🏈 Penn State's Bill O'Brien "likely" to be named HC of Houston Texans

[bama alum]

Espn is reporting O'Brien has been hired by the Texans.

 

[PhillyGirl]

Espn is reporting O'Brien has been hired by the Texans.

Just saw that as well. Any word on how much?

 

[PhillyGirl]

Penn State's Bill O'Brien "likely" to be named HC of Houston Texans

Interesting article from September:

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-09-12/sports/os-mike-bianchi-bill-obrien-0913-20130912_1_bill-o-brien-penn-state-unhappy-valley

 

[bama alum]

Just saw that as well. Any word on how much?

espn.com says the deal won't be announced til Saturday.

 

[TerryP]

Chip Brown doing his best job trying to add more names to the mix. http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1592852 Really not sure how this guy is employed.

---

One high-level source said Patterson on Tuesday flew to an undisclosed location to interview Louisville coach Charlie Strong, who has received a high recommendation from the search firm Korn/Ferry, which is assisting in the hunt for Mack Brown's replacement.

Another source close to the situation said Patterson has already interviewed Vanderbilt coach James Franklin and wants to talk to Michigan State's Mark Dantonio.

Patterson met with a group of Texas lettermen before the Alamo Bowl on Monday who expressed support for Baylor coach Art Briles.

A group of billionaire donors appear ready to make their case for Florida State's Jimbo Fisher as the next coach at Texas. Even though Fisher signed a new contract extension at FSU that will take his salary to $4.1 million, the new deal has no buyout, two sources confirmed.

Previously, Fisher had a buyout of $2 million. So the new deal effectively makes it easier for Fisher to leave, if he chose to do so, sources said.

Another billionaire Texas donor has let it be known he supports Jon Gruden as Mack Brown's replacement.

---

How many of you guys knew TX has billionaire donors? :shock:

As of this minute: Three hours ago USA Today releases an article on Fisher's new contract. They point out "no details have been released." Chip mentions "two sources confirmed" no buy-out with his new deal.

Joe Schad reports: The deal, agreed to during the season, is worth $21 million. It also includes a buyout that is not expected to result in an increased payment if Fisher were to leave, a source told ESPN's Joe Schad.

Who to believe? Hrrmmm?

Last, but not least, I can't leave this post without noting something...

Lettermen want Briles, billionaire donors want Fisher, billionaire donor wants Gruden, Patterson has interviewed Franklin and wants to talk to Dantonio...

Reminds me, vividly, of a battle within our own ranks with some wanting Croom, others Williamson, and then there was Shula in the mix as well.

Bama was a dumpster fire at that point. TX is a dumpster fire now.

Even IF these factions were to step aside and let Powers and Patterson do their jobs...

 

[TerryP]

And on the CLE front:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Gus Malzahn (Auburn) very much a top candidate for CLE. Vandy's James Franklin in the mix. One of them or McDaniels expected to get that job</p>&mdash; Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonLaCanfora/statuses/418214891615682561">January 1, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[TerryP]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Lesson from 2013: Texas can have any coach it wants ... as long as it doesn't want any of the coaches who'd rather stay put</p>&mdash; Tommy Deas (@tommydeas) <a href="https://twitter.com/tommydeas/statuses/418206344080941058">January 1, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[planomateo]

Here I was thinking O'Brien would stick around for his players, similar to how he asked recruits to stick around for him.

 

[TerryP]

Here I was thinking O'Brien would stick around for his players, similar to how he asked recruits to stick around for him.

He's always impressed me as a guy that wants to be a football coach.

He's been "asked" to be a figurehead for Penn State—a guy that the fan base can look up to and revere.

Some can handle both responsibilities. Others simply aren't cut out for that type of position. fRan is a good example of how these two worlds seldom coexist.

---

About an hour ago I heard a guy on ESPN radio suggest Al Golden would be a good guy for Penn State. I immediately flashed back to Butch Davis.

Davis was having success at Miami and had brought them back from strong sanctions. Given the opportunity to coach in Tuscaloosa or go to the NFL, Davis chose Cleveland. That decision was partly due to his desire to coach in the league and the lack of desire to rebuild a program damaged by sanctions.

Would Golden, after having pulled Miami back up, want to deal with a rebuilding job after sanctions again?

 

[planomateo]

He's always impressed me as a guy that wants to be a football coach.

He's been "asked" to be a figurehead for Penn State—a guy that the fan base can look up to and revere.

Some can handle both responsibilities. Others simply aren't cut out for that type of position. fRan is a good example of how these two worlds seldom coexist.

---

About an hour ago I heard a guy on ESPN radio suggest Al Golden would be a good guy for Penn State. I immediately flashed back to Butch Davis.

Davis was having success at Miami and had brought them back from strong sanctions. Given the opportunity to coach in Tuscaloosa or go to the NFL, Davis chose Cleveland. That decision was partly due to his desire to coach in the league and the lack of desire to rebuild a program damaged by sanctions.

Would Golden, after having pulled Miami back up, want to deal with a rebuilding job after sanctions again?

Yup, it does seem he was tired of the non-football stuff along with having to deal with or manage the Paterno people. Sounds like he said as much in a 12/4 interview with PennLive.com. Never thought he was a bad guy at all, in fact I respected him more for taking the job knowing what he'd be faced with. But then again, I did think he was crazy for taking that position due to the issues he'd have to face.

 

[TerryP]

Yup, it does seem he was tired of the non-football stuff along with having to deal with or manage the Paterno people. Sounds like he said as much in a 12/4 interview with PennLive.com. Never thought he was a bad guy at all, in fact I respected him more for taking the job knowing what he'd be faced with. But then again, I did think he was crazy for taking that position due to the issues he'd have to face.

Haven't seen that...throw the link out here when you get a chance.

 

[bama alum]

And on the CLE front:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Gus Malzahn (Auburn) very much a top candidate for CLE. Vandy's James Franklin in the mix. One of them or McDaniels expected to get that job</p>&mdash; Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonLaCanfora/statuses/418214891615682561">January 1, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

 

[TerryP]

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

You see the tweeter's bio?



[h=1]Jason La Canfora Verified account[/h] [h=2]<img alt="" src="https://ih0.redbubble.net/image.567420689.0744/pp,650x642-pad,750x1000,f8f8f8.u2.jpg" style="width: 75px; height: 100px;" />@</s>JasonLaCanfora[/h] NFL Insider for CBS and http://CBSSports.com , father, TV dude, blogger, husband and failed athlete ... In no particular order

B-More, Maryland · cbssports.com

 

[planomateo]

Haven't seen that...throw the link out here when you get a chance.

David Jones talks about his 20 min conversation here. I should have said conversation instead of interview.

http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/01/bill_obrien_the_outsider_arriv.html

 

[TerryP]

David Jones talks about his 20 min conversation here. I should have said conversation instead of interview.

http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/01/bill_obrien_the_outsider_arriv.html

Forget the content of his article for a minute, if you can, and tell me...does this strike you as somewhat underhanded?

It comes across to me as a conversation between two guys that's now being used to promote the author instead of telling the story itself. Maybe that's not the best way to put it, but with no doubt it strikes me as...well, odd.

 

[RollTideRandy]

This actually works out pretty well for Penn State. With Schiano being fired, now they get to hire the guy who was their first choice to replace Paterno.

 

[bama alum]

You see the tweeter's bio?



Jason La Canfora Verified account

<img alt="" src="https://ih0.redbubble.net/image.567420689.0744/pp,650x642-pad,750x1000,f8f8f8.u2.jpg" style="width: 75px; height: 100px;" />@</s>JasonLaCanfora

NFL Insider for CBS and http://CBSSports.com , father, TV dude, blogger, husband and failed athlete ... In no particular order

B-More, Maryland · cbssports.com

This now makes me wonder if the lackof interest of Gus coaching in Austin next year was his or theirs. I originally thought it was the latter. Hmm...Food for thought.

 

[EuroTide]

And on the CLE front:

Gus Malzahn (Auburn) very much a top candidate for CLE. Vandy's James Franklin in the mix. One of them or McDaniels expected to get that job
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) January 1, 2014​

<script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

i`ve been done with the Browns and the NFL the moment they fired Chud, not sure how they dont become even more of a joke by hiring Gus, i dont care anymore.

 

[TerryP]

Swinging back to the TX job for a second...

The closing paragraph in this article from the article in the Dallas News cracked me up a bit this morning.

Patterson said at the Valero Alamo Bowl that one of his jobs was to sort between candidates with a sincere interest and those looking for pay raises at their current schools. So far he’s followed that plan.

When all that's being said is "Texas can pay anything, billionaire donors, etc." what do they expect?!?!

For now, most of the usual suspects you heard for months are off the board.

Or, were never a realistic possibility in the first place?

 

[planomateo]

He's always impressed me as a guy that wants to be a football coach.

He's been "asked" to be a figurehead for Penn State—a guy that the fan base can look up to and revere.

Some can handle both responsibilities. Others simply aren't cut out for that type of position. fRan is a good example of how these two worlds seldom coexist.

---

About an hour ago I heard a guy on ESPN radio suggest Al Golden would be a good guy for Penn State. I immediately flashed back to Butch Davis.

Davis was having success at Miami and had brought them back from strong sanctions. Given the opportunity to coach in Tuscaloosa or go to the NFL, Davis chose Cleveland. That decision was partly due to his desire to coach in the league and the lack of desire to rebuild a program damaged by sanctions.

Would Golden, after having pulled Miami back up, want to deal with a rebuilding job after sanctions again?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>Sources at both Miami and Penn State tell us Al Golden to PSU is strong possibility. Will update</p>&mdash; FootballScoop Staff (@footballscoop) <a href="https://twitter.com/footballscoop/statuses/419209210916655104">January 3, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>