STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Bill O’Brien is leaving Penn State’s reclamation project in his successor’s
hands.
Less
than two years after replacing Joe Paterno as coach of the Nittany
Lions, O’Brien will return to the NFL as coach of the Houston Texans,
leaving a proud Penn State program in peril once again.
Two people
familiar with the negotiations, speaking to The Associated Press on the
condition of anonymity because an official announcement hasn’t been
made, said O’Brien reached an agreement Thursday night to coach the
Texans.
O’Brien bolted Penn State and a slew of players who
pledged their commitment to the program in its darkest hour for the big
bucks tossed his way by an NFL team desperately seeking to become
contenders in the AFC.
O’Brien, a former offensive coordinator for
the New England Patriots, took on perhaps college football’s toughest
job in January 2012, adopting a program that was rattled by the Jerry
Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. And despite a lack of scholarships, a
bowl ban, an overall sense of doom, and many player defections from the
late Paterno’s final roster, O’Brien led the Nittany Lions to two
winning seasons (8-4, 7-5), restoring some tempered enthusiasm in Happy
Valley.
But the Nittany Lions are back to the drawing board this
week, after losing O’Brien in a similar circumstance that he turned down
last year. After his debut season, O’Brien interviewed with the
Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns, among others, only to stay in
State College.
But the Texans’ job was too good to pass up some
12 months later. Whereas the Browns and Jaguars were in the midst of
complete overhauls, from the front office to the locker room, Houston is
viewed as one of the best jobs in the NFL. The city is crazed for its
Texans, there is plenty of talent on the roster — especially on defense —
and the AFC South is a division that seemingly is up for grabs every
season.
The NCAA penalties handed down in July triggered a clause
in O’Brien’s contract that extends his deal the length of any sanctions
handed down to Penn State, so O’Brien’s deal now runs through 2020.
O’Brien received a restructured deal last year, after he decided to
stay. Though the contract was set to run seven more seasons, a buyout
clause will kick in to allow for his exit.
In the eyes of Nittany
Nation, though, those are all logistics now. What O’Brien will make
elsewhere, and what he’s inheriting at the game’s highest level, mean
little to a fan base and community that has wrapped its arms around not
only him, but his family as well. O’Brien tackled the challenge of
replacing Paterno — at a critical time in the program’s history no less —
with ferocity and passion. He changed the culture of the program by,
among other things, instituting names on the backs of the jerseys,
playing loud music during practice to fire up the players and prepare
them for hostile environments, and overhauling the team’s offseason
weight training program. All along, he was lauded for his efforts.
At
the same time, though, he always paid homage to Paterno, and the legacy
he built with the Nittany Lions. He said and did the right things, and
made the absolute most of the 24 games he was given at Penn State.
Which, in the end, made him even more marketable to the NFL.
Of
course, that is little consolation to Penn State. The Nittany Lions
need to prepare for life in the expanded Big Ten next season, and need a
new leader to help them do so. While Penn State is still a destination
job in college football, the roadblocks are still many as the program
continues to build back up, post-Sandusky:
— Though there is talk
that this may be reduced at some point, Penn State’s bowl ban has not
been lifted yet, and runs through the 2015 season.
— Though some
scholarships have been restored, there is not the full allotment that
other Big Ten schools — including new members Rutgers and Maryland —
have at their disposal.
— Recruiting season is in full swing right
now, a time when anxious high school seniors may cross the Nittany
Lions off their list.
— And then, of course, there’s the remnants
of the scandal still lingering. The trials of former Penn State
president Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley and vice
president for finance Gary Schultz — all accused of trying to cover up
the scandal at the time — are still to be completed.
All of this
will cloud a field of candidates likely to include many from the college
ranks, as well as NFL head coaches and coordinators. Greg Schiano, for
instance, has Penn State ties and may want to return to college after
two forgetful seasons with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While at
Rutgers, Schiano was viewed as an Eastern recruiting expert, who built
the Scarlet Knights into a consistent bowl-ready program by landing
players from New Jersey down to Miami annually.
Schiano would likely be received well in State College, but he is not O’Brien.
The
coach, who helped lead the Patriots to the Super Bowl in 2011-12,
arrived in Happy Valley with sterling credentials; apprenticeships
coaching at Brown, Georgia Tech, Maryland and Duke, followed by five
years as an NFL assistant on Bill Belichick’s staff. He won games, he
won over players, and he did so, traditionally, with a stern look on his
face.
"A few days before we announced the hiring, I was watching a
Patriots game, and I see Bill walk down the sideline, stop in front of
Tom Brady, and start yelling," Penn State athletic director Dave Joyner
said. "And I’m thinking, ‘He’s yelling at Tom Brady! Tom Brady! Who’s
maybe only the best quarterback ever!’ Right about then, I said to
myself, ‘We got the right guy. He’s plenty tough enough.’"
His
teams at Penn State took on that identity. After a lackluster start —
O’Brien lost to Ohio and Virginia to open his career — Penn State
rattled off five straight wins, and finished the year with a rousing
24-21 win over Wisconsin at home.
This season, the Nittany Lions
started off better — wins over Syracuse and Eastern Michigan opened the
year — but dealt with inconsistency issues along the way. All that said,
like his first season, O’Brien closed with a flurry, defeating the
Badgers, this time in Wisconsin, 31-24, to close out the campaign.
"We’ve said the same thing for two years," O’Brien said after the finale. "Our guys, they
practice hard, and they love to play."
It showed.
But
it went beyond just the wins and losses. O’Brien, a players’ coach if
there ever was one, developed bonds with his roster, but never let that
get in the way of the task at hand. He needed to grow college football
players into Penn State players, and in many cases, he was successful.
At a time when the program he inherited was undercut by the defections
of the team’s best running back, top receiver and its front-line kicker —
more than a dozen players in all — he just kept working with what he
was given.
When Silas Redd took most of Penn State’s running game
with him by transferring to Southern California, O’Brien drew on his
experience at New England and turned former walk-on quarterback Matt
McGloin into an NFL-ready one. After kicker Sam Ficken missed four field
goals, including a potential game-winner, O’Brien refused to blame the
inexperienced backup and instead had the Nittany Lions try to convert
fourth downs in a variety of unlikely situations. His players loved
that, and returned every show of loyalty in kind.
"When those
things first happened, Coach told us flat-out we wouldn’t come out on
the other side of the experience unscathed," said John Urschel, a
fifth-year senior and All-Big Ten guard. "But the other thing he
promised us was an experience we’d never forget."
It’s safe to say
most of the fan base will never forget O’Brien’s tenure either. Whether
or not they forgive him for leaving, is another story. But for now, the
focus in Happy Valley needs to be on moving forward with someone new,
maintaining a sense of calm inside the program, and preparing for
unexpected change.
In other words, exactly what the program did just two years ago.
_____
AP Sports Writer Kristie Rieken in Houston contributed to this report.
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