Just a day away from playing in the 2012 TicketCity Bowl against the Houston Cougars (12 p.m. on ESPNU), its seems that the Penn State football program is close to naming its new head coach, as ESPN's NFL Insider Adam Schefter tweeted Sunday that New England Patriots Offensive Coordinator, Bill O'Brien, could now be the favorite to earn the job.
Meanwhile, USA Today's Jonny Saraceno tweeted:
"A person with knowledge of the Penn State hiring tells USA TODAY that only contract details need to be finalized before O'Brien is the man."
On Saturday, ESPN's Joe Schad tweeted that O'Brien was a new candidate in the Nittany Lions' search.
O'Brien is a graduate of Brown University and served as an assistant coach from George Tech (1995-2002), Maryland ('03-04) and Duke ('05-06). In '07, O'Brien was hired by the Patriots and served as offensive assistant, wide receiver and quarterback coach, before being promoted to Offensive Coordinator last February.
O'Brien is also rumored to be a head coaching candidate for some NFL jobs.
For updates on Penn State's search, continue to visit our StoryStream. For more Penn State football coverage, visit our team page or our blog Black Shoe Diaries. For more on Bill O'Brien the New England Patriots blog Pats Pulpit.