Coach O'Brien was very honest about his desire to return to the NFL. I remember the meet and greet with him and he couldn't have been clearer. It just happened a little quicker than most thought. I pity those that have never had to make upward mobility decisions.
Sam Ficken: "We knew from the get-go that O’Brien’s dream and passion was to coach in the NFL"
- Thread starter ChiTownLion
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I will agree with the player who said BOB was the right guy at the right time.
BOB is a tremendous coach. Yes, he can be a rude, crude guy, but the players clearly respected him and wanted to please him. Both Wisconsin wins were among the more significant in PSU program history.
My Dad knew BOB’s Dad. BOB disliked the reality that with recruiting, personal appearances and fundraising, there really is no off season as a P5 FB coach.
BOB is a tremendous coach. Yes, he can be a rude, crude guy, but the players clearly respected him and wanted to please him. Both Wisconsin wins were among the more significant in PSU program history.
My Dad knew BOB’s Dad. BOB disliked the reality that with recruiting, personal appearances and fundraising, there really is no off season as a P5 FB coach.
Woke up this morning singing Jump Around. All thru breakfast and on the way to work.
Coincidentally spooky.
With all the garbage OB had to deal with, it probably seemed like a life time!
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anon_1eeb2b426hv3y
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It does depend on what one considers long-term.
I’d need to review more of the contract to confirm that language was to protect the coach with increased job security due to the increased challenges of the job if a) or b) were to happen, which I strongly suspect was the case. Doubtful it was to protect the university from O’Brien leaving. The university wasn’t in a strong negotiating position-re anything at that time.
And his quote was in the run-up to his first season. The job became a lemon when those sanctions hit. He stayed for two full seasons, which is often the minimum expected of any coach taking a major role. And doing his job required him to talk like he’s sticking around-like he’s committed to see it through. Otherwise, what recruit would consider going to Penn State, especially after the sanctions were announced?
He couldn’t do his job and say “I plan to be here only a few years to try and and parlay this gig into a better one.”
That he took the job and didn’t bolt sooner earned him the right to stay and collect a paycheck longer term if/when the unique challenges kept him from succeeding here to get that great new job.
Would be a mistake to forget that PSU made it easier for him to leave after those first two seasons, if he wanted to. After the win in Madison, the program had new life, he served the minimum and his stock wasn’t going to get much higher.
I appreciate people think he jumped ship too soon. It’s fair to feel that way. But he gave us two seasons in a job few (if any) respected coaches would have taken after those sanctions were announced. And he left after proving we could still compete. His tenure wasn’t long or perfect but I think that guy is way more hero than villain.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
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Fair. My issue is with people thinking he was blindsided by the sanctions and screwed by Penn State. He signed a contract guaranteeing his employment in the event the ship sunk. It didn’t. And, for his two years, probably slightly underperformed given the talent he had. That said, he was martyred by the media and given a bunch of COY awards that fastracked him to the NFL - he left CJF with scraps for the most part.
I’d also disagree with the quality of coaches interested in the position. I believe the Packers OC or QB coach at the time, and Stanford TE coach Greg Roman (think he was Harbaugh’s OC at San Francisco) were interested and interviewed. OB was my favorite of the bunch but I though Roman, an east coast guy who had nothing but praise for Penn State and Paterno, would have been a good fit.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
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anon_1eeb2b426hv3y
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He wasn’t screwed by PSU. He signed up for a tough job. He wasn’t the greatest recruiter. But right or wrong, I didn’t get the impression he approached the job like a short-timer. The team shouldn’t have lost to Virginia and there was good leftover talent.
And he was martyred. The media folks capture huge attention by creating monsters, and by creating Cinderellas. PSU sold a lot of papers and clicks. Still does. I’m out for tonight. Will check back tomorrow.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
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Unexpected sanctions including the need to re-recruit his current team and a bowl ban that greatly decreased PSU as a destination in the eyes of recruits (after being told that PSU was in good shape with the NCAA regarding the scandal).
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
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Seeing how MSU, NC, Miami and several others school pushed back and didn't get squat in terms of sanctions, i say there is considerable merit to the notion that BOB was partly responsible.
I'm still fascinated that 3 of my top 10 fave wins were vs wisky. All 3 wins were vs a team considered more than our superior and in none of them would anyone have thought we could match up mano mano... and in all 3 we did.
ALL those teams were tough mofos.
Maybe it's because i have always respected their program and measured us against them as men vs men... no frills, no flair, just hard hitting put up or shut up.... Joe's kinda football.
ALL those teams were tough mofos.
Maybe it's because i have always respected their program and measured us against them as men vs men... no frills, no flair, just hard hitting put up or shut up.... Joe's kinda football.
What about meeting, greeting and learning what a douchebag Dr. Joyner was? What about meeting, greeting and learning what a bunch of scoundrels the BOT were? I think it is very possible that he wanted to push back against the sanctions only to be told to stand down by the BOT. Consider how BOB must’ve felt after meeting, greeting and getting to know just what kind of man, er, lizard our President Rodney was!
None of the language in the contract addressed the poisonous environment that existed at that time.
Yeah. Those acting like was a normal gig are lying. Seriously lying. Nothing about his tenure was normal. I’m not sure why or how people can pretend that was the case.
Compare PSU to Baylor right now, and we had much worse press and sanctions.
You evidently don’t realize the NCAA neutered itself with Penn State sanctions. But, whatever works for you.
My goodness "interesting to see how Hack would have developed had BOB stayed"
. Hack has had a dozen guys working with him. As sensitive as many guys are about BOB's legacy isn't it time we absolve CJF [at least indirectly] of Hack's skill set?
. BOB, IMO is much more a good play caller and game planner than "developer". He introduced the short passing game and throws to TE to maximize McGloin's ability. At Houston he had 4-5 QB's before Watson. If he was a great developer one of those should have succeeded. This isn't intended to be a knock just suggesting his real skill might be more how to use talent than develop it.
Yep I was essentially ambivalent about the guy unti he couldn’t keep his mouth shut on the way out. Showed his Patriots pedigree with the lack of class he showed. He was never a PSU guy and maybe that was necessary in the short term, but he was never going to be a long term solution.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
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Serious. What didn’t they give or do for him?
If you think OB didn’t know what he was getting into when he signed his contract - one with very specific language pertaining to job security in the event of sanctions - then I have a bridge to sell you.
This is true. How many jobs let you continue to work at your old one for several months while you're supposed to be working at the new one? This isn't a fast food joint.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
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I think OB had a really tough job and did the best he could. But, Penn State gave him everything he wanted, including changing the terms of his contract so he could leave for the NFL sooner rather than later. If his head and heart weren’t one foot out the door when he arrived on campus, he probably wins four more games.
If the Joe/Jay/Galen or Franklin/Butler staffs were coaching, they might have won 4 fewer...
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
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I think those 2 early 2012 losses to Virginia and Ohio were due to a severe “depressive” environment hanging over the entire university, alums and the football program. Rockne or Lombardi weren’t going to overcome the depression.
How many starters did they bring back? I'll give you a hint, it was the opposite of a bunch of beginners.
I still am not sure he had a total grasp on “all” that happened or was going to happen. By the way, what are you asking for the bridge?
Here is the depth chart heading into 2011 (which shows you remember things differently than I do about 2012)...
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools...depth_chart_non_event/DepthChart_August29.pdf
To be honest, I had pretty much forgotten this game. The two games from the O'Brien era that I will not forget are the 2012 game at Iowa - that was absolutely awesome. And the 2013 OT game vs. Michigan when O'Brien went for the win instead of another OT. O'Brien was the right person for that time
Remember that by some accounts PSU had tried to get Mark Richt and could not, could not or would not hire Munchak, would not touch Al Golden because he had served for a very short time on the old staff, likely avoided Schiano for the same reason. From what I recall, it may have been down to O'Brien, the coach from Harvard, Tim Murphy, and Greg Roman. I think Roman may have been more likely to stick around than O'Brien, but we didn't have a lot of choices
Remember that by some accounts PSU had tried to get Mark Richt and could not, could not or would not hire Munchak, would not touch Al Golden because he had served for a very short time on the old staff, likely avoided Schiano for the same reason. From what I recall, it may have been down to O'Brien, the coach from Harvard, Tim Murphy, and Greg Roman. I think Roman may have been more likely to stick around than O'Brien, but we didn't have a lot of choices
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That's even more returning starters than I remembered, and the few new starters were already on the roster with fairly significant experience.
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anon_1eeb2b426hv3y
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I don’t think anyone’s lying. All know it wasn’t a normal gig. But seems it’s now far enough in the rear view that it’s easier to see it (at least on the field) as better than anyone should have reasonably expected. There were villains. But if anyone includes BO’B in that discussion, it’s only fair to put him in the gray and darned close to part where imperfect heros land.
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