year age difference between them?

Would be a compelling matchup to observe.

And yes

Introduction of swords would totally swing the betting lines.

Looks like it's going to Bedford, not Logan

Which I think is Boston’s version of Teterboro.

Reasonable response:

“Posluszny noted that O’Brien needs to spend time learning about Penn State’s traditions and history, and he’s confident the new coach will do so. It would be “beneficial,” Posluszny said, for O’Brien to hire assistants and staff who previously have worked at Penn State.

Although the initial reaction to the hiring hasn’t been positive, Posluszny thinks fans, alumni and former players eventually will give O’Brien a chance. If O’Brien reaches out, Posluszny is more than willing to help the new coach.

“That’s what we have to do,” he said. “I obviously wanted Tom Bradley to get the job, but if this is the decision that’s been made, trust me, I want Penn State to be successful and continue on to regain some of the glory that’s been lost because of everything surrounding the situation. I’m hoping that O’Brien has the abilities to do that.”"

Pallet - January 6, 2012 reply

Poz is right

I hope thats what he does. That would go a long way to allaying many fears people have.

Maybe he can reach out on his lunch breaks?

I'd say dinner breaks

but I doubt Belichek gives him both dinner and lunch breaks.

Poz is right

What else is new?

probably doesn't get Poz quotes and soundbites on ESPN radio and bottomline though

shame on you Paul for sounding reasonable….FIRE UP SOME UNREASONABLE ANGER SON!!!

LOL... yes, dammit; only stupidity will get you mentioned on the ESpin bottomscroll.

I'm not going to set the guy's house in Boalsburg on fire

However, I’m sad that we had to “settle” for our hire. I’m sure Poz is too.

Just now on OTL

John Barr reports that in a conversation with a member of the search committee, the member says he was not aware of the selection of O’Brien. So not even the whole search committee was in on this.

bubba0077 - January 6, 2012 reply

If there is one thing I believe

This is it.

Sigh.

Well this wouldn't surprise me.

Fucking Joyner.

+1

no offense, but I will have a good good long laugh if O'Brien is not the hire.

with this and the other posts, there have been at least 3,000 comments about the “hiring of BOB.”

started with WTF, pitchfork stabby stabby, torch burn burn and has “moved to hatin on Joyner but give the guy a chance” to wherever you/we are going from here.

if all that angst (“now 200% MORE!!”) was/is for naught …. there’s nothing else to do but laugh and go back to lamenting how long the coaching search is taking and bemoaning the impact on the recruiting class.

oh, and going back to "coaching-rumor-de-jour."

Well, it's been confirmed that they have a press conference tomorrow

Which will be related to the couching search. I guess it’s possible that they announce a different candidate, but all signs are pointing to this being accurate.

At this point they would deny it if it weren't true.

I mean even these ass holes can’t be that deaf.

Unless this is some absolutely crazy smokescreen

Yeah, you would think they would have said something.

And I don’t think this is a smokescreen.

Where was this? Can't find it.

I don't know that it has been reported by news

But it was in one of the fanposts. Someone called to cancel season tickets and was told by the customer service rep that she couldn’t confirm or deny the hiring, but there would be a press conference tomorrow to address it.

OH MY GOD......

THAT’S AL GOLDEN’S MUSIC!!!!

HELLFIRE AND BRIMSTONE!!!!

THAT’S GOTTA BE MUNCHAK!

its Stone Cold Tom Clements!!

I won't be surprised if they announce they've hired a couch

Hey, I thought you guys would have been super excited we picked a new coach

he coached in the NFL too! How cool is that? And for the Patriots. I just watched their Superbowl win over Carolina. Oh man, how intense was that! Anywho, he said he’s gonna swing by once he gets his stuff packed up. Luckily there isnt anything too important going on! Right?!

Totally legit

First order of business the search committee concluded back in early Dec was: timeframe. We all agree there is none? All in favor say aye!
/joyner, lubert say aye
//russ rose mumbles from behind his gag

I certainly agree.

But nothing would surprise me at this point. Everything has been handled so badly.

Shocking.

SHOCKED.

Over at 24/7

someone is saying that on ESPN’s OTL Bradley’s lawyer said that Joyner told him no decision has been made. Anyone else see this?

LOL I might need to find some acid

This is all Worldbfats fault

You might.

Strong liquor might not cut it after today…

It would end up that somehow, changing his wiki page was the impetus for him being interviewed and hired.

If that's the case

Quick, someone go change Munchak’s wiki page. Maybe we can sway this thing yet.

/orders a vat of miso soup

or that he wasnt hired?

I need to know what two people think:

Jack Ham and Franco Harris.

Are they running silent and deep or has anyone heard anything?

YOU NEED TO KNOW NOTHING!!

Penn State will tell you what you need to know. And when. Penn State will tell you what you need to know and when. That is all.

Fine . . .

So long as they hire a Humphrey Bogart impersonator to deliver the news in person by grabbing me by one shoulder, backhanding me across the face, and shouting “and you’re going to LIKE it!”

Haha

Deal.

better yet

re-animated corpse of Bogart. More authentic

These reptilian humanoids could make it happen I'm sure.

THE KGB VILL VAIT FOR NO ONE

So word on Jack Ham

He was what, 2 years older than Joyner? I’m thinking Ham was a SR & Joyner was a soph or frosh.

I’ve never read anything about Jack Ham and wrestling tho, so no idea what relationship, if any, he has with Lubert.

I wonder how the last 24 hours would be if I was tripping balls like Raoul Duke?

Our coaching search makes Pitt's look like Ginger Beer.

Better.

Maybe then it would make sense!

Fear and Loathing on BSD

Or how about just “BSD on LSD”

You ever see the back of a twenty dollar bill... on weed?

Oh, there’s some crazy shit, man. There’s a dude in the bushes. Has he got a gun? I dunno! RED TEAM GO, RED TEAM GO.

Miso soup on acid will change your life.

Til Joyner shows up samurai at our tailgate

Why was Bradley’s lawyer meeting with Dozier, Short, and Joyner in Old Main this afternoon? Any ideas?

this is per Ben's tweet, btw

Well

Bradley is under contract right? So a buyout or something maybe?

HighFlyers - January 6, 2012 reply

What'd that have to do with Dozier and Short?

No idea as to that

HighFlyers - January 6, 2012 reply

If Bradley stayed on a DC, for even a year...

And those guys got on board with the hire, it would go a long way in calming everybody down, don’t you think?

what if bradley is the hire

and BOB coming in as OC?

Friday Dreamin’

not that BOB is my OC dream

but that would be a dream of how this mess is where it is right now

My quiet hope...

Has been splash hire to be named later, and all of these NFL people were folks they were talking to about coordinator positions.

Right... Right...

And BOB’s agent thought they meant the head coaches job! Whew, that would be some silliness.

Why do I get the feeling that something has gone horribly wrong?

Ryan Beckler tweeted:

According to ESPN, Dave Joyner looked Tom Bradley’s attorney in the eye and told him that an official decision has not been made.

Hopefully that wasn’t a quote from today.

Unless he's getting all technical with "official decision"

which would be snake-like.

That would never happen

/rolls eyes

Power to the people

We taken ova!

No, there are other possibilities

Like Joyner made a verbal promise to O’Brien that he intended to break and O’Brien told everyone it was in the bag. Now he’d have to decide whether to actually hire him or go back out into the media and tell everyone it’s a mistake. That would be a CIRCUS.

I think the best situation for everyone is for Joyner to have just lied to the attorney. It would also jive best with preconceived notions.

The best thing for everyone

would be if Joyner was removed from this all together.

+1

Yep.

Oh a Circus?

Whats that like?

Oh my god, lies are so part of this kind of process

Even if Joyner said in his first presser: ’I’m committed to doing things the right way.’

LOLOLOL

could this get any more ridiculous?

On a serious note, maybe Joyner has seen the insane amount of backlash and is re-thinking things.

is it reasonable

to be even more pissed if all this goes down only to have them tell us they haven’t hired BOB? That just seems like incompetence to the absolute extreme.

Maybe it really IS the mother of all smokescreens...

…nah.

Maybe

But amusement seems like a more enjoyable course of reaction.

It would certainly be a mix of the two.

more like ESPN's incompetence

woooops oxymoron…

Oxymoron would imply

that ESPN is anything BUT incompetent.

youre right

redundancy is what i was looking for… redundancy is the winner

Then again

Maybe O’brien thinks he got the job, but Joyner wasn’t clear, so his plan is to just show up.

Yesterday at Pats Training Complex:

O’Brien -“I show up! I pretend I have the job. The guy’s on vacation. If I have the job, it’s fine. If I don’t have the job, by the time he comes back I’m ensconced.”
Brady – “Hmmmmm…. Not bad.”
O’Brien – “What’s the worst thing that could happen?”
Brady – “Well, you’d be embarrassed and humiliated in front of a large group of people and have to walk out in shame with your tail between your legs.”
O’Brien – “Yeah, so?”
Brady – “Yeah, I see what you mean. I forgot who I was dealing with.”

+1

HighFlyers - January 6, 2012 reply

he then stated

We are waiting to see if Tim Tebow is available

What. The. Fuck.

I am going to chalk this up the shitty reporting by ESPN.

You could really chalk it up to shitty everything by everyone at this point

So true

And honestly at this point it has become comical in that “Well we’re screwed anyway, might as well enjoy the ride” sort of way.

+1

There is a certain freedom in being completely screwed

because you know that it can’t get any worse.

Watch what you say

If I've learned anything in the past two months...

…it is that this statement is wrong.

It gets worse.

It always gets worse.

It's like in every cartoon or movie ever.

“How could this day get any worse?”

Thunderclap Pours Rain

And then, depression set it.

There is an individual rain cloud

over every Penn Stater that follows us around.

Yeah.. No..

It’s only gotten worse.

This is the mindset necessary

for ignition of any righteous social movement activity.

We are already dead . . ..

to get the map

that leads them to maze which ends at a payphone, which when used in conjuction with the special cyphers they were given, gives them a number to call to tell them that they are fired.

Ok mam you’re gonna go to the Texaco station.
Take a right. Go 5 and a half miles southeast.
You’re gonna see a guy in a yellow poncho. His name is Hank.
He’ll take you to the whopper Lair. That’s where you go.
And you’ve got 10 minutes to get there or we take your food!

Damn it.

What’s that from? I can’t think of it.

dane cook

Dane Cook

[stands back to watch the real vitriol begin]

yea i had reservations on even posting it given some peoples feelings

and to be clear i am not a fan, but it seemed appropriate

it was

besides, half the people here are pissed already, let the other half join in on the fun.

BK Lounge!

I don’t care what any of you think. Dane Cook was hilarious.

was?

did he die?

Would be the first time he was ever funny.

at least the first time he ever made me smile

Funiest man in comedy.

My personal favorite is Bill Burr, but CK is a close second.

I loved Dane

during the early ’00s. Saw him at the BJC in ’04. His very first Comedy Central special was freaking comedy gold. Screw you all.

I remember that being a funny bit.

But I’m not really a fan.

but i thought the coaches hasn’t been notified…

the plane tracker thing doesn't make a whole lot of sense

O’Brien was on campus yesterday to interview for the position, right? So, is this plane taking him away from campus?

Seeing as O’Brien has confirmed the rumor to his boss (Kraft), I have no reason to doubt it. The plane thing just seems kind of strange.

newenglandnittanylion - January 6, 2012 via mobile reply

The PSU plane heading to Boston that was delayed

is in the air and has been diverted to Bedford, MA. Curious.

ABORT ABORT ABORT

Not really

That’s Hanscom Air Base, where a lot of private planes land. As someone said earlier, Logan is not the ideal place to land for a small private plane.

/local knowledge ftw

Exactly.

Someone above said it’s Boston’s version of Teterboro, which is pretty much correct.

Seems weird they wouldn't use Norwood.

Which is where most south of the city private plane’s land. Although I guess it could be booked.

I just realized

I’ll be playing an indoor soccer game across the street from Hanscom tomorrow afternoon. Perhaps I should infiltrate the airport and kidnap BOB.

Just for the hell of it?

Or for a specific purpose?

Well, obviously not to kidnap him so he can't take the position

as that would be “wrong”.

bubba0077 - January 6, 2012 reply

It's been interdicted by SAC?

Do you get the feeling that Joyner is a Mayan

and his thoughts on the process are “What’s the point?”

+1 Interesting.

Maybe his intention...

…is to rip out O’Brien’s still beating heart as a sacrifice to the football gods. Then he’ll eat it, to gain strength to make the actual hire.

KALI MA...KALI MA...

MOLA RAM BETRAY SHIVA!

Look.

If you’re serious about your god, you should be able to eat a raw human heart. And possible smear some entrails on a wide hipped virgin for fertility purposes. It’s all about standards.

what?

sorry, never mind. note to self: "Self, please read before posting."

More than standards,

it’s about commitment.

I just want to add this because it's got me laughing

The person on the ESPN boards that goes by the handle “m_mckinley” is saying he was at a meeting today and Joyner said no decision has been made yet and confirmed that O’Brien has an interview with Jacksonville tomorrow. El Oh El. Make of it what you will, I have no idea if this character is for real. But the hysteria of the situation has got me laughing for some reason.

This guy doesn't know what he's talking about.

I’ve been on that ESPN board for months now. He was 99% sure it was gonna be a top-5 hire until two days ago. Then yesterday, it dropped to 20% because the big-name’s wife had concerns. He’s either “reporting” what’s already been said or making stuff up that’s impossible to verify. He claims to have written the contracts for 4 potential hires. He “broke” (after it was tweeted by others) that there would be meetings today with the coaches and players.

It’s insane how many people are gripping onto his every word. But the guy’s no troll, and can carry on intelligent conversation. When people attack him, he just lets it slide off.

the fact that any of you are on ESPN boards is donconcerting to me

and i dont mean that as a PERSONAL ATTACK! I mean it in a fatherly “im disappointed” way

haha. I'm there for the entertainment value after a long week of work. Sorry.

This was the board for the TicketCity bowl.

Not a lot of trolling at all, surprisingly. I went there initially to see what Cougars fans were thinking, and got sucked into following how everyone was following this m_mckinley guy. I stayed well clear during the game itself and the day after. But by now, there’s no one there other than PSU fans so the environment is pretty tolerable.

I'm on there now and laughing hysterically.

You are correct. Everyone believes every word that guy says. Pretty funny.

I used to frequent the ESPN boards before becoming fed up with the trolls. I much rather chill out here.

For sure, the guy

writes stuff that inherently framed in such a way that makes it virtually impossible to verify the validity from an outsiders’ position even after an announcement were to take place.

He also framed it in a way.

That makes him right no matter the outcome.

like the south park episode with John Edwards

not the politician guy

the “medium” who “spoke to the dead”

"Rob Scneider DA DERP DA DIDDLY DERP DA DERP"

One of my favorites

LOL; thanks for the clarification; at first, couldn't remember the South Park episode with JE, the politician.

wow, my grammar is terrible right now

Like I said, long work week.

Save us Shahid Khan

You’re our only hope.

Let me answer that for you

I have no idea if this character is for real

NO.

replay fail

I still find this all funny.

This is a long thread so sorry if this has been said.

Fuck you Joyner. You pompous asshole.

jman07 - January 6, 2012 reply

Can't be said enough, IMO.

+1

Joyner

Punchable face or most punchable face?
Discuss:

I'd punch him in the face

but I have no doubt whatsoever that he’d wreck my world, even at his advanced age.

This is a long thread so sorry if this has been said.

i would not could not in my bed
I would not could not on my shed

We need a new thread.

Scrolling is getting dodgy. Don’t make me fire up the Mac.

We need a new AD.

AT LEAST TELL US SOMETHING!!!

"Don’t make me fire up the Mac."

That’s what 11 tells himself every Saturday in the fall.