Of all the jobs in the country which is probably the worst available opening right now? Head Coach of Penn State football. The #1 reason for that is the Jerry Sandusky scandal which has made Happy Valley, PA the last place you want to be associated with. The #2 reason is having to follow the illustrious legacy of Joe Paterno. Regardless of how JoePa’s tenure ended people love him. He is one of the great college coaches and I don’t believe the Sandusky scandal will tarnish him in historical context.
Today we found out that Bill O’Brien, Offensive Coordinator (OC) of the Patriots will become the new head coach at Penn State after this season. Wow. I’d just like to know why? It will certainly be a challenging situation he’s stepping into – and maybe that carried some weight with him – but there were other “challenges” available to him. The Jaguars, Dolphins, Rams, Chiefs, Buccaneers and more NFL teams are looking for head coaches. None of those are great situations like where he is now with the Pats, so they should have been of interest to him too. But no, O’Brien has decided to go the Charlie Weis route and leave the Pats’ OC job for a head coaching gig in college.
Weis, if you don’t remember, went to coach Notre Dame and created a lot of fanfare upon his arrival. However, he fizzled and has since returned to the pros as an OC again. But what buzz is O’Brien bringing with him? He’s not the character Weis was. Yes, he’s going to a famous program but this scandal will significantly impair his ability to recruit top high school players. Plus, everything he does will be compared to JoePa. I guess you could say this is a can’t lose situation for him because of all the negativity surrounding it. But what about his former team?
Tom Brady had a great rapport with O’Brien. Yes, they had one sideline spat but that was just 2 competitors going at it. Now Brady has to worry about getting on the same page with some new guy next year. And Bill Belichick first has to find this new hire. Someone who can both assert his will and take a step back when his future Hall of Fame QB has a different idea. Plus, this person needs to be able to continue the emergence of the best young Tight End tandem in the league. All of that is going to be tough to find in one person.
All I’m asking for now is that O’Brien keep his head firmly entrenched in the Pats game plans for the playoffs and put off any Penn State duties until after the Super Bowl. Nothing’s better than a championship send-off.
No comments:
Post a Comment