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7 years ago today...Bill O’Brien announces he’s leaving PSU

BFPSU

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Aug 26, 2001
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I remember laying down to take a nap before going out later that night for a New Year’s Eve party and waking up to my social media on fire about OB leaving. That was something else.
 
It just broke now that he left seven years ago? I knew Happy Valley was insular, but sheesh.
 
At the time I was disappointed but in retrospect things haven’t been too bad on how they worked out. He was, I think, absolutely the right guy at the right time for PSU.

I, and suspect he as well, wish he was a little less candid with ol Davey Jones before he left tho.
 
I said at the time, and in hindsight I think I was correct, that if he was leaving in the next year or two I wanted it to be immediately. I was pretty sure the scholarship sanctions would be removed and I wanted the next coach to get his players with those extra scholarships.
 
It brought one of my favorite lines my wife has ever said to me. At the time I was on the FOS premium board and was obviously checking it incessantly. At one point my wife was saying something and I could tell that she saw that I was completely glazed over. When she asked if I heard what she said, I told her that I honestly wasn’t listening. She said, “Well, if I was one of your boyfriends on that Penn State website you would certainly know what I said.” Still cracks me up today.
 
That was about the 3rd time obrien was leaving. I was over it.

Yeah me too. It was obvious to anyone paying attention that O’Brien intended to use his gig at PSU as his ticket to a head coaching job in the NFL from his first minute on campus. As I said several times before, I don’t begrudge him that but let’s be honest about it.
 
Yeah me too. It was obvious to anyone paying attention that O’Brien intended to use his gig at PSU as his ticket to a head coaching job in the NFL from his first minute on campus. As I said several times before, I don’t begrudge him that but let’s be honest about it.

Bill was put in a difficult position.

First, he was following Joe.

Second, he felt like he had three bosses— Ira Lubert, Dave Joyner and Rod Erickson.

Finally, he had to deal with the sanctions.

Bill is a football coach. His players at PSU truly loved him. Bill did not enjoy other aspects of college coaching.

I disagreed with his decision to replace Wayne Sebastianelli. In my view, a head coach should not make medical decisions.
 
Happened to be in Nashville for the Music City Bowl. Immediately prayed that James Franklin would be headed to PSU......IMO, it couldn't have worked out better for PSU. BOB was / is not wired for HC in college.
 
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Ah yes, this date was shortly followed by evil Tom McAndrew's post and 93.7 The Fan reporting it as fact only a few minutes later. Good times.
 
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25 years ago today, PSU Men’s hoops was traveling home after winning the Cable Car Classic. One of the most underrated achievements since I’ve been a fan...beat Steve Nash’s Santa Clara team, and a strong Bradley team. Georgia Tech lost to both Santa Clara and Bradley to finish last, then went on to win the ACC. All 4 teams in the field went to the dance that March.
 
Bill was put in a difficult position.

I disagreed with his decision to replace Wayne Sebastianelli. In my view, a head coach should not make medical decisions.
C’mon Anthony.

Are you really suggesting that BO’B was the brains behind getting rid of Wayne?
 
Ah yes, this date was shortly followed by evil Tom McAndrew's post and 93.7 The Fan reporting it as fact only a few minutes later. Good times.
I have almost no personal knowledge as to the origins of someone inaccurately posting, under an expendable moniker that closely resembled that of a certain important person who happened to go to the movies on NYE, that Billo had been fired by the BOT

There’s more to the story that is even funnier.
 
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Bill was put in a difficult position.

First, he was following Joe.

Second, he felt like he had three bosses— Ira Lubert, Dave Joyner and Rod Erickson.

Finally, he had to deal with the sanctions.

Bill is a football coach. His players at PSU truly loved him. Bill did not enjoy other aspects of college coaching.

I disagreed with his decision to replace Wayne Sebastianelli. In my view, a head coach should not make medical decisions.


B's. Obrien is a prima dona. He got everything he asked for and complained. Same pattern in Houston.
 
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Bill was put in a difficult position.

First, he was following Joe.

Second, he felt like he had three bosses— Ira Lubert, Dave Joyner and Rod Erickson.

Finally, he had to deal with the sanctions.

Bill is a football coach. His players at PSU truly loved him. Bill did not enjoy other aspects of college coaching.

I disagreed with his decision to replace Wayne Sebastianelli. In my view, a head coach should not make medical decisions.
Bill found himself in a difficult situation for many of the reasons you mention. Without the sanctions, he would have landed a few more players that would have helped including the WR Fuller (that went to Notre Dame and plays for the Texans now) and possibly landing Tyler Boyd (it seems he was making inroads into that high school).
On the downside, I think he under-recruited at OL, which caused problems for a number of years. He also had a falling out with our LB coach Vanderlinden (other than the freak athlete Parsons, out LB play has been so-so), but promoted his guy Butler to defensive coordinator...seems like a fair trade...not.
His was a mixed bag. I agree you needed a strong personality to survive what he got into, much that was not apparent when he accepted. He brought an NFL-caliber coaching staff. At the same time, I don't think he enjoyed the demands or nuances of the college game. I think he locked into Hackenburg (another savior of sorts for this program) and seemed to ignore the defensive side, which eroded as the Paterno recruits graduated or left.
Definitely an interesting character and era in our history.
 
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It was a sad day when Bill O'Brien moved his NFL departure schedule ahead by two years due entirely to Joyner and Erickson's conduct (not fighting the NCAA, standing up to the Big Ten) as well as meddling (Vanderlinden, Sebastianelli, Fischer) in the football program. His departure cost us a playoff shot in 2014 (the staff thought they had a legit shot at running the table). With that said, if Sandy hadn't signed off on a irresponsible buyout for Franklin and we could get a five year commitment from BoB to come back, I would kick Franklin to the curb yesterday and welcome BoB back with open arms. Even though he would be taking over a team with considerably less talent than the one he inherited, he has proven to be a better Xs and Os coach, identifier of talent (his talent was 100% responsible for the 2016/17 run) and recruiter.
 
It was a sad day when Bill O'Brien moved his NFL departure schedule ahead by two years due entirely to Joyner and Erickson's conduct (not fighting the NCAA, standing up to the Big Ten) as well as meddling (Vanderlinden, Sebastianelli, Fischer) in the football program. His departure cost us a playoff shot in 2014 (the staff thought they had a legit shot at running the table). With that said, if Sandy hadn't signed off on a irresponsible buyout for Franklin and we could get a five year commitment from BoB to come back, I would kick Franklin to the curb yesterday and welcome BoB back with open arms. Even though he would be taking over a team with considerably less talent than the one he inherited, he has proven to be a better Xs and Os coach, identifier of talent (his talent was 100% responsible for the 2016/17 run) and recruiter.
You’re right! Every time I think about the 2016/2017 run, I think to myself, “thank god for Bill O’Brien, the coach 100% responsible for recruiting the quarterback on those teams, Trace McSorley.” When I watch the 2016 OSU win or the B1G championship, I can’t help but think, “where would Penn State be if Bill O’Brien hadn’t recruited Grant Haley?” Every time I see a recruit mentioning Saquon Barkley I think, “blessings to OB for securing the services of Saquon Barkley, who famously committed to Penn State, and not Rutgers, when OB was our coach.”
 
It was a sad day when Bill O'Brien moved his NFL departure schedule ahead by two years due entirely to Joyner and Erickson's conduct (not fighting the NCAA, standing up to the Big Ten) as well as meddling (Vanderlinden, Sebastianelli, Fischer) in the football program. His departure cost us a playoff shot in 2014 (the staff thought they had a legit shot at running the table). With that said, if Sandy hadn't signed off on a irresponsible buyout for Franklin and we could get a five year commitment from BoB to come back, I would kick Franklin to the curb yesterday and welcome BoB back with open arms. Even though he would be taking over a team with considerably less talent than the one he inherited, he has proven to be a better Xs and Os coach, identifier of talent (his talent was 100% responsible for the 2016/17 run) and recruiter.
Oh good lord.
 
It was a sad day when Bill O'Brien moved his NFL departure schedule ahead by two years due entirely to Joyner and Erickson's conduct (not fighting the NCAA, standing up to the Big Ten) as well as meddling (Vanderlinden, Sebastianelli, Fischer) in the football program. His departure cost us a playoff shot in 2014 (the staff thought they had a legit shot at running the table). With that said, if Sandy hadn't signed off on a irresponsible buyout for Franklin and we could get a five year commitment from BoB to come back, I would kick Franklin to the curb yesterday and welcome BoB back with open arms. Even though he would be taking over a team with considerably less talent than the one he inherited, he has proven to be a better Xs and Os coach, identifier of talent (his talent was 100% responsible for the 2016/17 run) and recruiter.
Not sure if serious . . .
 
B's. Obrien is a prima dona. He got everything he asked for and complained. Same pattern in Houston.
For gosh sakes, that better be part of your personality coaching football, especially at that level. My coach was loved in the community, however, if you'd have been around him in the locker room or on the field, you'd have viewed him as a real p****! I respect him for not being a phony "nice guy"!
 
C’mon Anthony.

Are you really suggesting that BO’B was the brains behind getting rid of Wayne?

First, Happy New Year!

No I am not. However, he had a hand in the decision along with Mr. Breem. No question Joyner was the “mastermind.”
 
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Bill found himself in a difficult situation for many of the reasons you mention. Without the sanctions, he would have landed a few more players that would have helped including the WR Fuller (that went to Notre Dame and plays for the Texans now) and possibly landing Tyler Boyd (it seems he was making inroads into that high school).
On the downside, I think he under-recruited at OL, which caused problems for a number of years. He also had a falling out with our LB coach Vanderlinden (other than the freak athlete Parsons, out LB play has been so-so), but promoted his guy Butler to defensive coordinator...seems like a fair trade...not.
His was a mixed bag. I agree you needed a strong personality to survive what he got into, much that was not apparent when he accepted. He brought an NFL-caliber coaching staff. At the same time, I don't think he enjoyed the demands or nuances of the college game. I think he locked into Hackenburg (another savior of sorts for this program) and seemed to ignore the defensive side, which eroded as the Paterno recruits graduated or left.
Definitely an interesting character and era in our history.

As an aside, when Bill left, I urged Joyner to rehire Vanderlinden to his former coaching position because Ron was such a positive influence. Of course my urging was to no avail.
 
Follow BOB’s timeline of events in Houston over the past few seasons and you’ll get a picture of the likely outcome if he would have stayed a few more years at PSU. He’s a control freak and runs off anyone who challenges him on any level. Now we all know the incompetence he had to work with while at PSU but the guy would have been hell on university and athletic admin. I’m interested in his next steps after this season. There were rumors here in Houston of his working hard to get consideration for the Vandy job.
 
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It was a sad day when Bill O'Brien moved his NFL departure schedule ahead by two years due entirely to Joyner and Erickson's conduct (not fighting the NCAA, standing up to the Big Ten) as well as meddling (Vanderlinden, Sebastianelli, Fischer) in the football program. His departure cost us a playoff shot in 2014 (the staff thought they had a legit shot at running the table). With that said, if Sandy hadn't signed off on a irresponsible buyout for Franklin and we could get a five year commitment from BoB to come back, I would kick Franklin to the curb yesterday and welcome BoB back with open arms. Even though he would be taking over a team with considerably less talent than the one he inherited, he has proven to be a better Xs and Os coach, identifier of talent (his talent was 100% responsible for the 2016/17 run) and recruiter.

A playoff team in 2014? With 2 offensive linemen that they had to move from defense because we didn't have enough OL to even have a 2 deep? With a QB who couldn't complete a screen pass? This is just plain dumb. I used to read your posts closely because they seemed legit. Now I think you must just be a Franklin hater so I'll now bypass your brilliance.
 
At the time I was disappointed but in retrospect things haven’t been too bad on how they worked out. He was, I think, absolutely the right guy at the right time for PSU.

I, and suspect he as well, wish he was a little less candid with ol Davey Jones before he left tho.

Are you referring to him trying to justify his taking the Houston job by claiming the lawsuits and JoeBots
Bill was put in a difficult position.

First, he was following Joe.

Second, he felt like he had three bosses— Ira Lubert, Dave Joyner and Rod Erickson.

Finally, he had to deal with the sanctions.

Bill is a football coach. His players at PSU truly loved him. Bill did not enjoy other aspects of college coaching.

I disagreed with his decision to replace Wayne Sebastianelli. In my view, a head coach should not make medical decisions.

Stop with the excuses. O’Brien intended to parlay his gig at PSU into an NFL job from the moment he arrived on campus. As I have said repeatedly, I get that but he needs to stop being disingenuous about why he left. O’Brien had to deal with sanctions. The third and fourth years after the sanctions, Franklin’s first 2 years, were the toughest 2 seasons because Paterno’s better left over players were gone and the impact of the scholarship limitations was kicking in. Obviously, the fact that the players “loved him” didn’t prevent him from leaving or from threatening to leave after one year in order to get a raise. As far as Bill being a football coach; I agree. Which is why I knew his tenure at Houston was going to end sooner rather than later after he became GM in addition to head coach.
 
A playoff team in 2014? With 2 offensive linemen that they had to move from defense because we didn't have enough OL to even have a 2 deep? With a QB who couldn't complete a screen pass? This is just plain dumb. I used to read your posts closely because they seemed legit. Now I think you must just be a Franklin hater so I'll now bypass your brilliance.

Spot on. There is delusion and then there is off the charts delusion. Some poster claimed PSU hasn’t had a good QB coach since O’Brien. Maybe he could explain to me why this “genius” wasn’t able to teach, Hack, one of the highest rated high school QBs in his class, how to throw a screen or swing pass.
O’Brien left when he did because (1) he always wanted to be an NFL head coach and (2) he knew he needed to leave while he still had a winning record at PSU and knew that was going to be more difficult the next 2 years.
 
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