Penn State's Mistake and Reaction

The Penn State search for a new head coach is now over but after the choice they made, we may be talking about another Penn State coaching search in three or four years. Penn State chose to hire New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brian. O'Brian has been with the Patriots for only five years and this is only his first year as offensive coordinator. The first problem I have is that this it not a man with a great reputation that the Penn State football program needs. O'Brian was on the New England staff when Spygate happened. This does not sound like a guy that has a reputation that the Penn State football program desperately needs with the Sandusky scandal still going on. O'Brian has never a head coacch ever before. Penn State needed someone who has head coach experience and they decided not to go get that and that will be a tragic mistake. O'Brian will have to deal with so much pressure from the first day at Penn State with the expectations being very high in a tough Big 10. O'Brian also does not have the respect of the Penn State alumni at all. O'Brian has no connections to Penn State or Joe Paterno which is good for Penn State to distance themselves from the Paterno era. However, they could have gone with an established head coach with a great reputation instead of O'Brian. O'Brian is going to have the extra pressure of winning the support of all the Penn State alumni. The other thing is that Patriots coordinators have never done well once they left New England. The first example is Charlie Weis at Notre Dame. Notre Dame's football program regressed while Charlie Weis was head coach. Then there was Romeo Crennel. Crennel took over the Cleveland Browns and they never had a really good year that people thought they could have under him. Lastly, Josh McDaniels left the Patriots for the Denver Broncos' head coaching vacancy. McDaniels time as the Broncos head coach was a complete mess. McDaniels proved that he was not ready to be a head coach and it showed as Denver choked his first year on the job. All three coaches were fired and have never found the sucess that they had in New England. Sadly for Patriots fans, Bill O'Brian reminds me of Josh McDaniels in that both were fiery offensive coordinators with fiery personalities. O'Brian will cause the Penn State football program to regress even more as recruits will not be interested in going to a program that doesn't have a good head coach. Who should have they hired instead? Their number one target should have been Boise State head coach Chris Peterson. Peterson has proven himself at the collegiate level. Peterson makes sure all of his athletes keep their grades up. Peterson cares most importantly about keeping integrity within a program and that is the type of coach that Penn State really needs. However, Peterson would probably not be able to be plied away from Boise State. The next choice then should have been Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald has turned around the program at Northwestern and just like Peterson, Fitzgerald is known for his reputation. Penn State has just make a huge mistake as O'Brian won't leave New England till after the playoffs which will hurt recruiting. Penn State has made a huge mistake that fans should be extremely mad about.

Sidenote
Who will New England replace Bill O'Brian with?
Here is a possible candidate, Josh McDaniels. McDaniels was a very good offensive coordinator under Belichek and his experience in New England makes him the perfect choice to be the new offensive coordinator.