On July 23, 2012 the NCAA penalized Penn State football with a $60 million fine, a ban from bowl games and post-season play for 4 years, a reduction in scholarships from 25 to 15 per year for four years, the vacating of all wins from 1998 to 2011, and a 5-year probationary period.
In comes Bill O’Brien. O’Brien was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year by media and the coaches, the national coach of the year by ESPN, and O’Brien was awarded the 2012 Paul “Bear” Bryant College Coach of the Year Award.
As already written by Pittsburgh Sporting News, O’Brien was very deserving of his raise. The pocket book has to be opened to keep a coach who has shown that he may be able to keep this program afloat until the sanctions are lifted, and beyond.
When an academic institution has limited scholarships, obviously they have to count on walk-ons for depth, but more importantly, they have to be absolutely right on the few commitments on the limited number of scholarships they are allowed. This is not an easy task, because they have to talk young players into committing to a school that will not be playing in a Bowl game for their entire college career. There is also something to be said for the recruits that DO accept this position.
O’ Brien recruited a top 25 class ranking per ESPN. He did that with only 17 commits. The top 5 class rankings have almost 10 more recruits each than Penn State. Among the 17 commits, 6 are 4 out of 5 stars and 8 are 3 out of 5 stars. That is not a bad start.
Yes, O’ Brien flirted with the NFL again this offseason, but who can blame the guy? It did not take him long to decide to stick with Penn State, and the pay increase followed. That led to these early 2014 recruiting reports, in which thus far Penn State has 12 commits with 5 being 4-star recruits (out of 5-star) and 7 being 3-star..
If O’Brien sticks it out, and he’s showing signs of doing so, he may one day get his own statue. I am aware that it is only his second year, but this guy is fiery and he is already proving he’s going to recruit kids who would have never even been invited to Penn State’s campus with the old guard. This is a new age and people need to get on board. This guy may single-handedly save a football program that could have easily crumbled under the circumstances.
In the beginning of this the question was “Who would want to play for Penn State in their current situation?” The tables have turned with one guy at the helm. I believe the question should now be “Who wouldn’t want to play for Bill O’Brien?” In Bill O’Brien I trust, we should trust. Above all, he has made me and many others proud to again call ourselves Nittany Lions. We Are!
