I'm very glad to see this. I am no PSU lover, but these kids did nothing to deserve the punishment they are getting. I know they can leave, but it says a lot about the character of these young men and O'Brien
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Just another day in the life of a browns fan
When PSU's situation is more desirable than yours you know its bad.
I couldn't have said it better myself. Now if I could up vote you I would!
I love how the headline on ESPN said "O'Brien staying at Penn St. after Browns talk".
Go Brownies, lolz.
He says he's committted to the kids and Penn State....Then why go on an interview? He did it to get a raise, which he got. $1.3 million. But let's spin it as he is committed and loyal... I smell BS. Otherwise donate the $1.3 to a charity!!!
Really? Rational economic interest dictates that the only logical thing for BOB to do was to gauge the opportunities available to him, and choose the option that advances that self interest. Coaching college football is not ministry, it's a job, and BOB's first responsibility is to himself and his family. That means when four or five NFL teams call, you pick up the phone, and if your current employer says "you know what, I think we'd feel comfortable paying you more money to keep those NFL teams away," there's not a darn thing wrong with that.
Charity? C'mon, man.
Well said Andy.
Yes, Really!!! I'm all for trying to get the best deal available for yourself. Just don't paint yourself as being self righteous and a hero.
As in, don't come back from an interview that you actually had with the Browns and say:
"I'm not a one-and-done guy," O'Brien told pennlive.com on Thursday night. "I made a commitment to these players at Penn State and that's what I am going to do. I'm not gonna cut and run after one year. That's for sure."
If that is the case, then why go on the interview in the first place?
Is that so bad to ask?
What's he supposed to say? "I looked over my other options, and PSU was nice enough to give me a bonus that's more alone than most of you will ever see in your life, and I decided to stay, despite interviewing with an NFL team without telling you."
I think the problem here is that we're assuming O'Brien is being self-righteous, rather than reading this as a media-driven narrative.
Let me give you an example: A few years ago, a company was recruiting me for an amazing job that I was very interested in. I told them upfront I was not terribly excited about moving to Iowa, but that I was interested in the job. They flew me to their offices, wined and dined me for 24 hours, and made me an offer. I flew back home, thought about the offer, and turned them down because... I didn't want to move to Iowa.
Moral of the story? My situation was: A.) No big deal; and, B.) No different from BOB interviewing with the Browns or Eagles or whomever. If an employer approaches you with an opportunity, you take the call - that might take the form of an "informational interview" or a chat on the telephone, but aside from doing the Gruden "I'm not interested, don't bother me" thing, when someone has money on the table, you take the call.
The difference between my situation and BOB's? The media ain't reporting every time someone offers me a job. By virtue of the fact that coaching jobs have spawned a cottage industry within the sports-entertainment economy (yes, that is a real thing), media outlets of every stripe have to have something to report. BOB gets a call from the Browns, it gets reported with all the attendant breathless anticipation and forum threads one might expect. BOB says, "Thanks, but I like my gig here," and that generates another round of stories, etc.
It is, as they say, what it is. BOB isn't playing the martyr here, he's doing what any rational adult does when they're a marketable commodity. He just has - like any other major sports coach - a whole lot of people looking over his shoulder while he does it.
The two are not mutually exclusive.
I searched all over and couldn't find where he got a 1.3 million dollar raise. The only thing I found was "In his interview with The Patriot-News Thursday, O'Brien did not deny the claim he gained leverage via the interview process to, as the paper wrote, "accomplish structural and personnel changes at Penn State that will be forthcoming." Do you have a link for this?
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/03/buyout-kept-obrien-at-pe...
And this is what i was going off of when I asked the questions I did.
i see BOB wants keep to getting rid of that old man smell out of his office.
I thought that this was the best thing he could have done. The job in Cleveland is not something that I wanted to see him take on. Thought that Penn st. needed him more than the Browns do. Great move BOB.
His "loyalty" had a price tag, as it turns out, as he's apparently getting a massive raise. After weeks of reading how credulous the Hayes-Schembechler voters were for awarding O'Brien, those praising his character have been snowed by the oldest trick in the negotiating book.
Just for the record, I'm not calling him a bad person, but he's certainly not a hero because he used the threat of leaving to secure a raise.
The most "loud mouth, disrespect" poster on 11W.
I agree wholeheartedly. You said it better than I did earlier in this post!! :-)
Thought it was interesting on the above link in Buckshots, how many PiSU fans thought BOB was leaving, and immediately the denigration began with, "he'll never be Joe Pa".....
Let's be real,any coach,don't care if it's Penn State,Bama,anywhere, would have done the same thing.Les Miles just did it a few weeks back to secure a raise and nobody was on here bashing him for his practices.ALL coaches do this,and who can blame them.With tv deals,jersey sales,marketing,bowls,etc., these colleges get paid!! Why not the coaches??? He did a good job with sanctions they got hit with.Don't know too many coaches that would stick around after that bomb shell went off,reduction of schollies,4 year bowl ban.Not calling him a savior,or saying he may not have had alterior motives,but he's a good coach,who got paid a little more,no big deal.Browns are in la-la land if they think they're gonna get top tier coach to come in and fix that train wreck!!
SCOTTC.
Besides, he got a 1.3 mil from a booster as a one time donation, not as part of a restructed salary increase. Personally, I think he deserves it. He also leveraged for "structural and personnel changes".
BOB is still a good coach, which the B1G needs more of. A stronger Penn State means a stronger B1G 10, which means when we beat them, we get recognized for being that good
I agree completely. Hopefully with Urban and BOB starting to beat up on the other schools the BIG will start hiring better coaches to improve the conference overall.
“There are some people addicted to alcohol, some people are addicted to gambling,” Luginbill said. “Urban Meyer is addicted to football, and he’s addicted to winning.”
As a Browns fan, I actually am happy with his decision, for 2 reasons:
1. I'm hoping for a lot more experienced coach than BOB. He's 1 year removed from being another assistant coach, and we've had more than our fair share of those since we've come back. No offense to him in the slightest; he proved this year that he at least is good enough to compete and contend at the collegiate level. Just need to see a bigger sample size before I'd commit to him, especially with what they are trying to do in Cleveland.
2. I hate to be a conference homer of sorts, but the B1G is just better when our traditional powers are good. He is doing something special there at Penn State, and looking at the 2013 recruiting class, he's even managed to hold on to some very highly-touted kids. I'd like to see them stay at least somewhat competitive through the next 3 years and then return to their normal contender shape after. He seems to be the perfect guy for the job, and those kids there play their hearts out for him. They're already going through enough for something they had nothing to do with. It shows great class and respect on his part for staying there.