Blue White Illustrated

The following are excerpts from Bill O'Brien's news conference Jan. 7. You said that your horse in the race is the coaches and the players. You want to make sure that everything that you're doing is state of the art for them. … Has what you're doing for them changed in the last couple weeks as a result of the last couple weeks? And could you talk about what those things are? We've had ongoing discussions – I probably talk two or three times a week with Dr. Joyner, and one of the things about leading a college football program and being part of an athletic department that's a fantastic athletic department, which is a part of a big university, is that things don't happen overnight. So I think since the day I arrived here, since the day I was hired, Dave and I have had many, many conversations about where we're headed with this football program and what are the things that we need to make sure that we stay up with the Joneses, so to speak. Nothing has changed in the last week or two weeks. It's just ongoing, and hopefully we can continue to make these improvements. ESPN reported that you were unhappy that you received, quote unquote, bad information during your interview process, that the NCAA would not impose sanctions on the program, that it was just a criminal matter, and I think that got everybody thinking, 'Oh, my God, he's angry, he's going to leave.' Was that true? Let me clarify that: When I interviewed for the job, I interviewed with a search committee here. I had a Skype interview when I was in Foxboro, and then I came on campus here, and I asked many, many questions. I think if you ask Dr. Erickson and Dr. Joyner, I think one of the things that probably impressed them was the fact that I had many more questions than they actually had. And so one of the questions I had was about the NCAA, and what was their HOPE AND CHANGE O'Brien said he's looking "to make sure we stay up with the Joneses, so to speak." Patrick Mansell role in this going to be, and at that time Dr. Erickson had received a letter from the NCAA in which he had to answer several questions. And they felt at that time that once they answered those questions, they would know better about what the NCAA's role would be in this whole thing. So it wasn't anybody that gave me bad information. It was just nobody really knew, and so I took somewhat of a leap of faith. Penn State took a leap of faith, and I shook their hand and became the head football coach here, and that's exactly what happened. What are some things you would like to see put in place that would enrich the experience for your assistants and players? The best organizations in pro football are always the ones that are thinking about ways to do things differently, from year to year. Every year is different. … We will constantly talk about new ways of [doing things]. Maybe there's new weightlifting equipment, or can I have a few more guys in the recruiting department to help Billy Kavanaugh with recruiting. Maybe there are different ways to do study hall, maybe there are different ways to help with our marketing de- partment as it relates to football. You know, those are all things that we need to constantly be talking about at Penn State as we move year to year, because we can't just sit and stay the same. We've got to be creative, we've got to think out of the box, we've got to do the best job we can for our players and for our staff to make sure that we're putting them in the best situation to get a great degree and to win football games. What would you do if an NFL team called you next year at this time? That's next year. I'm telling you right now, I'm committed to this 2013 team and I'm looking forward to coaching them. You know, I respect you, but to me that's a very speculative question. I'm looking forward to going down to the [American Football Coaches Association] convention today, and I anticipate being at Penn State. Believe me, I plan to be at Penn State, to be the head football coach here, and I am looking forward to coaching these kids. Is coaching in the NFL one of your goals still? In our profession it's the highest

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