Courtesy: CBS Sports
Bill O’Brien stood toe-to-toe with a monster without blinking. “The Scandal” was the monster’s name and this was nothing a coach has ever encountered before.
Succeeding a legend is tough, but not uncommon. It was “The Scandal” that made O’Brien’s task at Penn State University one that few thought he could overcome.
PSU was once thought of as an impeccable institution, instead, Gerry Sandusky and those involved with the horrific incident regarding the molestation of children brought the school to an unthinkable low and almost its demise.
O’Brien was then the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots when he interviewed for the vacant job at PSU. Though he was working under one of the greatest coaches in Bill Belicheck and coached Tom Brady, O’Brien took on a task that no coach has faced before.
O’Brien proved to the country that he was up for the challenge. The NCAA handed PSU what many considered the “Death Penalty” in sports by banning the Nittany Lions from postseason play for four-years and the loss of 40-scholarships over a four-year period.
To make matters worse, the NCAA allowed any player on the roster to transfer without sitting out the usually mandated one-year.
Despite the bans, O’Brien took the job, supplanting fellow Brown alumnus Joe Paterno. The willingness to accept such a challenge had many wondering if O’Brien was the gutsiest coach in the country or the craziest.
Two-years have passed since O’Brien first took office at PSU and the progress is unimaginable.
During his inception as Penn State’s head coach, PSU went 8-4 and finished the season with a thrilling overtime-win over conference foe Wisconsin 24-21.
The following season, despite starting a freshman quarterback, the Lions went 7-5 and beat two ranked, also conference rivals in Michigan and Wisconsin. PSU defeated Michigan 43-40 in overtime at Beaver Stadium and again defeated Wisconsin 31-24 in the last game of the year.
Once Penn State’s season was finished, O’Brien’s name became a growing trend in the NFL circles for teams looking for a new coach. The only issue was the buyout in his contract if he was to bolt for an NFL job.
An NFL team interested in hiring O’Brien away from Happy Valley would be on the hook for $19.33 million according to ESPN. O’Brien approached the powers-that-be at Happy Valley and asked for the number to be lowered and the number did drop…significantly.
Unsure as to why, PSU dropped the sum to a more manageable number, $6.5 million. Once word spread of the reduction, NFL teams began vying for O’Brien’s services.
One team in particular swooned in on O’Brien after firing their head coach during an embarrassing losing streak. The Houston Texans won the AFC South in both 2011 and 2012 but faltered and lost 14-games in 2013. A Super Bowl favorite, the Texans won their first two-games of the year before dropping 11 straight and subsequently firing Gary Kubiak.
Despite the obstacles he and the PSU program had overcome in just a short time, O’Brien grew restless of the politics that came with being a college coach and the Paterno-loyalists that still resided in Happy Valley.
At the conclusion of the season, O’Brien let go of one of the few remaining figures from the Paterno-era when he announced the firing of Ron Vanderlinden.
The PSU faithful and fans were not pleased with the decision and during a conversation with columnist David Jones of the Pennsylvania Patriot News, O’Brien voiced his frustrations.
“You can print this: You can print that I don’t really give a [expletive] what the ‘Paterno people’ think about what I do with this program. I’ve done everything I can to show respect to Coach Paterno. Everything in my power. So I could really care less about what the Paterno faction of people, or whatever you call them, think about what I do with the program. I’m tired of it.
“For any ‘Paterno person’ to have any objection to what I’m doing, it makes me want to put my fist through this windshield right now.”
He continued:
“I’m trying to field the most competitive football team I can with near-death penalty [expletive] sanctions. Every time I say something like that and somebody prints it, it’s skewed as an excuse. And I’m not an excuse-maker. I’m trying to do the best I can for the kids in that program. That’s all I care about is the kids in that program. As long as I’m the head football coach here.”
During his tirade, O’Brien uttered the following words that shocked Jones. “That’s why, in probably about a month, they’re going to be [expletive] looking for a new coach.”
O’Brien didn’t offer additional information as to who/what was said to him regarding the dismissal of a figure that roamed the sidelines with Paterno.
Courtesy: Zimbio
O’Brien is an NFL coach at heart; he’s not one for recruiting or the politics that come with being a coach at a major college institution. The allure to return to the NFL and ability to assemble a coaching staff and roster that embodies his philosophy was the reason O’Brien jolted PSU. The icing on the cake is he will have the first overall selection in the draft which means O’Brien has an assortment of talented athletes to choose from that can usher in the O’Brien-era.
O’Brien made a valiant decision when he left the Patriots to erect the PSU program. While I understand his decision to return to the big leagues, it would have been joyous to see him stay for a longer amount of time and fully inundate his values and style into the program.
Winning 15 games under such pressure was remarkable and far more than what most envisioned. But, the attraction to return to the NFL and issues he was facing off-the-field at Penn State spelled the end.
O’Brien didn’t fully slay “The Scandal” but he definitely brought the monster to its knees and whether it’s Al Golden or Greg Schiano, the next coach at PSU is a lot closer to bringing the program back to prominence because of O’Brien’s efforts.
