Penn State football looks to remake image with new coach Bill O'Brien on 18-city tour

DREXEL HILL, Pa. - Penn State took the first steps toward an image makeover in its athletic program this week when it embarked on a nine-day, 18-city bus tour to introduce head football coach Bill O'Brien to alums in a seven states stretching from New York through Virginia and including a stop in Washington, D.C.

The caravan, organized by the alumni organization and the Nittany Lion club, had the feel of a political campaign, with O'Brien, men's basketball coach Pat Chambers and 13 others traveling to center city Philadelphia on a plush Fullerton bus that left campus at 6:30 Monday morning for a luncheon then making their way to suburban Drexelbrook for an evening cocktail party.
The 42-year old O'Brien was center stage the entire time. He had on the traditional Penn State blue blazer and dark tie with a Penn State pin prominently displayed on his lapel but he is still a stranger to most Penn State fans, a former quarterbacks coach with the New England Patriots with no previous ties to Happy Valley. He is attempting and is trying to win back the hearts and minds of the Nittany Lion nation, which is still shaken and distrubed by the ugly Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal and subequent firing of 85-year old legend Joe Paterno, who died early this year from lung cancer.

Paterno was an iconic fixture in Happy Valley for 60 years, coaching the Nittany Lions to two national championships, five unbeaten seasons and an NCAA Bowl Sub-division record 409 victories in 46 years before he saw his legacy blow up in his face. Four days after he was carried off the field at Beaver Stadium by his players following a victory over Illinois, he was fired from his job  by the Board of Trustees after being implicated in the coverup.

Many older, diehard fans and some of the more rabid students, who rioted in the streets of State College the night of the offical announcement, felt Paterno was treated unfairly. Even now there is a contentious relationship between the university and the Paterno family. The school offered certain concessions to the family in exchange for a full release, preventing the family from suing and speaking negatively about the school.
They included renaming Beaver Stadium after Joe Paterno, an apology for having fired Paterno over the phone and honoring Paterno's contract. Last week, Penn State announced it would be making a $5.5 terminatiion payment on Paterno's contract and termed it a "settlement." The Paternos released a statement indicating that while Penn State had honored the contract, it was not a "settlement" since the offer for a full release was rejected. Likewise, the renaming of the Stadium, had no appeal to the Paternos so that, too, was rejected. And, again the details surrounding it were disputed.

O'Brien wasn't there for never ending avalanche of negative stories that led the evening news and SportsCenter for almost two weeks and has been a dark cloud hanging over campus for almost six months. He was helping the Pats prepare for a Super Bowl appearance.
"We had SportsCenter on in the office so I was somewhat aware of what was going on because it was all over the news,'' he admitted.
Now, he in the eye of the storm, he said has become "mindful of things like child abuse and making sure we have to reach out to victims of child abuse, charitable organizations and things like that."
But O'Brien, an Ivy League graduate of Paterno's alma mater Brown, has been commissioned to be the face of Penn State's $2.5 million on public relations campaign to sanitize the program and re-establish Penn State's reputation as the crown jewel of Eastern college football.
At first glance, O'Brien, who was in Philadelphia and the immediate suburbs for his first two appearances on this marathon, comes acoss as an approachable family man. He has already shown he is willing to be more transparant with the media than Paternoopening up some 5:30 a.m. workout sessions and spring practice sessions. He has been far more visible than JoePa with the student body on campus, attending luncheons and banquets, visiting undergrads on Earth Day and even handing out an award in the "Best Chicken wing" contest.
O'Brien wasn't Penn State's first choice. Most Penn State fans were hoping for Mike Munchak, a former Penn State All American lineman who is now the head coach of the NFL Tennessee Titans. Some outspoken former players like Brandon Short and Lavarr Arrington lobbied for defensive coordinator and interim coach Tom Bradley, trashing the decision of interm AD Dave Joyner to hire O'Brien, who had no prervious head coaching experience. ""There is a tangible standard at Penn State that this poor guy knows nothing about," Short said. "I feel badly for him. He is clueless and will not have the support of the majority of the Lettermen. This is a hornet’s nest."
O'Brien has started to win over some skeptical alums wth his easy going public personality on this tour.

"I'm a Boston guy-- yeah, I know, 'Boo,'" he said during a lunch stop at the Doubletree Hotel in the heart of Eagles' country. "The last time I drove down Broad Street was on a Patriots bus, and this wasn't the same reception - thank God for that."
O'Brien then did a Q a A with a crowd of  275. The first question" "How many games do you predict you wlll win your first year?"
So much for the honeymoon period. Penn State won nine games .last year in a chaotic season. "At Penn State, the expectations are to win Big Ten championships and compete for national tittes,'' O'Brien admitted.
He understands the tradition of winning with student athletes and has no plans to change the blue and white uniforms with no names on the back.
"When people see those uniforms, they kinow its Penn State,''he said.
O'Brien has a vision of how he wants to play-- uptempo with an empahasis on the passing game. He coached Tom Brady wtih the Pats but still has not decided on a starting quarterback after the spring game and there are holes to fill in the secondary.

Penn State had an average recruiting year at best, but OBrien and his staff are making headway in the class 2013, with eight verbl committments, including one from top-rated 6-4, 215 pound quarterback Christian Hackenberg of Fork Union Miltary Acdemy in Virgina and five other four star players. The Nittany Lions have made serious dents again in Central Pennsylvania and New Jersey, O'Brien has been careful to be respectful of Paterno's accomplishments on the field and the positive effect he had on fund raiising and the development of Penn State from a cow college into a major university.
Replacing a legend lis not easy, even in the best of times. Just ask the eight coaches who followed John Wooden at UCLA or the six that succeeded Bear Bryant at Alabama. Wooden won 10 nationall championships in 12 years before retiring in 1975 . UCLA has won just one itle since, in 1995. Bryant won six national titles and 13 SEC champonships in his 25 years at Alabama before retiirng in 1982. The Tide has finally started to roll again under Nick Saban, who has won two national titles in the last three years.
O'Brien is just starting to take his first steps in Paterno's shoes. This is a job he wanted as soon as it opened. The Penn State administration is hoping he will become a long term solution and not simply a change agent.