I know some are still very bitter over his departure, but I appreciate what he did for this school & wish him well. I thought his comments about wishing he spoke out more were revealing. Perhaps with the benefit of hindsight, he wishes he said more. 
As a rookie head coach, he knew he didn't have the clout to take a stand at the time.
In wake of Baylor scandal, Texans' Bill O'Brien reflects on Penn State experience
Texans coach Bill O'Brien understands the difficulty of picking up the pieces of a college football program shattered by controversy.
In 2012, O'Brien was hired by Penn State to resurrect a football program that had been ripped apart by NCAA sanctions after the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal.
It's too early to know if the NCAA will penalize Baylor, but because of allegations of rape and sexual assault within the football program, the school fired coach Art Briles, demoted president Ken Starr and forced athletic director Ian McCaw to resign.
Baylor hired Jim Grobe, 64, as interim coach Monday. O'Brien, who coached against Grobe for six years in the ACC, praised the hiring of the former Wake Forest coach.
While preparing the Texans for a second week of organized team activities, O'Brien was asked about taking over the Penn State program and how Baylor may be able to learn from what happened to the Nittany Lions.
"We didn't try to distance ourselves from child sexual abuse," O'Brien said. "I think, most importantly, in any situation that involves some things that are hard to talk about, you have to face it and think about the victims. The first thing you have to do – in addition to putting your staff together and connecting with your players – is to make sure people know there are things a lot more important than football.
"Whenever I spoke to our team, especially that first year, you couldn't forget about what had happened. You have to express how important and how much bigger sexual violence is than football. That was an educational experience for me. Whether it was a media session or what, we never tried to distance ourselves from that.
"We went into the community and talked about it. We had a lot of meetings about how we'd handle it if it ever came up again. We had a blue ribbon game. Our players wore blue ribbons on their helmets to show our thoughts and feelings about victims of sexual abuse.
"To me, it's a big thing to say, 'This is football, but at the end of the day, we're talking about victims. We have to understand how to solve that problem before we get back to winning football games.'
After O'Brien left the New England Patriots for Penn State, the NCAA penalized the program by reducing scholarships from 85 to 65, banning appearances in bowl games for four years, levying a $60 million fine and allowing players to transfer to other schools without sitting out a year.
When Penn State complied with new guidelines, the NCAA began to lift the restrictions, amounting to a three-year probation.
Despite predictions of abject failure because of the unprecedented sanctions, O'Brien led Penn State to 8-4 and 7-5 records before coming to Houston. After his first season, O'Brien was voted Big Ten Coach of the Year and won the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Award.
One of the first things he focused on was to try to limit the number of players transferring and to reach out to recruits.
"One of the strategies we used was to bring the players together for a lot of team meetings," O'Brien said. "Different people spoke to our team.
"When the sanctions came out, and all our kids were able to transfer, we were wondering if we'd be able to field a team. I told our administration we may lose this whole team."
They lost nine players.
"We came up with this idea within three days (of the sanctions)," O'Brien said. "Penn State has one of the largest lettermen associations in the country. We sent an invitation for them to come in on a Friday night for a pizza party with our team. I picked 10 different alums from different eras to speak to our team.
"The alums conveyed the message of – not just the football tradition – but the tradition of good people in that program. The combination of football and academics at Penn State. We wanted them to explain what being a Penn State football player meant. That was an amazing night. It helped our recruiting and it helped keep our team together. No one transferred after that night.
"In recruiting, we answered questions to the best of our ability, but we also said, 'Look, here's what we have to offer you: a brand new coaching staff, a great education – Penn State is a fantastic academic school with a great campus and student body.'
"We ran a disciplined program at Penn State. We were going to recruit the right kids. You can't be perfect, but we put a lot of emphasis on character and academics as well as good players."
Looking back, O'Brien has one regret.
"I was a first-time head coach, and when the NCAA came in, I wish I had spoken up about how outlandish those sanctions were," he said. "Since then, they've taken those sanctions away.
"In 2012, those sanctions were going to be in place until 2018. It was a six-year sanction. I didn't think the NCAA had jurisdiction on that at all, and I wish I had been more outspoken about it. Other than that, I think we handled it pretty well."
As a rookie head coach, he knew he didn't have the clout to take a stand at the time.In wake of Baylor scandal, Texans' Bill O'Brien reflects on Penn State experience
Texans coach Bill O'Brien understands the difficulty of picking up the pieces of a college football program shattered by controversy.
In 2012, O'Brien was hired by Penn State to resurrect a football program that had been ripped apart by NCAA sanctions after the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal.
It's too early to know if the NCAA will penalize Baylor, but because of allegations of rape and sexual assault within the football program, the school fired coach Art Briles, demoted president Ken Starr and forced athletic director Ian McCaw to resign.
Baylor hired Jim Grobe, 64, as interim coach Monday. O'Brien, who coached against Grobe for six years in the ACC, praised the hiring of the former Wake Forest coach.
While preparing the Texans for a second week of organized team activities, O'Brien was asked about taking over the Penn State program and how Baylor may be able to learn from what happened to the Nittany Lions.
"We didn't try to distance ourselves from child sexual abuse," O'Brien said. "I think, most importantly, in any situation that involves some things that are hard to talk about, you have to face it and think about the victims. The first thing you have to do – in addition to putting your staff together and connecting with your players – is to make sure people know there are things a lot more important than football.
"Whenever I spoke to our team, especially that first year, you couldn't forget about what had happened. You have to express how important and how much bigger sexual violence is than football. That was an educational experience for me. Whether it was a media session or what, we never tried to distance ourselves from that.
"We went into the community and talked about it. We had a lot of meetings about how we'd handle it if it ever came up again. We had a blue ribbon game. Our players wore blue ribbons on their helmets to show our thoughts and feelings about victims of sexual abuse.
"To me, it's a big thing to say, 'This is football, but at the end of the day, we're talking about victims. We have to understand how to solve that problem before we get back to winning football games.'
After O'Brien left the New England Patriots for Penn State, the NCAA penalized the program by reducing scholarships from 85 to 65, banning appearances in bowl games for four years, levying a $60 million fine and allowing players to transfer to other schools without sitting out a year.
When Penn State complied with new guidelines, the NCAA began to lift the restrictions, amounting to a three-year probation.
Despite predictions of abject failure because of the unprecedented sanctions, O'Brien led Penn State to 8-4 and 7-5 records before coming to Houston. After his first season, O'Brien was voted Big Ten Coach of the Year and won the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Award.
One of the first things he focused on was to try to limit the number of players transferring and to reach out to recruits.
"One of the strategies we used was to bring the players together for a lot of team meetings," O'Brien said. "Different people spoke to our team.
"When the sanctions came out, and all our kids were able to transfer, we were wondering if we'd be able to field a team. I told our administration we may lose this whole team."
They lost nine players.
"We came up with this idea within three days (of the sanctions)," O'Brien said. "Penn State has one of the largest lettermen associations in the country. We sent an invitation for them to come in on a Friday night for a pizza party with our team. I picked 10 different alums from different eras to speak to our team.
"The alums conveyed the message of – not just the football tradition – but the tradition of good people in that program. The combination of football and academics at Penn State. We wanted them to explain what being a Penn State football player meant. That was an amazing night. It helped our recruiting and it helped keep our team together. No one transferred after that night.
"In recruiting, we answered questions to the best of our ability, but we also said, 'Look, here's what we have to offer you: a brand new coaching staff, a great education – Penn State is a fantastic academic school with a great campus and student body.'
"We ran a disciplined program at Penn State. We were going to recruit the right kids. You can't be perfect, but we put a lot of emphasis on character and academics as well as good players."
Looking back, O'Brien has one regret.
"I was a first-time head coach, and when the NCAA came in, I wish I had spoken up about how outlandish those sanctions were," he said. "Since then, they've taken those sanctions away.
"In 2012, those sanctions were going to be in place until 2018. It was a six-year sanction. I didn't think the NCAA had jurisdiction on that at all, and I wish I had been more outspoken about it. Other than that, I think we handled it pretty well."
