Well I think Jack Lengyel at Marshall would probably trump them all, but that's not really what this discussion is all about.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Lengyel
What are your thoughts on Bill O'Brien now that time has passed?
- Thread starter Jerademan74
- Start date
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Lengyel
With two - thirds of the available players as every team he played and predictions of Penn State's eminent demise this guy won coach of the year. Exciting wins over Wisconsin and Michigan. He breathed life into a left for dead program and he did it with a walk on and a true freshman at quarterback. I also think O' Brien would have made the defense stronger eventually either with the increased scholarships or a new D coordinator if he deemed that the right move.
most definitely I see it differently. the only thing you got remotely close to being right about was the schmoozing of alumni. I am sorry I used the word delusional but I think you're so off base it caused me to wonder. LOL. but you're right it was a little harsh. Sorry.
Idiots hate him.
Level headed people understand he saved us.
Level headed people understand he saved us.
He jumped shipped very quickly. He tried to leave after the very first year. He planned to use Penn State as a stepping stone from the moment he first interviewed for the position. He was just out for himself and always will be. He was not what was in the best interest of the school and football program. Other potential coaches would have rallied the players to stay as well. Not to mention that several of the veteran players were also very influential with rallying the players to stay. But O'Brien took all the credit it. I saw this ego-maniac for what he was from the very beginning.
Lastly, if the players needed their name on his jersey to be recognized for staying then they probably weren't in the tradition of Penn State and Paterno.....
Who else was going to take the job?
What other "potential coaches" could have done a better job given the circumstances?
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
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These were the other coaches on our 'short list' at the time...(and were known to have interviewed):
- Brian Norwood, Assistant HC, Baylor (former PSU coach)
- Tom Clements, QB Coach, Green Bay Packers
- Greg Roman, Offensive Coordinator, SF 49ers
- Tom Bradley, Defensive Coordinator, Penn State
- Larry Johnson, Defensive Line Coach, Penn State
- Ron Vanderlinden, Linebackers Coach, Penn State
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Scratch 4-5-6 off the list, because they weren't realistic candidates.
Norwood had no real head coaching expeirence, and had ties to Paterno--scratch him off too, because there's no way the BOT was going to rubber-stamp such a hire.
So, we're left with:
Clemens- A guy who has had multiple interviews for multiple HC jobs on both the NFL and CFB levels.....and has the personality of the Nittany Lion Shrine (i.e. none).
Roman- Another guy who has gotten numerous interviews for multiple HC jobs on both levels, and has little to no personality.
Not that BOB was the most charming guy in the world, but you're kidding yourself to suggest either Clemens or Roman could've done as good of a job.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
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Why do you think Bradley and Vanderlinden weren't realistic candidates? Because of their experience, or because they were too close to Joe/the program? I don't disagree, I'm just saying 'all things equal', those guys are as competent and qualified as anyone else on the list. Roman may have zero personality, but he's a good coach, an East Coast guy, and I think he prefers the college game. I think he would have done well (he also claims he turned down the Pitt job among other opportunities to join Harbaugh in SF).
There's no way the hire was going to be a current staff member or one with Paterno connections. Bradley, Johnson, Vandy and Norwood were not serious candidates at all.
Being a great coach and having no personality and preferring the college game doesn't get you anywhere. OB did a fine job and helped our program immensely. The fact that some people are so butt hurt about his leaving is sad and pathetic.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
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In the living rooms of families, because of his demonstrated success as a college head coach, at the very top of the list.
Jadeveon Clowney would strongly disagree. From www.profootballtalk.com
Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, in a quote from a new book about Saban, wasn’t impressed by one of the most successful coaches in the history of college football.
“I don’t see no big deal like everybody else,” Clowney said in Saban: The Making of a Coach, via Greg Rajan of the Houston Chronicle. “They’d say, ‘He’s the king of all of football.’ The guy ain’t nothing but 5-5. He’s a short guy. Everybody’s going crazy on Nick Saban.
“He talked the whole time he was there. I was dozing off. He can talk. A lot. He talked for a whole straight hour.”
As it turns out, Saban was wasting his time. For Clowney, there was one factor that kept him from going to Alabama: The 3-4 defense. If Saban ran a 4-3, Clowney would have signed up right away.
So let me see if I have this correct, people such as yourself, mich-nittwit, sepa- douche, etc...want to argue in the Paterno et al vs NCAA that the ccoaches weren't harmed at all by the BOT's & their co-conspirators intentionally false and slanderous narrative (especially in regards to the football program & staff). Now in this thread, you want to claim that eliminating highly-qualified coaches, some with significantly more HC experience than FLO, was reasonable for the creators of the False Slanderous Narrative to do??? LMFAO at you corrupt BOT browneye nuzzlers - so which is it, these coaches were tainted goods due to their association with PSU Football and JVP or not??? You schizophrenic, zero-integrity, servile, shameless, soulless, little hypocrites are amusing if nothing
The thing is Bushwood....I've never once claimed that the coaching staff wasn't harmed by the actions of the BOT. They absolutely have been harmed.
Nice try, though. Go take your nighttime Xanax now.
I am saying that the number of healthy available bodies to put on the field was around that number as reported.I don't think it was much more than that number.
why don't you stop your foul gutter mouth tirades. your a real zero as far as I'm concerned because you can't compete without slanderous garbage oozing from your mouth to the keyboard. you are a class pathetic. now learn how to compete like a man does with class and non curse words. you must be a student because no mature male would use the words that you're using. you are absolutely out of control and you make yourself look ridiculous. you are an army of one dude and you have more marginalized yourself.
As others have stated great credit to him for holding the program together during the worst crisis imaginable. Having said that I am happy to have CJF and not have to face every new year with "will he stay or will he go" drama.
I do take exception to the assertion that PSU administrators lied to him about sanctions. They may have lied about many things but this was not one of them. In January 2012 very few people believed that the NCAA would sanction PSU for a criminal matter involving a former coach. We did not count on the inflammatory and unsubstantiated rhetoric of the Freeh report or the hubris of Mark Emmert.
I do take exception to the assertion that PSU administrators lied to him about sanctions. They may have lied about many things but this was not one of them. In January 2012 very few people believed that the NCAA would sanction PSU for a criminal matter involving a former coach. We did not count on the inflammatory and unsubstantiated rhetoric of the Freeh report or the hubris of Mark Emmert.
BOB was the right guy at the right time...as I expect JF to be.
A for recruiting. A for coaching up.B game day coach.A for graduate kids. C- for Alumni. The amusing thing is you must not have been paying attention to his recruiting and the guy is an Ivy league graduate and he gets the mark you gave him for graduating kids?
Glad to see him gone. Hope the door hit him hard in the ass on the way out. When he is fired in a couple of years and looking for another job, I will really be even happier!
Yep they were tainted goods do to their association with Penn State football. O' Brien was a hot coach who was the O coordinator for the Super bowl loser. He coached for Bill Billichek and coached Tom Brady.This was well before the Freeh fiasco. Societal pressure dictated they go outside the Penn St. family.
I think the sanctions helped OB as the expectations were rock bottom. He had enough talent given how weak the B1G is to have a winning record and make a name as a head coach. But no doubt he was gone at the first opportunity he found agreeable to him. Too bad he soured the pot when he left
Actually he brought Roof who did a good job and then moved home. Butler simply wasn't ready yet, but that spilt milk is dry now.
We were headed in that direction even without the scandal. Look at the last 5+ years of Curley's hires in other sports, for example. At the time it worried me--but now I see the wisdom. We'd gotten too ingrown.
Smart guy. Good coach. Held the football team together under very trying circumstances. OB would be doing a good job if he was still at PSU. We could have done a lot worse those 2 years.
I believe CJF is better suited to be a college head coach. OB is better suited to be a pro coach.
I was away for the last few days, so didn't have a chance to respond. I truly don't understand why the animosity for Bill O'Brien still exist with some. He brought Hackenberg to Penn State, and without him, where would we have been the last 2 years? Someone who thinks they know, please tell me? No real RB's to speak of, we got great receivers and TE's as a result of Hack being there, and look what BOB did for McGloin's career! If CJF came in right after Joe (and I believe he tried then), do you think he would have won nearly as many games? Be grateful for what BOB did for Penn State. His leaving and "taking a few bashes" at the BOT's is not a problem for me. He ultimately may have been responsible for the BOT changes.
My opinion hasn't changed. He did a great job of holding things together when things we coming apart. I don't think he was ever going to be the long term plan but did a good job while he was here.
The only issue I have is not how he left but when. His leaving when he did, could have had a domino effect that we may never have come out of. His leaving could have made Hack go elsewhere and the entire class could have crumbled. In my opinion this could have put us in the worst case scenarios of not recovering for 10-15 years, that everyone was predicting. He knew exactly how precarious the situation was and he left anyway. After all the talk about commitment, it just rubbed me the wrong way, but I have moved on.
The only issue I have is not how he left but when. His leaving when he did, could have had a domino effect that we may never have come out of. His leaving could have made Hack go elsewhere and the entire class could have crumbled. In my opinion this could have put us in the worst case scenarios of not recovering for 10-15 years, that everyone was predicting. He knew exactly how precarious the situation was and he left anyway. After all the talk about commitment, it just rubbed me the wrong way, but I have moved on.
I actually think the BOB crowd give him too much credit for landing Hackenberg. The Paterno staff had been recruiting Hackenberg literally for at least two years and he was an assumed commitment prior to the scandal breaking. Yes, BOB was able to keep him from waffling on his commitment but how hard is that to do when you promise a starting QB position as a freshman.
I love Joe, but lets not simply make things up. That staff wasn't landing Hack and PSU did not even take the lead until BoB was hired. It's not making it up when the recruit pretty much states that is the reason he came to PSU.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
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Who, Hack? Anywhere he wanted, but Bama was talked about quite a bit when we had the Hack transfer talk after OB's departure.
