Cross Bill O’Brien off all Philadelphia Eagles head coaching lists. Per several reports, O’Brien has chose to remain at Penn State for his second year as Nittany Lions’ head man.
Interviewed with the Eagles and Browns, but will stay with PSU.—
Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) January 04, 2013
O’Brien was the perfect successor to JoePa.
Before jumping into the implications of this news, I’d like to take time to applause Mr. O’Brien. When he came to Penn State, their football program was in disarray following the fallout from the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal. Despite losing scholarships, top commits, and transfers, O’Brien promised that he would stay at Penn State and help rebuild the program. He subsequently rallied the team to an extremely impressive 8-4 record including a win over then-No.24 Northwestern. Now, even when he’s being offered some of the most prestigious positions in all of football, O’Brien is staying true to his word to help save a prestigious program that’s fallen from grace.
Now, to the implications. O’Brien was confirmed to be interviewed by the Eagles today, so either Jeffrey Lurie said that O’Brien was out of the running or once being interviewed O’Brien had a change of heart. The latter seems likely.
The effect is that one of the Eagles’ top choices is now off the table. Who they will hire now comes down to just a handful names, most notably Oregon’s Chip Kelly and Denver’s Mike McCoy. O’Brien would’ve been a good fit for the Eagles, but it’s clear that he belongs in State College.
