Sources: O'Brien returns to Patriots as new OC
Bill O'Brien will return to the Patriots after agreeing to a deal Tuesday to become New England's next offensive coordinator, sources tell ESPN's Adam Schefter and Chris Low.
BO’B back to NE Pats as OC
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I don't think too many Alabama fans are shedding tears from what I've read. So he used PSU as a stepping stone to the Patriots OC job. With a much fatter wallet.
A career journeyman assistant coach.....who parlayed rubbing against Brady and Belichick into a fortune. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Well, I wonder how happy Mac is. He certainly parlayed his non super bowl winning career as an OC with the Pats into a fortune.
LOL, spinning this as a good thing. If you would have told him when he was here that a decade from now he would be returning as the Patriots OC, I'd love to hear his response.
Wow! I can't believe the venom here. O'Brien came here on the heels of the Sandusky affair when EVERYBODY and their relatives wanted Penn State wiped off the face of the earth. He did as good a job of holding this program together when the world wanted Penn State football eliminated as anyone else could have. Yes he took off after 2 years (2 non losing years at that) but what would you have done when you have that much money and control over an NFL team waived at you? There are no more Paterno's or Braynt's in college football anymore who look at spending decades at one school. Do it for the school is dead, CFB is now nothing more than a big, money making business. Think of where Penn State football would be if a lesser person had taken over in 2012 and the wolves had gotten their way. IMO, one of the good guys got rewarded.
You are right, he won't last.....in New England. 2 Years from now he will have Mac Jones at the top level and get another chance to be a head coach.
BOB could always coach the shit out of football. It was when he tried to be GM as well.
College coaches don't work for min wage. A head coach in college makes more than an college OC. O'Brien might have made more if he stayed a college HC. Problem with O'Brien is he is a prima dona and does not get along with anyone.
The players held things together. You can thank mauti, zordich, hill and so on. The players were ready to bail on O'Brien but the captains held things together! O'Brien was here for O'Brien.
Ps. He finished as a 7-5 coach.
Who coached the shit out of the losses to Ohio u, Virgina, central Florida, Minnesota, Indiana and Nebraska?
Who had the brilliant idea to go into a season without a special teams coach?
Who had Gerald Hodges returning punts?
Who gave Derek day 20 carries for 40 yds while Zach zwinack was on the bench?
O'Brien is a career 7.5 win a season college coach.
Who went in to his PSU career with unheard of NCAA sanctions?
Who kept at least a semblance of a roster?
Who never finished under .500 while coaching players that belonged at Lock Haven?
And? Why are you acting like a woman that got dumped here. We all know O'Brien can be successful. College wasn't an ideal fit for him due to recruiting. He never planned on staying long and we knew that from his press conference day 1. He was the perfect guy to replace Paterno and make things easier for Franklin
O'Brien did not think there would be any sanctions. As soon as they hit he was trying to bail. Sanctions were phased in. In 2012-13 the loch Haven, UConn, UMass, marshall, Toledo, temple players were freshman. O'Brien eventually bailed and Franklin inherited the worse situation. Franklin had to play the loch Haven players. O'Brien had about 15 OL on scholly. When Franklin arrived only about 5 OL on scholly.
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What does what he think about the sanctions have to do with the job he did.
Anyone that doesn't think BOB did a good job here is either a Paterno Loyalist or was too young to see the effects.
Every single day Penn State was being bashed on every network. I don't care if a kid is a 5 star, that shit takes its tool big time.
Twelve players transferred out.
Several top recruits went elsewhere.
He got Hack, a very high rated QB, to stick.
First game was down to fourth string running back by halftime.
Zwiniak had injury problems.
Got 7.5 wins per 11 game season season despite tremendous odds.
Every same person alive…and even most of the rest….knew there would be strong even severe sanctions. Even a dummy like me knew that.
A lot of schools did not want to pay/ have funds for a special teams coach. Paterno didn't, he dived up the duties between the coaches. I called for a special teams coach on this board in the early 2000's and the reply thrown back to me was there wasn't money in the budget for it.
I will NEVER forget Silas Redd's comment "I didn't come here for this" or words to that effect.
Zwinak started the season 5th string. He sat the bench vs Virginia while derek day had 20 carries for 40 yards.
7.5 wins in a 12 game season.
That is fine but at the end of the day the special teams were a disaster. Missed 4 FG vs Virginia I think. LB returning punts. Missed XP that caused Nebraska game to go to OT and a loss. That is on Bob.
Dont act like Obrien was the savior. He did not expect sanctions and he was trying to bail as soon as sanctions were handed down. Obrien would have been out the door with Silas REdd if he had the chance.
So you are the guy that just like to argue. Hopefully you argue better than you read. I never said he was the savior, I said he is a pretty darn good coach that led this team through some shit.
Bull crap. Everyone knew sanctions were coming. Only an idiot wouldn’t realize that. He probably didn’t think they would be so severe. But since a lot of people were calling for the death penalty, he had to know something bad was coming.
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Everyone knew except Obrien and a lot of fans on this site.
There are still fans walking around with Jerry is innocent shirts.
I remember the typical excuses like it was not football related and it was outside the NCAA jurisdiction. If everyone knew then why are they still blaming the BOT?
There are still fans walking around with Jerry is innocent shirts.
I remember the typical excuses like it was not football related and it was outside the NCAA jurisdiction. If everyone knew then why are they still blaming the BOT?
Anyone that didn’t see sanctions coming was blind. What evidence is there that O thought there would be no sanctions?
You are absolutely correct. Too many in our fanbase have their heads in the sand and hatred in their hearts. BOB was the best thing that could have happened for PSU at the time in the worst if condistions. Who would have thought anybody could have kept the program together at the time setting the table for the success we have seen since 2016.
This is mostly BS. OB mitigated almost all of the impact of the sanctions so Franklin didn't have to. Franklin inherited a GREAT situation. The line was far from lacking in talent. Thin on numbers yes, but high on talent overall. The problem was coaching. The point about Loch Haven players says you don't know what you are talking about. OB's 2013 class yielded the highest number of starters on the 2016 team of any single class. His first class was #2. Most of those guys are the best players Franklin has had per position during the entirety of his career. Several others from OB commits that carried over (Godwin, Gesicki). Others (Barkley) were targets from schools Franklin doesn't recruit at all. OBs players were the backbone of Franklin's best teams. Think about that.
Say what you will, to me the bottom line is there was a program left for Franklin to take over when O'Brien left.
Franklin recruited Barkley. O'Brien was a terrible recruiter did not recruit any offensive line players. O'Brien was a stepping stone for PSU and PSU was a stepping stone for O'Brien. Thankful he left and we have Franklin!!
O’Brien used Penn State as a stepping stone while the rest of the world was stomping us down.
Oh Wally. You stating it doesn't make it so. The best thing O'Brien did was come here. The second best thing was to leave after 2 seasons. PSU needed a coach and Bill didn't have a job. The facts are the BOB hoped the super bowl run would render him a HC job in the NFL....it didn't. To make matters worse his contract to return to NE was not renewed. Josh McDaniel returned to NE and BOB was odd man out. Ira and Judas had promised a home run hire and came up with cow dung. Jaws advised his buddy Ira to look to NFL coordinators and that led to Bill O'Brien. O'Brien was probably perfect for that particular task. I would remind everyone who jumps on Franklin that in his 2 year stint OB flirted with the NFL after year one and also renegotiated his contract.
You need to read the attached article carefully and anyone who does will have a detailed explanation of what James Franklin faced during 2014.
Penn State Football: Breaking Down The Scholarship Situation
Heading into this season Penn State was permitted to have 75 players on scholarship for 2014-15 academic year. That is an increase from the original sanctions which saw Penn State down in the range of 62-65 scholarship players in 2013. Teams not under NCAA sanctions are permitted to operate with up
www.statecollege.com
Even though PSU lost 3 starters who chose to take advantage of the NCAA sanctions, Joe Paterno did not leave the cupboard bare .Please see attached and note a veteran roster with many future NFL players included.
BOB was a transition coach that did an OK job at PSU. BOB was neither great or awful. That was probably all PSU could have hoped for at the time.
