Vanderlinden is now one of three assistants to remain on the Penn State staff, joining Larry Johnson Sr. and John Thomas. (Photo: Mike Pettigano
You have probably all heard this by now, but Bill O'Brien will be retaining Ron Vanderlinden to coach the linebackers at Penn State. Vanderlinden joins Defensive Line Coach Larry Johnson and Strength Coach John Thomas as hold overs from Joe Paterno's staff. Vanderlinden has been Penn State's linebacker coach since 2001, though was promoted to co-defensive coordinator (along with Johnson) following the incident in November. Vanderlinden's success at his position is well documented. He has sent six linebackers to the NFL during his tenure and end of the year All Big Ten teams frequently include at least one linebacker from Penn State.
Reactions (on twitter) to the news that Vanderlinden would be staying have been pretty positive. The Big Ten Networks' Gerry DiNardo is praising O'Brien for the decision to keep Vanderlinden on staff:
Great move by Bill O'Brien keeping Ron Vanderlinden. Combination of great coach and great recruiter much like Larry Johnson. #Pennstate
Even Cory Giger said something positive about Penn State with regards this development:
Promise of new, modern offense, plus Johnson & Vanderlinden back as def. coaches provides best of both worlds for PSU. Column coming later.
Shocking, I know.
There hasn't been much in the way of player reaction to the news about Vanderlinden, but I'm sure that they're pleased that another coach that they're familiar with has been kept on the new staff.
Update (via Mike): Strength and conditioning coach John Thomas will also remain on staff. So, let the HIT debate continue.
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0 recs | 145 comments
I was fine with the O’Brien hire from the start, at the very least, I wasn’t ready to burn the house down at the announcement. Then he had his press conference which I enjoyed very much. Add in that he announced LJ was staying and I was ecstatic. Now this? Seems to me that BOB has a pulse on things in State College. Excellent moves here.
EREX21 - January 9, 2012
Hit?
I’m new to the message board and figuring out all theses acronyms? Can someone explain HIT and the seemingly disapproval of it?
frxank - January 9, 2012 via mobile
HIT...
LowcountryLion - January 9, 2012
Fail...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_intensity_training
LowcountryLion - January 9, 2012
WHAT AN IDIOT
how dare he ask a question!!!
the only people that still say “fail” and think it’s funny is 11 year olds playing call of duty
Dr.TobiasFunke - January 9, 2012
I'm pretty sure the 'fail' remark here was self-deprecating
LcL referring to his own link post fail.
jtothep - January 9, 2012
Thank you, jtothep. Self-deprication...
…was the intention.
Dr. TobiasFunke, I am a married, 38-year-old professional and part-time student (at PSU via distance ed) and I still enjoy Call of Duty. It’s all good though!
LowcountryLion - January 9, 2012
I see that now
I’ll let myself out
Dr.TobiasFunke - January 9, 2012
It's all good! :-)
LowcountryLion - January 9, 2012
I had to Google your screen name, but...
…I really need to watch the Arrested Development series. :-)
LowcountryLion - January 9, 2012
It's incredible.
Bob Sacamano - January 9, 2012
High intensity traning
Penn State doesn’t use free weights they use machines. The idea is to take the muscle to failure.
Thank God Thomas is back, what would the world be like without HIT to argue over?!??!
Galen - January 9, 2012
This is part of the healing process
going from arguing about who is or isnt the cops back to arguing which QB is worse and HIT. Things are moving back towards normal
skarocksoi - January 9, 2012
When I told my wife they were keeping Jon Thomas, she said, and this is no lie
“Fucking nautilus!”
Ab4PSU - January 9, 2012
Now don't get me wrong,
I think Larry Johnson and Vanderlinden are great coaches, but how are they any different that Tom Bradley? LJ coached with Sandusky. How can all the “they have to clean house” people like Cory Giger and the rest of them be happy with those hires?
Oh, I get it, they are hypocrites.
run4peach - January 9, 2012
I think it's a risk/reward situation
Bradley played and coached under Sandusky, with a connection that stretched back decades. I believe that Johnson coached under him less than 5 years. They (whoever “they” are) obviously think it’s an acceptable risk against possible outcry of the public at large. Media focus as been much less on the lower assistants.
Not saying I endorse the handling of the situation—just trying to posit a reason why Johnson and Vanderlinden may be viewed differently.
psu87intn - January 9, 2012
I think they actually considered Bradley keepable
and just decided to conduct a national search and consider all contenders. Joyner made it sound as if Bradley was a finalist in the eyes of the committee.
PSU Mudder - January 9, 2012
This does not contradict that possibility
But I think for fanbase-aimed PR, there’s no way Joyner would represent that Bradley was anything other than a great candidate and a very close second choice. Even if, for media-aimed PR purposes, Bradley had a zero percent chance of getting the HC job.
PSUCharmas - January 9, 2012
For the record
SbB thinks LJ is guilty too and we’re terrible people for liking him.
Kyle_Martin - January 9, 2012
SdB? Who/what is that?
psu87intn - January 9, 2012
One of the worst remaining tabloid 'sports' sites
Sports by Brooks. If you google him, read about him instead of actually reading him.
It’s not even as entertaining as Us Weekly.
jtothep - January 9, 2012
Ahh...yes, familiar with him
Just didn’t connect the acronym. Thanks!
psu87intn - January 9, 2012
don't give his site any clicks
for the love of the Sports Gods, don’t
letsgopsu - January 9, 2012
You know whose opinion matters least?
SbB. He’s trolling for hits.
Adam Collyer - January 9, 2012
One of the unfortunate side effects of this whole mess
Sports by Brooks getting page hits and people thinking he was somehow credible.
skarocksoi - January 9, 2012
Aren't there any hacker nerds that read BSD that can bring him down?
LulzSec style?
Nittany_Ryan - January 9, 2012
not sure
but there are some people with connections to government agencies who could certainly put him on some sort of list. I, for one, would sleep easy at night knowing the next time SbB tried to fly somewhere, he might have to experience a bit more searching from TSA…
skarocksoi - January 9, 2012
I dont wish that on any TSA agent
Kyle_Martin - January 9, 2012 via iPhone app
Now we're getting somewhere
Nice move Coach!
The Booster - January 9, 2012
Definitely a risk
Now that we all have a second to step out of the emotion of the moment (myself included), I think it’s important to really see what a huge risk hiring Scrap would have been. This whole shitty mess (Sandusky) is just getting started. If it comes out a year from now that Scrap knew more than just rumors about Sandusky, they would have to fire him then and start the search over in order to have any sort of credibility.
Keeping Vandy and LJsr is definitely a risk for the same reason. Obviously they’re trying to keep this recruiting class somewhat alive and trying to make sure that we don’t totally bottom out, at the risk of having to take action at a later date if either of these two are implicated.
SkellerDweller06 - January 9, 2012
Disagree
Re: ‘this whole shitty mess is just getting started.’ It’s totally winding down.
Obviously, it’s not going to ever go away, but we’re far, far away from the beginning. Only through these sorts of trite assertions (‘blankety blank is a risk’), where commenters play the role of dumb media, does the shitty mess feel like it’s actually at the beginning again.
Rise above, people. Rise above.
jtothep - January 9, 2012
amen
FB6244 - January 9, 2012
I sure hope that you're right!
As long as no one else on staff is implicated during the trial/internal investigation, then we’re through the worst of it.
I mean, from a fan perspective it feels better to just accept the new coach and start moving forward. And from a PR messaging perspective that’s the mantra too.
But internally, if I were running the show, that’s the thing that scares me.
SkellerDweller06 - January 9, 2012
That said
Just like with scrap; no way to prove (at this point) that either of these two great coaches did anything wrong. I like em both as coaches, don’t know them as people, but I’ve never heard anything but great things about both of them.
SkellerDweller06 - January 9, 2012
I also hope you are right, as does everyone
But if you’re not right, because some new scandal breaks out from the depths of hell because someone who ever had ties with the school knew something about this, hold on to your hat. As a fan I can imagine in the abstract what a nightmare that would be without making a “trite assertion.” The hiring cabal, such as it was, had a DUTY to vet anyone on staff who might be retained to minimize the risk that it would turn out one of them had some macabre McQueary experience some years ago. When they asked very direct questions (I know I’m giving these people the benefit of the doubt that, in at least this regard, they did their jobs), they had to weigh the veracity of the answers. Even if they were convinced, they might estimate that any given coach presented, say, a .01% “risk” of being Patient Zero in another media firestorm. Assigning such risk and making decisions accordingly isn’t trite, it’s the minimum I demand as an alum and rabid fan of this organization.
However, I am a perpetual optimist, and I don’t think any such scandal is in the cards. I also think we’re looking at the light at the end of the tunnel and I’m already getting excited about next year. A lot of that has to do with O’Brien’s press conference and the three staff members he’s keeping.
PSUCharmas - January 9, 2012
Eh, maybe so
But that whole discussion is so ethereal—anybody’s (hiring cabal or bsd commenter or msm douchea) assertion as to the relative risk of hiring somebody who could be asked questions like ‘but what did he know?’
My contention, which agrees with Professor Sublime’s notion of the necessity of contributing to a society that requires Trust over Suspicion, is that the collective narrative—here on BSD—actually has a say & a sway in and to the broader narrative outside this lovable living room. Perhaps you’re right that those on the inside of what is quickly becoming disclosed as an awkward power structure have some duty to assign levels of estimated magnitude to those suspicion possibilities, but outside of those BOTS, here in this space, I contend our duty lies down the trust path.
Continued statements/assertions/guessyposits on the suspicion risk path just serves to pooh up the whole story and doesn’t help a lick.
jtothep - January 9, 2012
I'm all for returning to a state of fanbase trust
Obviously I mean trust with regard to things of heightened importance. We wouldn’t be fans if we didn’t jump to conclusions about how coaches “don’t know what they’re doing” and keep calling the “bad plays” on gameday. I really look forward to that being my biggest worry during the football season.
I don’t think Skeller was making some kind of substantive assertion of suspicion or rumor mongering. But I do think he touched on something that’s liberating to the football fan in each of us about O’Brien, and something that probably contributed to his selection. Namely, the peace of mind we get, the administration gets, and recruits get, because O’Brien is an outsider and even the media can’t shoehorn some cloud of suspicion over him. Does pointing out this quality of O’Brien implicitly make some sour assertion of suspicion over everyone else? Over LJ or RV or TB? I guess you could construe it that way if you’re looking to stamp out continued guessyposits, but I would focus on this as a positive of O’Brien instead of dwelling on the “risk analysis” of the current and former Penn State guys.
In fact, O’Brien has pretty much given the finger to these types of concerns by immediately deciding to keep LJ and RV. I think that’s a ballsy move and a move he didn’t need to make, and I love him for it already. It’s probably the right move from a football perspective and, assuming these guys lack any taint from the scandal, a move that rewards classy, loyal guys who just went through a really screwed up chapter in school history. He can’t do that for everyone, just as he can’t rewind the clock and undo the scandal, but he did it for these guys and that’s pretty damned good in my opinion.
PSUCharmas - January 9, 2012
I have to assume that the BoT believes LJ and Vandy are clean of the taint of the scandal,
or they wouldn’t have approved of O’Brien retaining them. I remember Vandy and LJ being interviewed shortly after the shit hit the fan, and they said they had no knowledge of Sandusky’s actions. I think they also testified for the GJ, and nothing seemed to have come out of their testimony, either.
icavalera - January 9, 2012
That's what I'm assuming too
And it makes me very, very happy. With O’Brien being the one publicly to give these guys a vote of confidence (regardless of whether he was asked to keep them on before he even considered it), it’s like an independent third party coming in for the first time and saying, “These guys are good guys. These guys didn’t do anything wrong. They’ve suffered quietly, and now that the dogs are called off, they’re getting contracts to continue doing the great jobs they have always been doing.”
PSUCharmas - January 9, 2012
Werd
Does pointing out this quality of O’Brien implicitly make some sour assertion of suspicion over everyone else? Over LJ or RV or TB?
No, of course not.
I think both our points are valid and can live side by side in peace, although skellar’s OP focused solely on the risk piece and not on the positivity angle. I definitely don’t see an either/or in this thread.
I’m quite happy to also bark up the positivity tree you’re talking.
jtothep - January 9, 2012
I hope you didn't think my rhetorical question / lazy writing technique was me trying to put words in your mouth
Just to be clear, I didn’t think you were in any way making an affirmative statement along the lines of that question you quoted. I’m glad you can see where I’m coming from, just as I absolutely get your point in this whole thing that living under a cloud of suspicion is infuriating and torturous. I want The Terror to end. I’ve fought against it brazenly with friends and coworkers. With O’Brien hired and the media off doing whatever they usually do…living in a sick, unholy co-parasitic relationship with people self-hating enough to make a career out of politics I think…we can get back to
lovinghating our coaches because of football eliteness and watching youtube videos of high school players with mad skills.PSUCharmas - January 9, 2012
/sends Charmas a round
jtothep - January 9, 2012
Man, not trying to be Negative Nancy
I was just sharing a concern. Not saying that things aren’t looking up for the school, or that the worst is very much most likely behind us. Nor was I saying that they’re definitely going to find out that Vanderlinden found kiddie porn on JS’s phone when he borrowed it one time to try out Angry Birds, and then never told anyone. I just worry about the possibility.
Also, “taint” is a great and underutilized word.
SkellerDweller06 - January 9, 2012
/sends Dweller a round
jtothep - January 9, 2012
Funny, doesn't look like a round
That looks like two pair.
PSUPing - January 9, 2012
Three pairs
Kyle_Martin - January 9, 2012
Also
I’m 100% with you on the last two sentences.
jtothep - January 9, 2012
More eloquent way of making my point
Thanks PSUCharmas. Here’s to hoping that your last paragraph holds true!
SkellerDweller06 - January 9, 2012
I've Risin...
JS or no JS, we just retained a couple of talented coaches and recruiters that will keep us connected to the Penn State we know. Vandy and LJ are in my top 10% of coaches on my wish list for Penn State’s team. We’re getting back to football folks.
The Booster - January 9, 2012
Risen?
If so, who the hell are you?
You’re scaring me.
SubLime - January 9, 2012
Trying to get the total effect of the inflectsheon
The Booster - January 9, 2012
I'm just not ready to deal with a returning Messiah first thing Monday morning.
SubLime - January 9, 2012
Someone's got a case of the Mondays....
My post would’ve probably been easier to follow if I had not eff’d up posting it. It was supposed to be a reply to jtothep’s “Disagree” post.
The Booster - January 9, 2012
Let me ask you something. When you come in on Monday and you're not feeling real well, does anyone ever say to you, "Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays?"
No. No, man. S***, no, man. I believe you’d get your ass kicked sayin’ something like that, man.
jaytay13 - January 9, 2012
..
tlrpsu - January 9, 2012
That's damn scary
The Booster - January 9, 2012
Well, that happened last night anyways
/80 yard touchdown passed
psuphysicist - January 9, 2012
Gotta love how that transpired.
NFL makes this big deal of changing the OT rules, and the announcers making this huge deal of explaining everything and heaping importance onto how it’s the first game played under “ground-breaking new rules”.
Only to have it blow up in everyone’s face and the game ends on the first play in OT.
dbl5030 - January 9, 2012
He should be thanking Big Ben anyways
That fumble back to the 50 yard line killed any chance the Steelers had of setting up for the winning field goal. On a side note, Ben does not believe in ball security, and that fumble was entirely on him. I don’t understand how an ‘elite’ NFL quarterback does that at that point in the game, completely untouched.
Also, Tebow had a shot with 3 minutes and change left to drive down the field and win it in regulation, but he couldn’t get it done.
psuphysicist - January 9, 2012
That's true
but it doesn’t really matter does it? You could heap all sorts of blame on him if he had failed when the Broncos were down, but he did get it done when it actually mattered. Not that the catch/run can be attributed to him, but he still had to recognize that Thomas was open with no help over the top and throw a ball that hit him in stride.
dbl5030 - January 9, 2012
Yeah
Actually Tebow had a probably the most complete game of his career last night. The Steelers sold out against the run and dared Tebow to beat them with his arm. Tebow did, all game long. Ike Taylor never saw it coming. It seemed like every time that he got one on one coverage against Taylor, he threw a beautiful pass for big gains.
psuphysicist - January 9, 2012
Wow, my grammar in that last sentence is horrible
Whatever, the point I was trying to make stands.
psuphysicist - January 9, 2012
I'm not a big NFL fan,
so correct me if I’m wrong. But every time I’ve seen Ike Taylor play (vast majority has been in the playoffs) he seems to give up big plays over and over again. He must be a good CB overall for the Steelers to hang onto him for so long, but from my experience he’s a liability during big games.
dbl5030 - January 9, 2012
I don't watch a ton of NFL either
I don’t know if its a scheme thing, or what but it seemed like Ike was being asked to cover the wide receiver with no help over the top a number of times in that game. The best cornerback in the league is going to struggle to do that without giving up a few big plays all game. It looked to me like Tebow saw this tendency and was prepared to strike every time he saw the coverage.
psuphysicist - January 9, 2012
To be fair
Ike Taylor never sees it coming.
Kyle_Martin - January 9, 2012
Kermit Buggs
just tweeted he will not be retained. Thanked Penn State. Class all the way.
run4peach - January 9, 2012
Sounds like the interviews are taking place right now.
carolinaeasy - January 9, 2012
Do ya think Jay will be retained?
ducks
Galen - January 9, 2012
I would pee my pants laughing if he was
simply for the mixed reactions it would bring from people who love the idea of a new staff and hate Jay.
skarocksoi - January 9, 2012
After the inital shock of the hire has subsided
I’ve backed off the ledge. Coach O’Brien seems to be saying/doing the right things, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do on and off the field.
Anyone have any thoughts on the speculation that we could go after Maryland QB Danny O’Brien in a Russell Wilson-to-Wiscy type deal?
DrewRusse - January 9, 2012
Wilson was a graduate student at Wisconsin, which is why he could play right away. Danny O’Brien just completed his sophomore year. He would have to sit out. And, I’m not entirely sure he’s all that good anyway.
blackjackfishtaco - January 9, 2012
Danny O'Brien will be a grad student in the fall.
He will have completed his undergrad in three years when he graduates this spring. This was his redshirt sophomore year. He wouldn’t have to sit out and he might not be ‘all that good’ but he’s leaps and bounds better than what is currently on PSU’s roster.
jtw126 - January 9, 2012
And yes, he would lose a year, and then have to compete his senior year.....
it would be win it or lose your entire college career….. would be a dumb move for him (even if Edsall turns out to be a complete lemon),
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
compete for the starting spot, I mean
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
See my response above...
He wouldn’t have to sit out.
jtw126 - January 9, 2012
Hmmmmm..... maybe not such a dumb move then.
I liked the little I saw of him this year
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
I imagine the 1-AA teams in the mid-atlantic are circling Maryland like vultures
reedjohnmiller - January 9, 2012
no kidding
I didn’t think Edsall would screw up like this….. although I disagreed with the firing of Friedgen, especially the way it was handled. But it looks like Maryland’s loss may be our offensive gain??
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
I was dumbfounded by that whole thing
Since we’re in the precarious netherworld of a coaching staff change out, I always get queasy thinking about how hopefully a fanbase like Maryland probably was that Edsall would have then 11-1 his first year there and then to have the unsinkable ship sink right underneath them in fifteen minutes.
But the thing with Maryland is that, right when they fired Friedgen I was like, WTF? They don’t think he’s already hitting Maryland’s ceiling? Didn’t they go 8-4 and then 9-4 when they won a bowl game? And Friedgen is an alum and lifelong Maryland guy. On top of that, they didn’t fire him because there was some guru on the market they couldn’t pass up. They hired RANDY EDSALL! I watched a few UConn games while he was there. Why would anyone think he was a no-risk perfect hire for a team that was already reaching its program potential?
PSUCharmas - January 9, 2012
Obviously, Friedgen was preventing them from going to the new uni's
Nittany_Ryan - January 9, 2012
I would have too if I were Friedgen..... ick
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
Funny.... after graduating from PSU, I went to grad school at Maryland....
and the one thing that always amazed me about Maryland is that you saw the state flag EVERYWHERE you looked! And I mean EVERYWHERE. So hell, those uni’s might just have been a state mandate!
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
Don't forget ACC Coach of the Year
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
For real, Friedgen was legit with what he did at Maryland
My memory could be off, but wasn’t there some conflict between him and the AD that may have contributed to him being let go?
Nittany_Ryan - January 9, 2012
Fridge
Supposedly the new AD was all about getting “his guys” into the HC positions (FB and men’s BB). He didn’t care that he was canning the ACC CotY, he just wanted “his guy” to be in charge. Who cares if they had to pay a cool $2 mil to get rid of Fridge (and screw over 8 non-revenue sports teams in the process), “his guy” was in place.
(Sorry, I’m married to a Terp and friends with kids on some of the affected teams, so I’m not exactly unbiased here.)
Oh, and a majority of the fanbase at Maryland probably couldn’t have cared less- they’re some of the most apathetic football fans on the planet.
PSUbkstrk13 - January 9, 2012
I live in Northern Virginia
The MD-DC-VA groupon site had Maryland football ticket coupons this season. Sounds like a program that should really be firing alumni head coaches and bringing in risky, expensive hires.
PSUCharmas - January 9, 2012
Maryland's loss(es) really are our gain
Had Edsall stayed at UConn, there is a good chance he would have been high on the list of candidates to replace JoePa. He is a PA native, he had developed UConn from a 1-AA team to a BCS bowl (granted out of the Big Least), he had pretty adeptly handled a huge crisis (on campus murder of player), and he is squeeky clean. Problem is, he is an enormous dick. We possibly ducked that one when he went to Md., dressed his team in clown outfits and laid an enormous turd on the field all while pissing everyone off in the process with his holier-than-thou attitude.
Doboy36 - January 9, 2012
I agree
The Edsall-bullet-dodged occured to me too.
BTW, those Maryland uniforms failed even by their own standard. The yellow bit on the helmet should be on the OPPOSITE side of the red bit on the shoulders, so it would look like their flag. They couldn’t even get that right.
Maryland has ideas above their station. When Friedgen first started having success there (against a weaker than usual ACC) local sports guys were going nuts. I recall one saying they could replace Penn State as the best team in the east.
But they have no hope. Maryland can’t even out-draw us in their own backyard. Their stadium is so small and even when they played FSU at night last year, they still drew fewer fans than Penn State-IU did on the same day down the road in Landover. And once Penn State gets good again, an “away” game like that in DC could easily sell out.
There have been a lot of reports that they can’t sell their new luxury boxes and that revenue is so bad they’ll have to make cuts to the non-revenue sports, which is sad because Maryland’s non-revenue sports are their strength – soccer, lacrosse (both mens and womens), field hockey, women’s bball, are all nationally powerful. But they keep throwing money down the football rathole. It seems like they ought to take a page out of Hopkins book and try to convince everyone on campus that lacrosse is the big sport, not football.
I don’t know enough about basketball to understand why they faded so fast after their national title. But it seems like they ought to just focus on that.
reedjohnmiller - January 9, 2012
Maybe they were wearing their helmets backwards
could explain why they were so terrible this year
Kyle_Martin - January 9, 2012
Luxury boxes and Non-revenue sports
They’re not just reports about the luxury boxes- I think they sold less than half of them. They even asked around in the business community before they built them if there was any interest, and there wasn’t. Yet they still built them- throwing money down the rathole indeed.
No one will admit that that decision (along with canning Fridge, and paying Gary Williams $400K a year for 4 years to “consult” with the mens’ bball team) was basically directly responsible for the oncoming demise of 8 non-revenue sports, but when you look at the report the “special committee” put together, the numbers don’t lie. And you’ve got a great point about borrowing a page from Hopkins’ playbook- lacrosse at UMd is just about on-par with Hopkins’ program most years, so it wouldn’t be a hard sell.
It’s frustrating to see a school being so myopic, especially when you’re basically in the trenches and can actually see the impact such obvious mismanagement has caused.
PSUbkstrk13 - January 10, 2012
But I still don't like it
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
Re: Danny O'Brien
I hope not. I want our QB to be someone who picked PSU from the start. I know there are a lot of questions at QB, but getting another Div I transfer is not the answer.
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
If he's gotten his degree and is looking to possibly get a graduate degree while continuing to play...
then he would be picking PSU “first.” When I went from PSU to Vanderbilt to get my grad degree, I didn’t feel like I wasn’t being loyal to PSU.
BNittsDeMilo - January 9, 2012
point taken
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
Then we would have dualing O'Briens....
I’m hearing banjos…..
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
deuling
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
Almost, try one more time...
jtw126 - January 9, 2012
Haha, I just laughed.
Ben16 - January 9, 2012
yeah, i wasn't sure
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
dueling
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
third time's a charm
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
Very good news
Coach Van is a great coach and a fine man. Really glad this worked out. Also see that Navarro Bowman was named to the All Pro Team. Excellent.
MB in MI - January 9, 2012
I still have Power Questions
So curious how much BOB is even allowed to do with respect to hiring. I mean, it’s always a non-direct relationship anyway on coaching staffs, if HC’s are allowed to hire & fire assistants while those assistants’ salaries are paid by the school and not the HC. Obviously, that’s the way personnel & salaries work in almost every biznass, but I bring it up now because of all we’ve learned and are learning about the organization and distribution of power in this current Board of Trustees.
jtothep - January 9, 2012
He HAS to have power to hire and fire
otherwise it would be REALLY hard to hold him accountable for his wins/losses.
carolinaeasy - January 9, 2012
You're right of course
Probably irresponsible of me to raise the possibility that he might not have that power. Even so, there’s shitloads to the backstories of this hire. If not in contractual agreement, it’d be preposterous to think that discussions, at least, were not had regarding possible staff hires.
jtothep - January 9, 2012
Technically, only the board must ultimately approve all hires.
But it’s almost always pro forma.
I imagine that the AD gives the coach their hiring budget and if a coach wants to exceed that, they have to get the AD to approve it and then the AD has to figure out where the money will come from and if they need more, they’d have to ask the VP for Budget and on up the chain. But it almost never comes to that.
reedjohnmiller - January 9, 2012
Makes sense on the money tip
I wonder how, or if, it would be received by the Athletic Director, if BOB sat down with Scrap, LOVED him and went and told Joyner that he wanted to hire him as DC.
jtothep - January 9, 2012
Coach O is showing is O face.
The Booster - January 9, 2012
nice
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
This was honestly one of my biggest concerns.
Not necessarily who would stay, but I was worried that we would become an offensive oriented team at the expense of our defense. It’s nice to know that we are retaining the people that have made our defense excel (Bradley still unknown as far as I’m aware) and that we can continue being Linebacker U.
Succss With Honor Always - January 9, 2012
I figured whoever was hired would be smart enough not to screw up the defense....
especially after the failure of RichRod
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
I'm sure Michigan thought RichRod was smart enough not to screw up the defense
PSUCharmas - January 9, 2012
GERG'd
letsgopsu - January 9, 2012
THOUGHT being the key word
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
Hey, his defense was fine in the Big East....
and probably would have worked in the Pac10….. but in the Big Ten, not so much.
Nittany Merle - January 9, 2012
After a brief survey of Wikipedia and the University of Syracuse website, here's a quick overview of Michigan's RR defense
Apparently RichRod brought in Scott Shafer for 2008 who was D coordinator at Stanford under Harbaugh. Harbaugh thought highly of him and Shafer said all the right stuff about Michigan being THE job and how thrilled his family was to be there. However, they struggled that first year (blow up the program, all new staff, graduations and transfers out – who wouldn’t struggle that first year with no continuity?) and were 68th in total defense in the country.
RichRod’s solution: Shafer gets “resigned” and Rodriguez brings in genius Greg Robinson, who is fresh off four years running Syracuse into the ground (10-37 record and only 3-25 against the Big East!!!!). I could be wrong, but I think it’s at this point that they install the mighty 3-3-5. Presumably with the program settling into RR’s vision for it, and his recruits coming in, Robinson manages to make Michigan’s defense WORSE each year. 82nd overall in ’09 and 110th overall in ’10!!! When they won enough games to go to a bowl!
Meanwhile, Shafer – who was shown the door in favor of Robinson – coincidentally goes to be DC at the Syracuse disaster left by Robinson. This from the Syracuse website about Shafer’s accomplishments there:
• Helped the 2010 SU defense advance in rankings in total defense (7th from 37th), first downs allowed (12th from 27th), pass defense (10th from 85th), pass efficiency defense (14th from 113th) and scoring defense (13th from 81st).
• Coached the 2009 Orange defense which improved in the national statistical rankings in third down defense (28th from 117th), first downs allowed (27th from 104th), total defense (37th from 114th) and sacks (6th from 100th).
In other words, GERG’d.
PSUCharmas - January 9, 2012
what a trainwreck
TJM5054 - January 9, 2012
Great info, thanks
coachKofPA - January 9, 2012
Obligatory
Kyle_Martin - January 9, 2012
Why isn't this green?
The DB has perfect sprinter form and it’s like he’s chasing an invisible receiver. One of my favorite pics of all time.
jman07 - January 9, 2012
I have it bookmarked
It comes in pretty handy
Kyle_Martin - January 9, 2012
this picture just kills me everytime with laughter.
tlrpsu - January 10, 2012
Remember Though
Rich Rod forced the use of a 3-3-5 on Robinson and they were never on the same page. Rich Rod’s thought is speed will always win…BUZZZEERR!!
The Booster - January 9, 2012
BOB is doing everything I would have wanted an offensive-side coach coming in to PSU to do...
keep what is already working and rework what isn’t.
In all fairness, if our defense stays about the same (historically very good), how can this team really get worse?
Maybe by losing some recruits… but again, if we retain most of our defensive guys who did a lot of the recruiting and bring in some good offensive guys, there’s not too much of a reason to assume there will be a big fall off.
And yes, I’ll make this one exception to allow myself to get excited…
BNittsDeMilo - January 9, 2012
Apparently John Strollo,
Offensive line coach as Ball State, will replace Bill Kenney.
run4peach - January 9, 2012
Bio
2005-2007 Duke
/we’re getting the band back together.
rahpsu92 - January 9, 2012
Interesting tid bit
So Strollo coached the O-line at Ball State this past year. In a 62-6 night game loss at then-#2 Oklahoma, Ball State managed to average 3.4 yards per carry with 119 rushing yards overall and actually had over five minutes greater TOP than Oklahoma. For what it’s worth.
PSUCharmas - January 9, 2012
Is Duke 2005-2007
really the band we want back together?
Tailgate Shogun - January 9, 2012
I wouldn't think so.
I am a little worried about these coordinators that all seem to be from small schools, and maybe not the most successful. We obviously have never been through this before and it is hard to compare these guys, but it would be nice to see someone with a big school MNC or something on the resume, if possible.
FB6244 - January 9, 2012
I'm all for benefit of the doubt and optimism. BUT.
I would like something solid to hang my optimism on. Keeping LJ & Vandy was a good start, will be curious to see the rest of the staff names.
Tailgate Shogun - January 9, 2012
Young hungry coaches
Generally come from smaller schools or lower tiers in the NFL. BOB is relatively young himself and these are the guys he knows and trusts. The fact that he is already conceding that he isn’t all knowing and making a clean sweep by retaining LJ and Vandy is a very positive step, IMHO.
Doboy36 - January 9, 2012
Yeah I get that
but I am not sure some of these guys have even had success at their lower levels.
FB6244 - January 9, 2012
Keeping LJ and Vandy
certainly makes the early comments by Lavar and crew look like an over-reaction. Not that I didn’t feel exactly the same way. I have tasted shoe leather often enough to limit my public response to this kind of thing tho.
So far, I think we’re on to something. BOB already defied convention. We were all sure that any new coach would clean house and bring in his own staff. Looks like this guy is thoughtful enough to know a good thing when he sees it and humble enough to ask the old guard to stay.
I’m starting to get back some optimism here folks! I better quit thinking about it now…
87Townie - January 9, 2012
Indulge me as I let my O'Brien-is-going-to-turn-out-awesome optimism run wild
But his tiff with Brady has me imagining all kinds of great things about him. At the moment, I’m getting the impression that O’Brien is the kind of guy who, when he looks into someone’s eyes and sees “douchey”, he doesn’t hold his tongue even if the guy is actually Tom Brady. By contrast, when he looks into someone’s eyes and sees “genuine” and “awesome” he embraces it. In this case, when those guys are LJ Sr. and Vanderlinden, O’Brien immediately says, “YOU. I want YOU. Someone write these guys some contracts.”
I love Lavar and I love his outspokenness, but this is exactly why you don’t jump to conclusions – especially about people – until you have something to go on.
PSUCharmas - January 9, 2012
what will happen when he looks in someone's eyes and sees "MOXIE"?
letsgopsu - January 9, 2012
I think that might be the question of the 2012 football season
It’s like a philosophical conundrum. What happens when an immovable object is struck by an unstoppable
forceinterception throwing machine?PSUCharmas - January 9, 2012
I can't wait for this dynamic
I can already picture BOB reaming McGloin out on the sidelines for throwing an interception and then sharing an Irish bro-hug later after a completed TD pass that was drenched in moxie.
LAPSU - January 9, 2012
Stan Hixon, Buffalo Bills WR coach,
to replace Mke McQueary.
run4peach - January 9, 2012
I thought O'Shea was coming to be WR coach?
reedjohnmiller - January 9, 2012
Oh no, no, no, no, no, no.
They are not keeping Jon Thomas. Please tell me that you’re wrong.
I am sick and tired of watching our offensive linemen get blown up by Wisconsin and Ohio State and Iowa.
However, I will keep an open mind and maybe it isn’t JT. Maybe it’s the offensive line coaches who don’t know how to teach technique, or Galen Hall’s zone-blocking scheme. I hope I’m proven wrong. Thank heavens for Vandy.
Ab4PSU - January 9, 2012
I htink it was sub-par OL coaching than anything else
Our D uses the same HIT program and is pretty damn stout. And zone-blocking is great when executed properly.
DrewRusse - January 9, 2012
That's what I'm hoping and praying for.
It wasn’t JT, but position coaching and strategy.
Ab4PSU - January 9, 2012
Didn't we have two different coaches
for different parts of the o-line? That always seemed stupid to me
Kyle_Martin - January 9, 2012
I have never heard a PSU NFL player or an NFL scout say anything about Thomas
You’d think that if Thomas were really “doing it wrong” that we’d here somebody in the NFL say that.
And to be fair, Thomas seems to claim his methods keep guys conditioned into the fourth quarter. Except in the game where our offense just cannot get a first down and our D is on the field way too much, I can’t really recall a game where it looked like we lost the conditioning battle and I can think of several where we were able to run Tony Hunt or whomever up the gut repeatedly in the fourth to salt away a victory because we’d worn the other guys down.
I have no data to back that up.
reedjohnmiller - January 9, 2012
no data, but I feel the same way
Cari Greene - January 9, 2012
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