Penn State has officially confirmed the news that everyone has known since yesterday; quarterbacks coach Charlie Fisher and linebackers coach Ron Vanderlinden are indeed no longer with the program.

The only unanswered question has been whether they were fired or resigned. According to the official press release, both coaches “have resigned to pursue other opportunities.” Seemingly, they both left on good terms, with Bill O’Brien having high praise for the pair.

“I appreciate all of Ron and Charlie’s hard work and thank them for their dedication and service to Penn State,” said O’Brien. “I wish them well in all their future endeavors.”

Vanderlinden has been the Nittany Lions’ linebackers coach since 2001, one of two holdovers from the Paterno era. Fisher was the quarterbacks coach the past two seasons, but marks the second coach to leave O’Brien’s staff in his short tenure at Penn State, following defensive coordinator Ted Roof’s departure to Georgia Tech after the 2012 season.

“I’ve greatly enjoyed my 13 years at Penn State and all the student-athletes I had an opportunity to work with,” Vanderlinden said. “I wish Coach O’Brien and Penn State nothing but the best in the future.”

Fisher was equally grateful about his time at Penn State. “I want to thank Penn State and Coach O’Brien for the opportunity to be a part of the program the past two seasons,” he said. “It was a great experience and I am very proud of what we accomplished.”

While O’Brien certainly played a large role in working with Christian Hackenberg since he game to the program, Fisher was Hackenberg’s position coach. The true freshman quarterback’s improvements were certainly affected by Fisher and it hurts to lose a coach that helped develop your franchise player.

O’Brien said he will “begin an immediate search” to fill the positions, but one would hope that he wouldn’t have let two qualified coaches go if he didn’t have something better already in the works. Only time will tell, but for now O’Brien can concentrate solely on recruiting and hiring.