Bill O'Brien

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I'll predict if Penn State minds its p's and q's the next couple years, the NCAA will lop off 1 of the 4 years probation. The NCAA won't soften the financial penalty, but at least allow them to be eligible for postseason play. And I wouldn't be opposed to that.
 

Best coaching job I've seen in years and you could tell in the post-game interview how much it meant to O'Brien. Not having the powers of the Almighty, I can't say that Paterno is now playing an eternal game of cribbage with Satan (who always seems to get the near-impossible 29-hand when he needs it), but there was enough institutional rot at Penn State to warrant heavier penalties.

That said, where does it stop? I've said from the beginning that this scandal may well be the end of the NCAA and I am sticking by it. Some people state a preference for college sports over the pros because of its assumed purity and the fact it was played by amateurs. I think that notion has been disabused and the whole Penn State scandal is simply an ugly and heinous example of how things can become as warped as they've become.
 


lakesgopher said:
Perfectly said! IMO again it had nothing to do with football it was the greed of a few that needed to be publicly humiliated and then sent to prison for ever. If this happened to the U those thinking te NCAA was too soft would be outraged. NCAA over stepped and screwed psu over.
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I'll try one more time lakesgopher, to try and help you understand. The cover up had EVERYTHING to do with football. Football was the reason FOR the coverup, plain and simple. Football is the reason nobody came forward, and those that did were pushed aside. Football is the reason that Jerry Sandusky was able to continue to molest innocent boys for a decade after initial accusations came out. To say that what happened at PSU had nothing to do with football, is utterly ridiculous. What Sandusky did had nothing to do with football, but what enabled him to continue doing it had everything to do with protecting the football culture of Penn State.
 

Gopher Bandanna Guy said:
I'll try one more time lakesgopher, to try and help you understand. The cover up had EVERYTHING to do with football. Football was the reason FOR the coverup, plain and simple. Football is the reason nobody came forward, and those that did were pushed aside. Football is the reason that Jerry Sandusky was able to continue to molest innocent boys for a decade after initial accusations came out. To say that what happened at PSU had nothing to do with football, is utterly ridiculous. What Sandusky did had nothing to do with football, but what enabled him to continue doing it had everything to do with protecting the football culture of Penn State.
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Was it football? Or "loyalty" to a friend/coworker. I don't know how messed up you have to be to convince yourself that it's okay to cover a situation up like that because you don't want your friend to go to jail, but it's pretty clear that the people involved are not mentally healthy.

Either way, the people involved were messed up, but was football really the motivation? Can we conclude that for a certainty? It certainly looks that way at first glance, but I don't think it's a conclusion you can make yet.
 


I'm with you, Bandana Guy.

As for O'Brien, yes, he did a very good job this year after a bad start. But people act as if they expected Penn State to be terrible this year because of the sanctions. They lost a few guys, but mostly the had their talent coming back. It will really hurt them down the road, but not this year. It's not like he took over Minnesota.
 

Maximus said:
And if Spanier, Curley and Schultz are acquitted?
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Keep in mind the Freeh Report was commissioned BY Penn State, and did not have subpoena power and so could not interview these 3, so attempting to discredit that report as being incomplete is disingenuous.

Even if they are aqcuitted (and they won't be on all counts), it won't be because they were innocent of any wrong-doing, it will be because the burden of proof on the state is immense and a key witness is dead. Legally innocent or guilty, it's pretty clear that the University failed on a number of counts to deal with Sandusky appropriately. Enough for the NCAA to (rightfully, IMO) step in.

There are plenty of emails that are damning. And the case is pretty rock solid from the more recent issues (email trail fresh), more shakey on stuff dating back a decade. This article is pretty interesting, considering the source
 

Rosemountian said:
So if a head football coach of a high school emailed with the AD and the head principal and they all agreed to cover it up they should ban the team from playing the next season after all the people involved in the email were gone?
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To be completely analogous then-The DofE may take away all of PSU's gov't funding essentially killing the school as it won't be able to function without that income. So in your example if analogous, the city-county-and state should take away all of the high school's funding? That would definitely cancel the next football season.

If your going to compare apples to oranges then compare all aspects.
 

Wasn't this thread about what a good job Bill O'brien did coaching this year? I think I missed my place or clicked on a wrong link by mistake, while I was reading through it. Damn internet.

I was very surprised at how the PSU season got so much better after the two early losses. They will be a very interesting team to follow through their sanctions and I agree things will suck for them if they have to bring in a new system at the same time (If O'Brien leaves).
 



SelectionSunday said:
I'll predict if Penn State minds its p's and q's the next couple years, the NCAA will lop off 1 of the 4 years probation. The NCAA won't soften the financial penalty, but at least allow them to be eligible for postseason play. And I wouldn't be opposed to that.
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Yep. And that is why they will be fine before you know it. Programs like PSU don't stay down for long.
 

A potpourri of comments for a potpourri of comments I have read.

Coach O'Brien did an excellent job this year.

They have 2 selling points. However, 10 fewer kids each year (40 total) will not be lending their ears to those selling points and that has an effect on team depth.

USC comparisons referenced earlier: Their problems stem more from the fact Pat Hayden seems to love Lane Kiffin, a coach who gets so little out of his talent and speed. As long as his ego wears headphones, they will continue to underperform regardless of the # of scholarships. 4 and 5 stars are the norm there and talent is brought in every year.

I think that ribbon-decal thing "honoring" the PSU player (Mauti) went beyond his having a knee injury from what I have read. I think it was more symbolic of his leadership he provided during a difficult time for the PSU players. Don't necessarily agree or disagree with it.

O'Brien won't leave this year, in my opinion. Also, one needs to keep in mind his contract calls for him to pay the school $9.2 million over four years if he leaves. May be an interesting side-story to follow down the road though.

I don't foresee the NCAA lifting sanctions on the University given the circumstances.

If you don't believe what the BandanaGuy has to say about the PSU cover-up, that is your choice. However, if you don't believe that football and the culture of football was the reason for the cover-up, then I have some "Magic Beans" to sell you.

Schnauzer, I am sorry you missed your place on the internet. I'm sure these ramblings didn't help that either.:)
 

On the ESPN crawl during the Gopher/Florida State Game: O'Brien says he isn't leaving Penn State.
 

Wouldn't expect anything else to come from someone in his position. But means nothing.
 



Gopher Bandanna Guy said:
I'll try one more time lakesgopher, to try and help you understand. The cover up had EVERYTHING to do with football. Football was the reason FOR the coverup, plain and simple. Football is the reason nobody came forward, and those that did were pushed aside. Football is the reason that Jerry Sandusky was able to continue to molest innocent boys for a decade after initial accusations came out. To say that what happened at PSU had nothing to do with football, is utterly ridiculous. What Sandusky did had nothing to do with football, but what enabled him to continue doing it had everything to do with protecting the football culture of Penn State.
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Football was the reason for the coverup....and every single person associated with the coverup and who had an official capacity with the football program was let go outside of the groundskeepers and the announcer.

Would you ban a high school football team from playing if the schools previous head football coach and administrator covered up sex abuse?
 

I think they should have shut the whole thing down. Sorry, but I agree with Gopher Bandana Guy. Furthermore, I would not want to set foot in that locker room, or go to a game at that field.
 

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