I don't think he'll be the permanent guy... but maybe he should be considered because he's a long timer there. There seems to be real problems because people were very loyal to Paterno. I'm not sure another outsider will handle it any better.
It's blown up today because apparently Bill O'Brien made this quote to a reporter a month ago after a former Paterno assistant coach was let go.
Quote:
“You can print this: You can print that I don’t really give a ---- what the ‘Paterno people’ think about what I do with this program. I’ve done everything I can to show respect to Coach Paterno. Everything in my power. So I could really care less about what the Paterno faction of people, or whatever you call them, think about what I do with the program. I’m tired of it.
“For any ‘Paterno person’ to have any objection to what I’m doing, it makes me wanna put my fist through this windshield right now.”
He was just getting started:
“I’m trying to field the most competitive football team I can with near-death penalty ----ing sanctions. Every time I say something like that and somebody prints it, it’s skewed as an excuse. And I’m not an excuse-maker. I’m trying to do the best I can for the kids in that program. That’s all I care about is the kids in that program. As long as I’m the head football coach here.”
I didn’t add exclamation marks where they could have been applied. Otherwise, it might look like something a fan texts after a frustrating loss – with strings of them (!!!!).
I didn’t print the quote right away, either. I did him a favor there. I thought it reflected momentary rage that I had partially induced from my own perception and it wasn’t quite fair.
But now that O’Brien has left and people want to know why, I think it makes sense to print it. It helps explain.
Anyway, I was already a bit stunned because the bombshell had come a few seconds earlier when O’Brien said, off-the-record: “That’s why, in probably about a month, they’re gonna be ----ing looking for a new coach.”
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http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index...der_arriv.html