New coach has Penn State players fired up
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Moments removed from their first meeting with new coach Bill O’brien, Penn State football players were giddy.
They smiled and were wideeyed Sunday as they walked around the Lasch Football Building talking about what the New England Patriots offensive coordinator had in store for them. It was their first time meeting Joe Paterno’s permanent successor, who was introduced Saturday. What O’brien told his team in a 45-minute private meeting appeared to be a hit.
“It’s exciting,” quarterback Matt Mcgloin said. “We talked about what he wanted to do as an offense, what he wanted to do as a defense, and, to be honest with you, we got some chills. I know I got chills.”
O’brien’s desire to install what Mcgloin said would be a completely different offense left the quarterback eager to get his hands on a new playbook. Understanding O’brien would fulfill his commitment with the Patriots throughout the postseason, Mcgloin said if New England kept winning perhaps Penn State could lure more recruits.
The way O’brien scanned the room and talked to his players — many of whom arrived 15 minutes early out of habit from rules Paterno put in place — left the Nittany Lions acting as if they wished they could put their shoulder pads on and run out of the tunnel at Beaver Stadium.
“We just sat in the meeting room for about 45 minutes with him, and I can tell you that I’m excited about working with him,” linebacker Mike Mauti said. “I could run through the wall right now. We’re all excited, and I just want to get all this crap behind us.”
What was said specifically in the meeting was to stay within the squad, the players said. But they did learn there would be another familiar face on the coaching staff. Players con- firmed that linebackers coach Ron Vanderlinden would be retained, leaving the defense with two holdovers from the old staff. Defensive line coach Larry Johnson, arguably the team’s top re- cruiter, was retained Saturday.
Strength and conditioning coach John Thomas is also staying and will begin working with the players on their offseason programs as early as Tuesday.
“The ball is rolling now. That’s important,” Mauti said. “The earlier it happened, the faster we can get things moving. And at least he can start instilling his views and his rules and his plans throughout this program.”
Eager to make a good first impression, running back Silas Redd said he and his teammates were focused on O’brien’s every word. Redd said O’brien reminded him “of a guy with a military background” but called him down to earth, too.
The players chuckled when the coach broke the ice and pointed at fullback P.J. Byers, who wore a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey to the meeting.
The light move was in contrast to anger expressed during the weekend by former lettermen over the hiring of a nonPenn Stater and athletics director Dave Joyner’s process. Lettermen said they felt excluded. Former linebacker Brandon Short told USA TODAY O’brien faced a “hornet’s nest.” But Matt Millen, also a former linebacker, said, “It doesn’t matter what we think. . . . It’s not our job.”
Either way, the program will be shadowed by the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal, which led to Paterno’s firing. Sandusky is awaiting trial on more than 50 counts of abuse.
Aware that O’brien will be in the spotlight for quite some time, Redd said he left the meeting reassured Penn State made a good hire. “To the people who had doubts about him, look, everybody has to start somewhere,” Redd said. “Every head coach has had a head coaching debut, and this is his debut. . . . I know we’re excited for him.”