Meet The Coaches: Bill O'Brien

offense would be light years ahead of where they were last year.

8, maybe 9 wins if we get lucky good a couple of times. Although our OOC schedule seems (at least at a glance) to be a bit more consistently challenging this year (there’s no ‘Bama, but there’s fewer true doormats).

An offensive minded coach can probably put together some improvements in our offense pretty easily as long as he can bear in mind that he’s no longer working with professionals, but rather people he HAS to train up. If he can utilize individual players current strengths well while building up new ones, we practically have to see improvements. It may take a couple of games and the associated practices to get things running smoothly, but our production by the end of the season seems likely to be better.

On defense, I’m afraid there’s really only one way for us to realistically go. At the same time, the personnel is probably (generally) better raw talent that will be better able to adjust to the changes. We also retained some of the defensive staff, which should help. And, a (hopefully) improved offense can hide some warts for a defense.

But if Joe, Galen, and Jay were all really as bad as everyone around here seemed to think,
we should be playing for a national championship.

All that said, I’m willing to give him a long leash as long as off the field issues are minimized and handled appropriately. If he turns out to be terrible after 3-4 years, we’ll find ourselves in a better position to go out and pay for whoever we want. If he turns out to be mediocre, we probably won’t notice that much of a change (frustrating PSU football at it’s finest, with just enough dashes of greatness to keep everyone from getting fired). And, if he’s great, we won’t even be having this conversation after his second year.

I agree though, I also hope that ripping off a few wins at the beginning of the season doesn’t recalibrate everyone’s expectations too high. Much like this year, next year’s schedule is heavily loaded on the back end. Making it through the first 7 or 8 games with only one loss won’t mean all that much for how we finish the season unless we are seeing improvement week-after-week (which is not something I feel like we really saw this season).

but did PSU pick up another commit last night. I thought I read somewhere that they offered a safety from Mass and he committed last night.

But the fact that no other major program was considering this guy for a head coaching job has me a bit nervous.

if Penn State recruited a top notch QB(which they have before) and actually developed him into a stud? I think it might make me cry.

If the offensive staff seems to show the ability to play to their personnel’s strengths. I’ve seen opposing teams with much less talent be able to do this, and ultimately we end up betating them b/c of that talent gap, but it’s frustrating to feel like your offensive staff is worse than that of Eastern Michigan.

That, and the ablity to manage timeouts.

it gets PSU out of the news cycle for a minute.

I know I’m the only person who is concerned about the o’leary connection – but whatever, i guess it’s time we entered the real world of college football.

also, has the godsey hire been confirmed? last i had heard (albeit a few days ago) he hadn’t been offered the job

why is Hixon listed as “assistant head coach?”

I don’t like BOB. I prefer Chins and that is what I will be referring to him as.

Honestly, I was not pleased with this hire but he has grown on me. For the most part I like the staff he has put together…if nothing else I think there is potential, especially on offense, for improvement. I was upset that he didn’t leave NE but I understand and respect his reasoning, and it doesn’t seem to be hurting us with recruits too much (yet…we’ll see what Williams and Reeves do). But I think this could work out well.

and going, man I remember when postage was still only $0.44.

fuck you DC metro area

On to the hire…here’s what I like about BOB

-Young. He’s got a lot of energy and motivation so you know he’s going to go out and recruit. He already has, and apparently, offers are out to players that weren’t considered.

-Hungry. Even if he’s using this job as a resume builder for the NFL, I don’t mind so as long as he’s successful here. Its puts PSU in a good position and makes the job that much more attractive for other coaches.

-Smarts. I know there’s a lot of debate on some of his assistants (e.g. Roof), but he’s surrounding himself with a lot of college experience. One of the things holding PSU back was lack of “outside the box” thinking..and it showed in so many phases of the game. Moreover, by keeping LJ and Vandy, he’s showing that he doesn’t want to fundamentally change what PSU’s good at with regard to position players. plus those guys know how things work in the B10.

-Diversity. His background is primarily offensive, and my God. Does PSU need a refresher in that area.

/I gave BOB a “B” by the way.

My “A” was reserved for hiring Bradley, and I know that I’ll have some responses asking “What has Bradley proved?” Honestly, nothing. He could have laid a huge egg as an HC, but the way he handled this tragedy and the way he showed many Penn Staters the way we should be acting over the last few months, I feel like he deserved a shot.

That being said, I want to give BOB a fair chance, and that doesn’t mean wins. He came in and appeared as a stand-up guy in his presser, he referenced and called Joe and didn’t just sweep it under the rug, he met the groaning from Lettermen head on, he kept LJ, Sr and Vandy, and the players seem really excited about him being the next HC.

Are a lot of the above items PR moves? Absolutely. But, considering the PSU admin couldn’t come up with positive PR for 2 months, I applaud the image he gave and some of the moves he has been making. This guy could fall on his face, he could use us a stepping stone, or he could prove to be a great hire. I give him a “B” because so far, he has made me actually forget about some of this mess and see a positive in PSU football again. But, it’s still January, let’s grade him after he gets a chance to prove himself on the recruiting trail and on the field. He keeps doing things the right way (The Penn State Way) and wins some games, I might slide this hire into that “A” category.

Its a solid hire if he brings that QB punting play with him. Can’t wait to see McGloin punt on a third down.

whatever that means, it feels right I guess. Not the most exciting hire in the world, but he’s definitely qualified to be a major college head coach: he’s been a BCS position coach and OC for a couple successful head coaches and an NFL position coach and OC for a very successful head coach.

So he’s qualified for the job, has worked for some great football minds (O’Leary, Friedgen, Belichick), brought in some very solid assistants, and kept two very solid assistants from the last staff. At a bare minimum, that’s solidly above average.