The Lions' Pride

I'll be honest, when I first heard about O'Brien possibly being our coached I was pissed. I had no idea who he was other than the fact he coached for the Pats and he chewed out Brady during the one game. However, right now I would want no other coach to be on our sideline. Probably the best hire they could have made. If we would have gotten Meyer, there is no question that he would have bounced as soon as the sanctions came down. I'm beyond thrilled with O'Brien and I think it's safe to say he will be here for awhile. I love the way he coaches and I love the fact that he kept Vandy and LJ for our D. And let's be honest, most kids going to play big time college football all aspire to be in the NFL and what better coaching staff than ours to get these kids to the NFL.

I love the story that Obrien told about how, during his time with teh Patriots, he always kept two notebooks: one for the Xs and Os, and one just on Billicheck's coaching philosophy and styly.

Lots of people have great football minds, but to be a head coach in either NFL or FBS takes a CEO type mentality. Obviously Obrien has the football mind, but he also had enough sense to learn from Billicheck all the peripheral stuff that goes into being HC. Managing practices, managing personalities, managing staffs, managing fans and alumni dinners, etc.

Can you clarify? Were they less than happy at the end of Joe's regime or the beginning of BOB's.

It just stuns me that Penn State got this right. With bad decision after bad decision spewing out of happy valley like a drunk vommiting all over himself, this hire was easily viewed by many as another woeful decision. I was intrigued and on board, but certainly not doing cartwheels. I'm certain they saw OB as a stopgap to weather the storm, but they may have inadvertently hit one out of the park. BILLIEVE!