Penn State Hires Bill O'Brien To Lead Football Program
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Penn State has made it official.
The school hired Patriots Offensive Coordinator Bill O'Brien as their new head coach for the football program.
Before this week, the only time most people even heard of Bill O'Brien was after his sideline shouting match with Tom Brady.
Former Ringgold and NFL quarterback Scott Zolak hosts a talk show in Boston. He says you can actually learn something about O'Brien's style from that moment.
"A quarterback that's played at a very high level – you see he's one of the top two in the game and he's kind of calling out one of his receivers after he threw a poor pass and Bill O'Brien didn't hesitate to jump him and I think that's a testament to the type of coach he has and they have a great working relationship," Zolak said.
O'Brien is known for his work ethic and it will take every ounce of it to mend fences and get the Penn State program moving forward.
Former Penn State star LaVar Arrington went as far as to say he would pack all his Penn State memorabilia away after word of the hiring leaked.
He backed off of those comments earlier today on 93-7 The FAN on "Seibel, Starkey and Miller."
"In an emotional moment I Twittered some things and although I mean it, it may have come off the wrong way," Arrington said. "It doesn't matter who the new coach is. What matters is how things were handled and I think that looking at where we're at right now, there's no way that anybody can sit here and say that things were handled properly."
Winning goes a long way to getting everyone onboard and that starts with recruiting, something O'Brien will do on a part-time basis until the Patriots are eliminated from the playoffs.
"LaVar Arrington can't suit up and that doesn't help Penn State," Zolak said. "The facilities are still there, endowment's still there, the money's there, the support, stadium, Penn State football will be back and I guarantee you this – Bill O'Brien will be a big part of it."
