Blue White Illustrated

Forget the hypothetical questions. O'Brien is keeping it real marred by a controversial bit of offici- ating in the fourth quarter, the biggest story to emerge from Bill O'Brien's Tuesday afternoon news conference was – you guessed it – his future at Penn State. There was, of course, some talk I about on-the-field football items. Practice was good on Monday. Tight end Kyle Carter was going to miss the rest of the season with a wrist/hand injury. Second-half performances will need to improve in the future. Sam Ficken has gotten better. And O'Brien had a lot of respect for the Lions' next opponent, Indiana. But the biggest point to come out of the day's pro- ceedings revolved around whether or not A) O'Brien had been linked to NFL jobs that may or may not open up af- ter the 2012 season and B) whether he might be interested in those jobs. The discussion began early in the news conference – seven questions in – when a veteran beat reporter asked whether O'Brien had thought about what he would do if some NFL teams were to approach him with an offer at season's end. Quickly, O'Brien tried to tamp down the very notion. "No," he said bluntly. "I'm focused on Indiana. We are at 64, trying to get a seventh win and just really want to do a great job coaching this team, this week, for the Indiana game." A few questions later, he was asked about the conspiracy theories that gained traction after the controversial fumble call in Lincoln. The call de- nied the Nittany Lions a go-ahead touchdown and had some in the Penn State camp, most vocally quarterback Matt McGloin, questioning the impar- tiality of the officiating and suggest- ing that larger forces might be at work. n the aftermath of Penn State's frustrating 32-23 loss to No. 16 Ne- braska a few weeks ago, a game A few days later, it was discovered that the NCAA's online store was ex- cluding Penn State merchandise in a very conspicuous "glitch." Suddenly, there was some momentum behind the idea that some were actively working against Penn State. O'Brien wasn't buying it. "I would tell our fans that nobody is against Penn State," he said. "No one is against Penn State." Next came two more questions about the "free agency" period that was set to begin again, extending through the start of preseason prac- tice next year. Was O'Brien worried about potential transfers and their impact on his program? A lot of peo- ple have been wondering about that, but once again, O'Brien steered the conversation away from the hypothet- ical scenarios that had dominated much of the news conference. "That's the second question you have asked me about being worried," he said. "I don't worry. Do you know what I worry about? I worry about my son, I worry about my kids, I worry about my family. Those are things to worry about. "I don't worry about things that are out of our control." O'Brien is only in his first season at Penn State, and the feeling-out period with the media is still in progress. One of the key factors that many media members and fans seem to be missing is just how O'Brien operates, personally, profes- sionally and especially in dealing with the media. Simply put, he doesn't deal in hypo- theticals. As he's discovered repeatedly in his first 11 months on the job, situations can change abruptly, sometimes in a matter of minutes or hours. The job that he signed up for in January is not the job he has now. The players he inherited from the previous coach- ing regime have developed in differ- ent ways as their roles have evolved. As time passes, circumstances in- evitably change. The things he con- cerns himself with are the ones di- rectly in front of him – sometimes to a fault. So no matter how hard he is pressed to issue definitive statements about his future, he will probably continue to avoid entertaining ques- tions about things that haven't hap- pened yet. His reluctance to answer such questions has inevitably led to specu- lation about his future at Penn State. Asked one reporter, "At the risk of beating a dead horse with the NFL stuff, you're in a unique situation af- ter this season, where players have decisions to make, recruits are look- ing. Do you feel a need to make a de- finitive statement on your future, giv- en the situation and that your name has been floated out there with some different teams?" O'Brien's answer: "We're 64. I'm flattered that you would ask me that question. I'm worried about Indiana and our Tuesday practice and look- ing forward to doing the best we can for this team as a coaching staff for this Indiana game." Is there a possibility that O'Brien will someday receive an offer he can't refuse to coach in the NFL? Absolutely. Is there a possibility that he will spend time publicly discussing job of- fers that may exist only in the minds of nervous Penn State followers? Not a chance. If and when actual offers start ma- terializing – and trust me, they will – he can evaluate them and make deci- sions based on the options with which he's been presented. In the meantime, he's singularly fo- cused on Penn State – its players, its coaches and its future. Those other things aren't really worth "worrying" about.

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