A new head football coach for Penn State could be announced as soon as Saturday.
ESPN reports Bill O’Brien, the current offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots will be the next head coach of the Nittany Lions.
O’Brien is expected to finish out the NFL season with the Patriots before starting his new job at Penn State.
At the YMCA in Dunmore Penn State fans talked about the decision to hire O’Brien.
“I’m relieved that we finally do have somebody. I would like to know a little bit more about the coach that we hired,” said Tom Kebules of Spring Brook Township.
“They didn’t have much choice. They had to have a different change. It’s going to be a great loss for Penn State, Paterno not being there, but I think they had no choice. They had to do it,” said Don Dodson of Dunmore.
O’Brien has no previous ties to Penn State, although he did play college football at Joe Paterno’s alma mater, Brown University. O’Brien spent 14 seasons coaching at the college level before joining the Patriots in 2007.
“I understand why the board would wanna do something like that, have somebody with no strings. I’m a little disappointed, I would have liked to see Tom Bradley at least get another year,” said Kebules.
Penn State student Kim Neubauer understands the school’s desire for a fresh start, but is still upset about Joe Paterno being fired.
“I think they should have kept Joe for all that he has done for the school. I think it’s a shame that he’s going to be remembered for what he didn’t do instead of what he did do,” said Neubauer.
All the Penn State fans who were asked said they will still support the team and the players no matter who is on the sidelines.
