Raise your hand if you have ever heard of an employee being fired from a company after more than four decades of service and then donating money to the same company. A few days ago, I doubt I would have seen many hands raised, if any.
Fifty years from now, someone not yet born will look at a list of men who have been head coaches for the Penn State Football program. The long-term future of that list is anyone's guess; however, one guarantee is that in between the names "Joe Paterno" and "Bill O'Brien" will read "Tom Bradley, November 9, 2011- January 7, 2012, 1-3 record.
Thursday evening, ESPN reporter Chris Mortensen reported that New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien had reached an agreement with Penn State to be Joe Paterno's successor. Twenty four hours later, after arriving in State College, Penn State official have confirmed the report and have scheduled an 11 30 a.m. press conference this morning.
After 58 days, Penn State appears to have found its successor to Joe Paterno. Sources have told Chris Mortensen that the current New England Patriots offensive coordinator will be named head coach, with an official announcement on Saturday.
The Ticket City Bowl will feature No. 20 Houston (12-1, 8-0) versus No. 24 Penn State (9-3, 6-2) with sophomore Rob Bolden starting at quarterback for the Nittany Lions as a concussion will keep Matt McGloin sidelined. Neither the teams nor the aforementioned player were supposed to be in Dallas for this game. Now, Rob Bolden has the chance to retake the starting quarterback position once again.
I was anticipating a quiet week in the Penn State football world. That was certainly not the case. A first fight, recruiting updates, and coaching search speculation dominated the headlines, leaving several questions unanswered heading into the holiday (and bowl game) season.