Penn State Fans

[abpk2903]

I titled this thread Penn State fans because I would really like this thread to go troll free. That said I still wouldn't mind comments from Crimson, S Cube, and such. Honest opinions of program "outsiders" just not 20 pages of debating bull crap.

First off, let's talk Bill O'Brien. At first, when I heard he was leaving I was happy for him and his family. He put in a great amount of effort for my university in a time he needed it the most. As time goes, I feel a little more frustration though. The university gave him a large raise just last year, he made promises (now lies) to players and recruits, and most of all he fired a long tenured coach when he knew he was leaving the program a few weeks later. Once the comments came out about the Paterno supporters, he pushed me more into the "this guy is an arrogant asshole" train of thought. A few things that bugged me about that rant were:

-I know he left you a mess to clean up but Joe built what the program you came in and used as your NFL springboard. Show the man some respect.
-You are an idiot if you thought you were going to come here and not face scrutiny from Paterno loyalists.
-Yes, you were the university spokesman BUT you are the highest paid university employee by millions. Plus don't act like that didn't look good on your resume.
-Find me a major college program coach that isn't the university spokesman. Who is the dean of Alabama? Name me the president of Duke...
-If you think the State College media and fans are bad, I can't wait until you lose 3 in a row in Houston. Good Luck!!!

So I will probably forever have mixed emotions for Bill O'Brien. Came at the right time and put forth one heck of an effort but also shown some true colors on his way out. With that said, I think he will be a terrible NFL coach. I actually had a long post on this earlier this year but let's recap:

-Horrible clock manager. Misuse of timeouts, wasted seconds, and confusion at the end of halfs.
-Poorly managed his staff. Unbelievable amount of staff changes in 2 years. It seems like he doesn't like criticism.
-Overly aggressive. Got away with this in college but giving the other team the bad on your 40 or passing up 3 points is the deciding factor in NFL games.
-Bad defenses. I've seen Penn State regress significantly in the past 2 years defensively.
-Lack of experience. This guy has been the head coach of a grand total of 24 football games in his career. 0 conference championship games and 0 bowl games.

My gut tells me this is the next Schiano. Firey college guy who is going to rub his players the wrong way, not work well with his staff, and do boneheaded moves to lose respect from opposing players and coaches.

Now moving forward, what would be beneficial in the next coach:

-A more committed candidate. Look for maybe someone who wants to stay 6-10 years, build a tenured staff, and give the fanbase new traditions.
-An offensive mind. I think the tools O'Brien left PSU with would best fit an offensive guy.
-A recruiter. Let's face there is no excuse for Penn State not to have a top 10 class annually. They are the marque program for the New England states, a better option that Rutgers for NJ kids, have little competition in VA, MD, and WVU, and Pennsylvania offers a ton of talent annually. Compare that to a team like Florida that has to recruit against several top programs just in its state.
-Experience.

Thoughts?

[Aoki12]

That's what I have been saying the whole time, and I agree completely with you: find a coach that will commit to stay for AT LEAST, 10+ years. I know it seems picky but that is what I think teams lack today, a strong "foothold" as a coach. Some players are going through 2-3 coaches before they are done with their four years. I just don't see that ad ever being a good thing. If anything at least get somebody who will commit so that there is some consistency.

[abpk2903]

That could be used as a great recruiting tool in this day and age. To be honest, I think that single handedly kept Penn State afloat in terms of recruiting over paternos last 20 years. If you came to Penn State, you knew who the coach was going to be for the next 5 years, the specialist coaches probably weren't changing either, and you didn't have to fear a new coach meaning new philosophy and your role being diminished. I think anything over 10 years in this day and age is unrealistic but 8 years isn't.

[KirkHerbstreit]

abk that was a great, well thought out post. I completely agree with most of it. Here are my thoughts on O'Brien.

- I will always have a soft spot for what this guy did for the program. He opened up things about Penn State football, made it fun to watch again, and was a heck of a guy to listen to during interviews. Very intelligent. I still remember his first press conference, I went in thinking who is this guy and came out thinking I can't wait until next season. Then, Penn State begain opening practices and showing the kids work in the offseason. We had more access to Penn State that we had ever had. I will always remember the Wisconsin game with tears in his eyes as he called the players a bunch of "Fockers", the Michigan game this year, and the Wisconsin to end it. In those 3 games alone, there was more excitement about PSU football than their had been for some time.

- As far as the way he handled his exit, I cannot comment, because I do not know all the details. I will say this. There are some crazy individuals at Penn State regarding Joe Paterno. We see them on Messageboards. I am sure he dealt with emails and things on a daily basis. As a person, that wears on you. He also came here two years ago with the assumption there would be a new President and Athletic Director. Yet, the same two idiots are running the show. That probably factors in. There were also rumors he wanted a bigger athletic budget and money for his assistants. It's been said those were turned down.

In the Big Picture, O'Brien always wanted to be a Pro Coach, so this was going to go on year in and year out, so it's best that he is gone now. In the end, I am thankful for what he did and can't think of a better guy that could have been picked


Oddly enough, I am kind of in agreement with you on the Pro coach gig for all the same reasons you mentioned. I think part of th problem will be his unwillingness to let someone else be the offensive coordinator. If he changes that and manages the team, he may be ok. I am wondering if his aggressiveness in college might have been more based on Penn State's nothing to lose mentality than his overall strategy though.

Agree with everything in the criteria for the new coach, as well

[Aoki12]

Exactly, you can draw comparisons to pat pecora in upj wrestling. It's no surprise he harvests such talent, because he's charismatic, he's known and kids want to wrestle for him. Penn state needs a guy like that. Like you said. I don't want to use this word but I can't tink of anything else, they need a household name. A figurehead, because that's what joepa was towards the end.

[konjo78]

Thoughts on O'Brien- good coach, good recruiter, good guy but always wanted to be a NFL coach. Sure he didn't keep promises but so don't lot of people. Next I want them to hire a young coach having success somewhere else right now. No not al golden from the U. I want a coach from a successful FCS program or a non bcs conference coach to come in. Who coaches northern Illinois?



Finally we say we want a 10+ year coach because that's what everyone wants. Yes its unreasonable most likely but we know what we want and we have the gut to say it.


Let's go State

[abpk2903]

Another thing that irked me about O'Brien's comments was now it will be more difficult for the university to find his replacement. If the university is trying to persuade a marque name with other options, he may say look at how the "JoeBots" got too O'Brien after just 2 years. Will I be treated the same?

I don't think the Penn State job is that attractive right now. They have several things working against them:

-"JoeBots"
-Weak B1G right now
-Worst talent base in the program since probably 2001 (maybe later)
-2 more years of crippling sanctions
-Struggling attendance (for Penn State)
-Lord knows who the next AD and University President may be a and when they will be hired. As a coach, this is very, very concerning. What if a new AD comes in and wants "his guy" to be the next coach?
-BO'B's frustration after 2 years
-Climate. Nothing Penn State can do about this but I lived here for 4 years. 4-5 months of the year are miserable.
-Middle of nowhere. Not everyone falls in love with the mountains or the celery in the lasagna. Outside of the university, there is literally nothing to do. For a coach with a family, this is a big issue for Penn State.
-Oh yeah, JoeBots

[Aoki12]

I don't know about you guys but I can't stand that term. But anyways O'Brien is by far not the bad guy in this situation, he did what he needed to do to advance himself. He made those promises risibly not foreseeing that he would have an NFL caliber opportunity. Aside from him Golden and Franklin are the top two targets and rightfully so because they are the best two targets. Bringing in an FCS coach? Please elaborate further why this would be a good idea konjo? Just curious

[konjo78]

FCS coaches can do something great, get good.talent D1 misses. PSU will get good kids with their names but good FCS.schools really have coaches that can recruit. They also work with making talent work better. I look at eastern Washington, a local team for me, that has become an FCS power. They don't get 5* talent but they pick up a lot of great talent PAC 12 school's miss. Plus they are successful. What has a better chance of success? A national champion FCS coach or a sub .500 BCS conference coach?

[Aoki12]

FCS coaches can do something great, get good.talent D1 misses. PSU will get good kids with their names but good FCS.schools really have coaches that can recruit. They also work with making talent work better. I look at eastern Washington, a local team for me, that has become an FCS power. They don't get 5* talent but they pick up a lot of great talent PAC 12 school's miss. Plus they are successful. What has a better chance of success? A national champion FCS coach or a sub .500 BCS conference coach?

So you want an FCS coach with little to no true division 1 experience to come in and try to work a team through sanctions that already have it down to its knees? And then after you stress them with that you want to have them guaranteed for 6+ years? Interesting. It might work IF you get right guy, but I'm sure there are better alleyways to go down.