Penn State has spent two months in search of a new head football coach after firing Joe Paterno in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. According to reports, they were rebuffed by nearly every major candidate they approached. Mike Munchak turned them down, Chris Peterson, Greg Schiano, Urban Meyer… The list goes on.
They settled on O’Brien, who even said through his agent that he wanted to explore NFL head coaching options before committing to Penn State. O'Brien has no head coaching experience at any level and a somewhat limited resume otherwise. He has been the offensive coordinator of the Patriots for one year and held the same position at Duke for one year.
Brandon Short, the former New York Giant and Penn Stater, slammed the school for going outside their own community to make the hire.
"By not hiring (defensive coordinator Tom) Bradley or a Penn Stater what they have effectively done is turn their backs on 100 years of tradition,‘’ Short said. "Penn State never has been about winning football games. They didn’t recruit the best players — they recruited the best people. If you go to Penn State, you have a better chance of graduating.’’
Short says that O’Brien won’t have the backing of the school’s Letterman, who are often an important tool in recruiting, and doesn’t believe he’s up to the standard set at Penn State.
"There is a tangible standard at Penn State that this poor guy [O’Brien] knows nothing about," Short said. "I feel badly for him [because] he is clueless and will not have the support of the majority of the Lettermen. This is a hornet’s nest [for him]."
For more on O'Brien and the Penn State Nittany Lions, head over to the SB Nation blog Black Shoe Diaries.