Bill O’Brien Will Embrace Penn State: An Alum’s Look

The time of mourning the passing of Joe Paterno is still fresh in the minds of many students and alumni. The legendary coach died on January 22, 2012 a little more than two months after he was unceremoniously fired in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. The man that will replace him was already facing a huge task. The pressure is compounded now that Paterno has passed on. Bill O’Brien was hired as the Penn State coach shortly after the Nittany Lions lost in the bowl game. He hasn’t been able to follow dive into the job because he is still working with the New England Patriots. But O’Brien has been doing a lot of the right things as far as taking over at Penn State. He has said he will embrace the Penn State way and that is welcome news for those close to the school.

Penn State is definitely starting a new era. No one on the coaching staff attended Penn State. That has not happened in more than 80 years. Though O’Brien retained two former assistants, things will look very different on the Penn State sidelines. A lot of people welcome the change but that doesn’t mean they want to see the Penn State way disappear. To those on the outside, the Penn State way does not mean living in a shroud of secrecy or playing things close to the chest. It means winning the right way. It means stressing academics. It means wearing the same uniforms and keeping the names off the jerseys. It means not breaking any rules. O’Brien can’t go off course in any of those areas.

The important thing everyone has to realize is that O’Brien isn’t going to duplicate Paterno. He can’t do it and he shouldn’t try it. It’s not fair to anyone involved. O’Brien should be able to put his own stamp on the Penn State program. For this to work it has to become his team. I hope and expect that O’Brien will institute his own rules and style in certain areas. But I also expect that he understands the tenants of the Penn State way. There isn’t one Penn State fan or alum out there that would sacrifice integrity for a national championship. We all want to win but we don’t want to win the way a lot of other programs do. That is what O’Brien will have to remember.

O’Brien seems intelligent and understanding of the situation he is in. He seems to know what he has to do and he seems to know how important the Penn State name is to people. At the end of the day, he knows how important it is to win over the alumni. So far I give him credit for doing everything as well as anyone could have asked. I hope that continues.

* – Mark Paul is a Penn State alum. Follow him on Twitter here.


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