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Reuters

In the college football world, there’s a lot of talk that Penn State’s recruiting is suffering because its new head coach, Bill O’Brien, is more focused on getting the Patriots’ offense ready for the Super Bowl. That’s not good news for Nittany Lions fans.

But Patriots fans can be satisfied with knowing that at Super Bowl Media Day, all indications were that O’Brien is singularly focused on the Super Bowl, and the only time Penn State is a distraction is when the media asks about it.

O’Brien said today that he is delegating the Penn State stuff to the staff at Penn State until he starts that job on Monday.

“This is about the Patriots this week,” O’Brien said. “I’m thrilled to be the head coach at Penn State, but I’m really focused on the Patriots and trying to do the best we can to put together a great game plan on Sunday.”

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said there has been no change to the game planning process with O’Brien having a second job.

“Bill O’Brien has done everything he normally does, and everything he can possibly do,” Belichick said. “I’m sure he’s spent some extra hours early in the morning and late at night doing things for Penn State. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do here, and he has been very diligent in his responsibilities.”

The Patriots have been in this position before, with Charlie Weis coordinating the offense through the Super Bowl after accepting the Notre Dame head coaching position, and that worked out fine for the Patriots. (Weis’s tenure at Notre Dame didn’t work out quite as well for the Fighting Irish.)

Patriots guard Brian Waters offered an interesting assessment of the O’Brien situation, saying he thinks being at the Super Bowl should be great for recruiting.

“For him, this is the greatest recruiting tool he’s got,” Waters said. “He could have easily walked away and said ‘I’ve got my opportunity somewhere else,’ but instead he’s seeing it through. He’s as fired up as he was the course of the season.”

Waters also praised O’Brien for the fire he showed in his famous sideline confrontation with Tom Brady.

“As players, we liked [the argument],” Waters said. “Those are two positions that can be relaxed . . . I don’t want to say pretty boy positions, but they can be. The guys calling the plays and the guy throwing the ball. To see those two be the most fired up two guys on your team, to us as a football player, a lineman in the trenches every day, we have an appreciation for that.”

Penn State fans can be glad to know their coach is fiery, and not a pretty boy.

Read the original post:
PFT: 5 observations from Patriots' Media Day