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LAST WORD N A T E B A U E R | N B A U E R @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M ill O'Brien sauntered down the long hallway of the Lasch Build- ing, taking his time to soak up the experience. Escorted toward a gathering of jour- nalists who were awaiting his arrival, the former Nittany Lion head football coach stopped to exchange pleasantries with a few familiar faces. He had been invited to speak at the program's annual Coaches Clinic this spring, and the oc- casion marked his first time back in the building since the day he left. This was a warm, welcome return. "It definitely brings back a lot of memories," O'Brien said. "And you look around at all the changes that have been made in the building. I said to James earlier, he's done such a great job here. This is where Penn State should be, on the brink of a national championship and being the type of team that can go out there and compete with anybody in the country." Announced as Penn State's head coach on Jan. 6, 2012, O'Brien was walking through the actualized version of the program he had originally envisioned upon taking the job. He was the Nittany Lions' first new head coach since Joe Paterno's first sea- son in 1966, and the program O'Brien inherited had a strong foundation de- spite all the tumult. Even after the NCAA levied its sanctions against Penn State later that summer, the reality of that strength was never in doubt for the first-time head coach. Now, the Lions are flexing their mus- cles. Though structurally the same, the Lasch Building has been transformed since O'Brien's departure. The sparkling weight room conversion im- plemented during his tenure is now complemented by an equally beautiful nutrition bar. Further renovations have improved the lobby area, the team audi- torium and the coaches' waiting room upstairs, with all of those changes high- lighting the team's many accomplish- ments. During his tenure at Penn State, O'Brien fought to keep the program moving forward rather than simply keeping its head above water. But in the face of severe financial penalties and on-field restrictions, he was forced to settle for minor improvements. In addi- tion, the public wanted Penn State's tra- ditions to be protected and upheld, so incremental change would have to do. More than four years after his depar- ture, the dividends of that initial invest- ment have come to fruition through the stewardship of James Franklin. O'Brien had always thought of Penn State as a "football heaven." With its 108,000-seat stadium, its practice fields with their views of Mount Nit- tany, and the Lasch Building itself, it had the infrastructure it needed to re- establish itself as a national power. Dur- ing his recent visit, O'Brien could see that vision coming into focus. "There are just some great people here, and I knew that in time, with the support and the type of program that Coach Paterno built here, that this place was going to be back," he said. "There were going to be some tough times going through it, but in the end, it was going to be back battling for national championships. You can see it now." Asked whether he had any regrets, what he'd learned, and what he'd been most proud of before taking his first NFL head coaching job with the Hous- ton Texans, O'Brien revealed just how instrumental and instructive his two- year stint at Penn State has been to his career. His regrets, he said, were the losses. He learned how important it was to connect with players on an individual level. Learning to distinguish the im- portance of outstanding character would also prove an important lesson when evaluating and selecting players to fill his future Texans lineups. He said his proudest achievements were the relationships he built, which were necessary to keep the Nittany Lions competitive at a time when some were saying the quality of play would dip to that of a Division II program. "There was a time when the sanctions first came out that they said this pro- gram would never come back," O'Brien said. "And I think we all looked at each other… and knew that was never going to happen. Something terrible had hap- pened here, but things were moving for- ward and we had the right people in place to bridge that gap to where they are now." Under Franklin, the Nittany Lions have made appearances in the Rose and Fiesta bowls the past two seasons, have finished in the top 10 both years and have produced a generational player who is likely to be selected in the first five picks of the NFL Draft. The pro- gram has re-emerged as a title con- tender, and O'Brien got that process started. "I think that's a statement to what [Franklin] has done, and you can see it here and it just makes me feel really good about being here today," he said. "It was cool to come here. He asked me to come back and speak at the clinic and I said, 'Man, I think that would be pretty cool.' So it was good to be back." They owe a debt of gratitude to each other, Penn State to O'Brien and O'Brien to Penn State. His leadership built a bridge to the program's ambi- tious future, and that relationship de- serves to be celebrated. Hopefully, this will not be his last visit. ■ A welcome return B

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