News is breaking today that Penn State coach Bill O'Brien is leaving the program to accept the head coaching job of the Houston Texans. I have been following the rumors all week and at first I wished O'Brien well until I read this article, by David Jones over at Pennlive this morning.
All the media outlets are praising O'Brien as the savior of the Penn State program during the harsh sanctions imposed by the NCAA, but when you set back an look at what he actually accomplished here, I personally am not impressed. I get the sentiment that he "held the program together" during tough times, but if a significant tool used in doing so was lying to the kids to keep them there, then I'm not sure that is as commendable as it otherwise might be viewed.
O'Brien when he first took over the program was smart. The first decision he made was to keep highly respected defensive line coach Larry Johnson and the top linebacker coach in the country Ron Vanderlinden. This no doubt was a big factor in keeping players like Mike Mauti at Penn State during the open transfer period of the NCAA sanctions.
During the past couple of years I've made it known on various social media platforms and message boards that I think Coach O'Brien's game planning and play calling probably cost Penn State five games over the past two season. Not good if you are a Houston Texans fan. Needless to say I've gotten a lot of grief from numerous state and local media personalities for my comments.
Now I'm starting to question Coach O'Brien's maturity level here after reading the Jones' article. Add it all up of what we have seen: The Tom Brady blow up as New England Patriot's offensive coordinator; dropping the F Bomb on national TV; O'Brien's handling of the Ron Vanderlinden situation; and now add the comments sited in the Jones article this morning. From what I have seen here this morning, I say good riddance to this guy. If I was a Texans fan, I'm not sure I would be really too excited about this guy being my next head coach at the NFL level.
I supported him as our coach, but I'm also excited about the opportunity to find a coach who wants to coach in the college game and who wants to coach at Penn State.
So salty.
ReplyDeleteLuv it. Just got tired of the all the holier than thow O'Brien coverage. He was not our savior here. In fact he was an average game day coach. Go watch the replays of this years Indiana game. Crap game plan, Crap play calling. You can't get away with that in the NFL.
DeleteBoo Ho Ho Happy "Boy Rapist Protecting" Valley. I see an article written by someone who has had his feelings hurt that the coach got his ticket to the big time NFL on his own terms, not run out of town after a bad season. If you don't think Bill held the program together put on your big boy pants, take the whistle and step your ass out on that field as the head coach. Do coaches lie to players......ALL of them do, from sitting in the living room of their parents homes recruiting them to the college they coach for, pushing them to do better in school and play harder in practice and taking one for the team in a game. During the past couple of years I've made it known on various social media platforms and message boards that I think Coach O'Brien's game planning and play calling probably cost Penn State five games over the past two seasons. What you not man enough to come to a press conference after the games and ask the hard questions? No thanks I'll hide behind social media platforms and message boards cause I am a douchebag. If you didn't see the writing on the wall when Bill renegotiated his buyout clause after interviewing at Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns, among others, only to stay in State College last year. This was a stepping stone to where he wants to be. Enjoy your 8-4 and 7-5 seasons while he was there. The next few years are going to be real interesting........
ReplyDeleteI don't know what is worse. Ignoring the obvious facts laid out in the article that O'Brien is a head case at times and will not go over well with professional players in Houston or seeing your "put on your big boy pants" comment as you post anonymously. I'm sure we are getting a big laugh at that. How about you create a profile and make it be known then just who the idiot really is here.
DeleteHe took the job, when few others would touch it. You had winning seasons. Get over the fact that PSU isn't the center of the football universe and pray that you can attract a decent coach. You would be lucky to get James Franklin or Mike Munchak. Franklin can recruit and coach, what he has done at Vanderbilt is nothing short of amazing. I've worked at Vanderbilt for 20 years, and I still can't believe what he has done. Munchak would stay at PSU forever, or until he was fired, and might even turn out to be a good college coach. He is a great guy, and I'm betting he could recruit.
DeleteNo one would take it? PSU had a lot of options for coaches. There were no sanctions when BOB was hired. He would never have left the NFL if he knew what was going to happen to PSU, and him leaving now has proved that fact.
DeleteAnd I agree BOB lost a lot of games that PSU could win with their practice squad. Luckily he won a lot of big games to make up for that. Unfortunately for the Texans the media only covered the good of BOB because they were soft on him. Good thing he didn't go to Philly last year. He never could have handled the media room.
How can a person who posts as anonymous deride the author of the article for posting on social media instead of coming to press conferences and asking hard questions. Sort of the same thing isn't it? BOB was great for PSU and did a great job and was apparently loved by his players from all that Ihave read, I just wish he had left with a little more class, PSU has been kicked in the teeth enough by Jerry Sandusky, and all the PSU haters who have seemed to revel in this tragedy/travesty.
ReplyDeletewhat are the obvious facts in this article? Just looks like a scorned lover trying to legitimize their broken heart. Give the guy credit, he did a great job of keeping PSU relevant after all your higher ups hid pedophilia for decades. it will be a LONG while before PSU is a top 10 team. I will say the Texans will probably win a Super Bowl first.
ReplyDeleteI think psu fans are just upset that they are not a top 25 program anymore. Psu football is the ugly girl who got dumped by the cute guy and are looking for excuses.
ReplyDeleteGot to luv these trolls out there. It is really scary. It's like they are aliens or something. Yet another misguided, misinformed comment from national idiots.
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