The Lions' Pride

I wonder if these are some of the changes he wanted at the end of 2012 season.

I get the sense that the PSU football program has been run like a 60 year old family owned business for decades. OB is like a bright, young business organization consultant bring it up to the current times.

That is not really true. The PSU medical team has been very good. PSU was one of the first programs in major college football and the NFL to look into all the concussions and worked with the helmet companies in trying to create a better helmet. Sebastianelli was very good and progressive and so was the old trainer George Salvaterra.

I am hearing there might be another change coming in the coming weeks or months. Another long term staff member could be leaving. O'Brien is making changes and almost all of the old staff will be gone by the end of spring.

I don't have any inside info, but I do know a former trainer at a prominent Big XII school and a team doctor at a top-25 program in the west. Based on how they described their roles with their teams, my guess is that these moves were more to bring PSU into line with how other teams organize their sports medicine staffs, i.e., with a larger team of primary docs, ortho consultants, and trainers. Both were always surprised by how involved Sebastianelli was in attending practices and tending to on-field injuries.

Nothing was "wrong" with how PSU did things, and by all accounts, Sebastianelli and Salvaterra were among the best at what they do (as Miller Latte notes), but I suspect that O'Brien just wanted to structure things in the same way as his other coaching stops. It is what it is. I do feel bad for Dr. Sebastianelli, but on the flip side, I'm sure there are hundreds of good doctors that would love to serve as the team doctor for PSU football. Two younger guys -- Dr. Seidenberg and Dr. Lynch -- are now getting that chance.

Ah yes, a good old-fashioned lobotomy.