For PSU fans, O'Brien move draws hurt, anger, respect

Disappointment. Anger. Grudging resignation. And, also, gratitude.

Those were some of the emotions expressed on New Year's Day by alumni, fans, and other Pennsylvania State University faithful over the expected departure of football coach Bill O'Brien, who brought stability and success to a program on the verge of ruin two years ago in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal.

"I thought we had our coach," said Jeff Pawlick, 41, a 1994 graduate who was watching the Mummers Parade near the Kimmel Center on Wednesday afternoon.

"It definitely does hurt that he's leaving so quickly," said Bill Bartman, 28, who graduated in 2007 and was sipping beers with fellow alums at the Field House sports bar in Center City.

O'Brien - who, according to reports, will become head coach of the NFL's Houston Texans - took over at Penn State amid one of the most agonizing chapters in school history.

He was hired in January 2012, about two months after Sandusky was charged with molesting boys and legendary coach Joe Paterno was abruptly fired. As he stepped into the job, O'Brien faced still-simmering public outrage - about the scandal, about Paterno's dismissal, about his own lack of Penn State connections.

Two weeks after O'Brien was introduced, Paterno died of lung cancer.

And six months later - in July 2012, before O'Brien had even coached a game - the NCAA imposed sanctions on Penn State that were widely viewed as debilitating: a $60 million fine, reduced football scholarships, and a ban from bowl games for four years.

But O'Brien's squad went 8-4 in 2012, then 7-5 in 2013, and he recruited what were believed to be strong classes both years.

His success, fans said Wednesday, restored pride to a program and a community that had been suddenly and dramatically upended by the Sandusky scandal.

But it also will make his departure more difficult, they said.

"He was a guy from left field who had more success than you could've imagined," Bartman said. "That's why it hurts so much."

Penn State officials declined to comment Wednesday but scheduled a news conference with athletic director Dave Joyner for Thursday morning.

Reaction elsewhere was widespread and swift when reports began surfacing late New Year's Eve.

Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship, a grassroots student and alumni group, issued a statement about 11 p.m. saying O'Brien "gave us two seasons we will never forget, and provided a much-needed beacon during the darkest days we've ever known."

In the morning, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, a Penn State alum, took to Twitter to speculate on O'Brien's potential replacement.

And a "Happy New Year" photo gallery on the official Penn State Facebook page, filled with photos of ice sculptures, had 75 comments by Wednesday evening, nearly all discussing O'Brien's apparently imminent departure.

Current and former players took to Twitter to wish their coach well. Freshman tight end Adam Breneman, one of O'Brien's star recruits, wrote: "Best of luck to Coach O'Brien. We will continue to move forward and fight through challenges as we have before."

But others expressed bewilderment at the prospect of having a third coach in just over three years.

All-Big Ten wide receiver Allen Robinson, who is eligible to skip his senior season next year to enter the NFL draft, offered a short tweet, potentially hinting that O'Brien's departure might spur his own.

"Welp, it's been real," he wrote.

Additional turnover is what had many fans around Philadelphia anxious Wednesday.

On Broad Street near City Hall, Brian Bonnes, 23, a 2012 graduate, was worried that incoming recruits might go elsewhere.

At the Field House tavern, Joe Smith, 53, a South Philadelphia resident and lifelong Penn State fan, predicted, "They may struggle for a while."

As for who might replace O'Brien, most fans admitted they had no idea. Some preferred a candidate with previous ties to the school; others hoped that whoever it was would stick around longer than O'Brien.

Amy Lamoreau, 45, who graduated in 1994, was taken aback by the coach's short tenure.

But gripping a Miller Lite, with college bowl games on in the background, she tried to put a positive spin on his exit.

"Maybe," she said, "he's just what we needed for two years."

609-217-8305

@cs_palmer