Mort:O'Brien to Penn State done.

[Patsrock]

So you think he, Belly, and the players are only gonna be questioned about his new position when he's available to the media? OK.

So you think a few questions during the press time is going to be a distraction? It was not a distraction in 2004. Again O'Brien will not be available to the media until Media day at the Super Bowl. The only time he will be asked questions is during his press conference at PSU.

BB will be asked and he will do his normal I am here to talk about the team and avoid the question. Just like he did in Dec 2004.

Also the players will be asked and they will give their answer and then be on the way out to practice.

This is not a big deal.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Good luck to BOB, especially since it's hard to envision him succeeding in Penn State. Would have preferred that the Patriots didn't have this distraction, but can't really blame the guy for taking the job.

 

[Patsrock]

Good luck to BOB, especially since it's hard to envision him succeeding in Penn State. Would have preferred that the Patriots didn't have this distraction, but can't really blame the guy for taking the job.

Actually I think it is much less distraction than if he didn't take the job and every job becomes available he name is brought up.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

im going to assume he does not take the post until after the SB....

You are correct, I would assume that too. It brings me back to the BP days and our GB SB. No question BP turned around a very faltering team and we Patriot fans of a median or older age owe a debt of thanks to him. However, the nonsense he pulled while the underdog Patriots were facing the uphill climb against that #$%# Favre and his band of loud mouths was unforgivable. BP was contractually and ethically bound to give everything to the Patriots until they were officially eliminated from winning the SB. I expect BOB to do the right thing, not the BP thing. If that isn't the case, BOB is not the right candidate to lead what is (or was) a college program of high caliber.

Do the right thing BOB. Get your main, right hand guy(s) and have them start handling all business. You'll be there no later than a bit more than a month from now. The Patriots need you working 16 hours a day towards a SB victory.

On an unrelated note, while he also did a lot for the franchise, I lay the loss of that SB as much on DB's play as anyone.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

I wish Bob better luck at PSU than Weis had at ND

He has a HUMONGOUS legendary coach in college football history to take over for,hopefully the pressure to continue the tradition does not overwhelm him.

 

[naF staP]

 

[Fencer]

The distraction arises if BoB feels obligated to develop an answer to "Just what kind of system are you going to be running? I want to know whether I'll thrive there."

Charlie Weis' answer was "As close to what I've been running in the pros as possible; that will prepare you to be a successful pro athlete."

I think everybody has to assume that this offseason will be tough on Penn State's recruiting in any case. Once they've had a year to sort out that they're still a pretty good football team, and that anybody who was going to be implicated in the prior scandal and chased out is already gone, they should be back to being in pretty good recruiting shape.

The real danger for BoB is if the standards for success are just set too impossibly high for him.

 

[Wrath Mania]

You are correct, I would assume that too. It brings me back to the BP days and our GB SB. No question BP turned around a very faltering team and we Patriot fans of a median or older age owe a debt of thanks to him. However, the nonsense he pulled while the underdog Patriots were facing the uphill climb against that #$%# Favre and his band of loud mouths was unforgivable. BP was contractually and ethically bound to give everything to the Patriots until they were officially eliminated from winning the SB. I expect BOB to do the right thing, not the BP thing. If that isn't the case, BOB is not the right candidate to lead what is (or was) a college program of high caliber.

Do the right thing BOB. Get your main, right hand guy(s) and have them start handling all business. You'll be there no later than a bit more than a month from now. The Patriots need you working 16 hours a day towards a SB victory.

On an unrelated note, while he also did a lot for the franchise, I lay the loss of that SB as much on DB's play as anyone.

WTF how does this remind you of Parcells doing his Parcells job before the Super Bowl and not the exact situation that took place in 2004, with Weis being hired by Notre Dame before the start of the playoffs?

 

[Calciumee]

Can't see him doing well there, and it's a shame he is going, but it's something that happens when the team is playing well!

 

[MoLewisrocks]

The funny thing about going to Penn State is that nobody will be able to tell for at least a couple years whether he's doing a bad job.

You know, that's the weird thing about this. Unless he turns that program around in the midst of turmoil (and when the trials start this will all be rehashed and that could drag on for a couple of years) he will be done once the smoke clears in State College and he will be back to square one on his supposed quest for an NFL HC opportunity. Something has to have gone on behind the scenes. I read someone opine that he's been convinced that the job (which he'd never have had a shot at absent the scandal) remains such a college plum you couldn't pass it up, though apparently a lot of other candidates did. I just don't know but there is a story behind this for sure...

 

[102 Pat]

You know, that's the weird thing about this. Unless he turns that program around in the midst of turmoil (and when the trials start this will all be rehashed and that could drag on for a couple of years) he will be done once the smoke clears in State College and he will be back to square one on his supposed quest for an NFL HC opportunity. Something has to have gone on behind the scenes. I read someone opine that he's been convinced that the job (which he'd never have had a shot at absent the scandal) remains such a college plum you couldn't pass it up, though apparently a lot of other candidates did. I just don't know but there is a story behind this for sure...

Maybe since others turned it down and when PSU saw how much interest BOB had in it, they sweetened the deal?

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

WTF how does this remind you of Parcells doing his Parcells job before the Super Bowl and not the exact situation that took place in 2004, with Weis being hired by Notre Dame before the start of the playoffs?

Poor choice of words on my part if I said or inferred BOB was doing what BP did (or that will happen). My intention was to say how lousy it would be IF that happened.
Yes, I left out Weis (and "Goodbye Chuckie" too). Weis obviously was a successful transition and hopefully that is how it plays out with BOB. However, unlike with the year when Weis left, this year we need the coaches eating, sleeping, drinking playoff football. Every iota of pregame planning that can be mustered is now required.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Maybe since others turned it down and when PSU saw how much interest BOB had in it, they sweetened the deal?

Oh, I don't doubt that. But what spurred his interest in them is of more interest to me. His own agent said a couple of days ago that he didn't want this job at the expense of his ultimate dream which was an NFL HCing gig. So maybe he discovered there was no NFL gig and his stock was at it's highest point post spatgate. If we failed to advance again on his watch or failed to win it all, he goes back to relative annonymity. And maybe there is some resentment on his part or feelings of being marginalized here. And who knows what the fallout was behind the scenes after the public spat. Tommy handled it well. Who knows what Bill had to say in the aftermath. Guess we're going to have to wait for the 3d Holley book sometime in 2013 or 14 or... Unless someone like Silver gets the backdoor skinny. He hinted on twitter a little saying he guessed the dustup paid off while Tommy took the high road...

 

[patsfaninpa]

Under normal circumstances PSU would be an ideal job for anyone who wants to be a college coach. I'm biased being a PSU alum. But, we have a 108K seat stadium. Excellent facilities. Largest dues-paying alumni organization in the country. Fantastic support staff at the school. Routinely, right at the top as far as graduation rates. Especially, for African-Americans. Recruiting base in pretty good. Pa, NJ, NY, Ct, Mass, Md, Virginia and occasionally into Ohio and Michigan. State College is a great town to live in and raise a family. Steep in tradition and success. Not too much recently. But, they did win the Big 10 in 05 and 08. How he works/utilizes past success on/off the field while distancing himself from Sandusky scandal will be the key to his success. If he can manage it, he'll be fine. PSU admin has to be patient with him given the current state of the program.

 

[Jlaff]

Sorry, just came home after a long night and caught the news on NFL Network, have yet to read the thread. But any coach who enters into the playoffs as the #1 seed at the highest level of his chosen sport and MISSES PRACTICE FOR PERSONAL GAIN should be "released" immediately. Doesn't matter if other coaches have done it in the past. How the hell would it be taken if a FA was interviewing with a non-playoff team on the same day.

Complete garbage. Certainly Penn State could wait 5 weeks.

 

[Lifer]

They must feel he's the right guy to seperate the men from the boys.

 

[Lifer]

Under normal circumstances PSU would be an ideal job for anyone who wants to be a college coach. I'm biased being a PSU alum. But, we have a 108K seat stadium. Excellent facilities. Largest dues-paying alumni organization in the country. Fantastic support staff at the school. Routinely, right at the top as far as graduation rates. Especially, for African-Americans. Recruiting base in pretty good. Pa, NJ, NY, Ct, Mass, Md, Virginia and occasionally into Ohio and Michigan. State College is a great town to live in and raise a family. Steep in tradition and success. Not too much recently. But, they did win the Big 10 in 05 and 08. How he works/utilizes past success on/off the field while distancing himself from Sandusky scandal will be the key to his success. If he can manage it, he'll be fine. PSU admin has to be patient with him given the current state of the program.

I've heard they've got some nice shower facilities.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Under normal circumstances PSU would be an ideal job for anyone who wants to be a college coach. I'm biased being a PSU alum. But, we have a 108K seat stadium. Excellent facilities. Largest dues-paying alumni organization in the country. Fantastic support staff at the school. Routinely, right at the top as far as graduation rates. Especially, for African-Americans. Recruiting base in pretty good. Pa, NJ, NY, Ct, Mass, Md, Virginia and occasionally into Ohio and Michigan. State College is a great town to live in and raise a family. Steep in tradition and success. Not too much recently. But, they did win the Big 10 in 05 and 08. How he works/utilizes past success on/off the field while distancing himself from Sandusky scandal will be the key to his success. If he can manage it, he'll be fine. PSU admin has to be patient with him given the current state of the program.

I get that, but these aren't normal circumstances. And if they were BOB wouldn't have a shot at the job. Which raises the question for me, why take it at all? Particularly since you left the college ranks to have a shot at the NFL... What suddenly caused you to shift focus so radically?

I was wondering who the other candidates were and stumbled across this article in the Times from Monday. After reading it it sounds like the orthopedic surgeon heading up the search team ran out of steam or was overwhelmed and settled for the placeholder. I just wonder if the fact that the placeholder settled for being that doesn't mean his shot at an NFL career is over - and maybe he knew that going in and decided to grab for whatever he could when any HC opportunity knocked. Hey, for all we know (since his contract hadn't been extended) maybe he was gone either way or had a feeling the team would be persuing Josh whether he went to Penn State or not... Our last DC didn't pan out and it had nothing to do with being lured away by a better gig. He ended up as a position coach in Baltimore.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/s...h-not-inspiring-confidence.html?_r=2&emc=eta1

 

[DarrylS]

I think the clip of him going toe to toe with Brady after the interception, made them think that he was the man...

All the local sportstalk mediots were wrong on this one, now they can spend the next ten days justifying their mistake and some other idiocy.