Bill O’Brien for Michigan State Spartans?
Our friends over at Spartans Wire included former Penn State running backs coach Charles Huff on their power ranking of the top 10 coaching candidates for the Michigan State job vacancy. And that made a lot of sense. But sometimes a coaching candidates list from any particular media outlet is bound to roll out another coach with previous Penn State ties.
Oh yes, we are talking about the one and only Bill O'Brien.
CBS Sports writer Dennis Dodd’s list of the top coaching candidates for Michigan State to consider included the former Penn State head coach. This is nothing new, of course. O’Brien has regularly had his name inlcuded in similar lists over the years since his departure from the Houston Texans. O’Brien’s run as an offensive cooridnator for Alabama kept his name frehs in the college football mindset, and his return to the NFL and the New England Patriots has not slowed that idea down from being manifested any time a notable college football job becomes available.
Michigan State’s job officially became available on Wednesday as the school formally parted ways with Mel Tucker amid controversy. So, naturally, O’Brien’s name was quick to be included in a coaching candidates list.
“Tom Brady’s former mentor, an ex-NFL head coach and general manager, a Penn State savior, and just last year, Alabama’s offensive coordinator,” Dodd noted in his brief summary of O’Brien’s career path. “If Obie wants back in college, this would be a perfect fit for the offensively challenged Spartans.”
Of course, there is no indication O’Brien is ready for a return to the college game as a head coach. His time at Alabama was more of an opportunity to stay in the game after drying up as a Texans head coach in the NFL. It is O’Brien’s time as head coach at Penn State that may make him an attractive option for Michigan State to pursue.
You don’t need me to remind you that O’Brien was hired as Penn State’s head coach in 2012 amid the darkest time in program history. Against all odds, O’Brien coached Penn State to back-to-back winning seasons despite heft sanctions that crippled his roster’s scholarship limit and allowed players to leave the program with a free transfer at will. O’Brien had the exact mindset and toughness Penn State’s football program needed at the time, and it paid off.
Even if O’Brien wanted to return to a head coaching opportunity at the college level, convincing him to take on another messy situation at a program and a university with as many dark clouds above it would likely be an extremely tall order for Michigan State.
