Blue White Illustrated

Fighting to end PSU's complacency P enn State has a culture problem. The problem is not, as proclaimed by Louis Freeh, a deification of football that is out of step with other schools. No. Far from it. As Bill O'Brien, a results-oriented forward-thinker, has come to recognize, Penn State has grown stagnant. It has developed a culture of complacency and self-satisfaction, a mentality of patting oneself on the back for prior achievements then refusing to seek improvement upon those successes. That mentality is pervasive at this university, and it's a problem. Though O'Brien's main concern is football and the success of the program that he's been tapped to oversee, the health of his business is directly related to the overall health of the university. In his first year on the job, O'Brien has seen how toxic this mentality is within the athletic department and the university as a whole. Placing the blame on outgoing university president Rodney Erickson and interim athletic director David Joyner is too simplistic, though their hiring only served to perpetuate the school's well-entrenched old-boy network. While tradition and stability are important to the university and its athletic department, there's an imbalance between those virtues and others, like innovation and ingenuity. Even in the wake of a tragedy, the response was a business-as-usual approach. O'Brien's power play might have given Penn State fans a scare, but it was an attempt to rectify some of the problems. And this time, it was on a much grander scale. With reports surfacing that O'Brien would be a prime target for NFL organizations that were looking to fill coaching vacancies, he and his agent, Joe Linta, decided to employ a strategy that sent seemingly every single Penn State fan into a fit of hysteria. O'Brien had already been through this – only two months earlier, in fact – but when he remained silent, the blurry bits of NFL-insider information gave rise to fears that the first-year coach was getting set to leave Penn State. Though O'Brien left even some members of his inner circle in the dark regarding his plans to interview with the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles, it turned out he was just setting up his demands for the Penn State athletic department and upper administration. But the bigger details – "A chance to accomplish structural and personnel changes in the Penn State athletic department" – as reported by PatriotNews columnist David Jones, are more important. Although O'Brien declined to specify exactly what changes are in the works, he's a smart tactician with the foresight to understand what must be done if Penn State wants to have a competitive football team and athletics program. An educated guess points to some key personnel changes in the athletic department, a forceful voice on behalf of the program as it relates to the NCAA, and a savvier marketing approach. In the weeks leading up to the NFL flirtation, sources said that in conversation, O'Brien was passionate about his vision for the future. The suggestion that he would abandon ship one year into his tenure at Penn State was seemingly incomprehensible. Now that Penn State has acquiesced to some of O'Brien's wishes, his return as the head coach – though clearly still not a guarantee for the duration of his contract – becomes a much more permanent proposition. Whether or not he is able to achieve everything he'd like, he is leading the football program in the right direction. As the university's recovery continues, Penn State fans should hope O'Brien's refreshing mentality is the one that takes hold. www.AmericanAleHouse.net 821 Cricklewood Drive, Toftrees State College Now in 2 Locations

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