Penn State breathes sigh of relief now that Bill O'Brien is staying

Nittany Nation could finally exhale Friday after receiving word that Penn State coach Bill O'Brien had ended his brief flirtation with returning to the NFL as a head coach and announced he would be back on the Beaver Stadium sideline in 2013.

Neither O'Brien nor his agent, Joe Linta, responded to requests for comment.

In an interview Friday with Steve Jones, the radio voice of Penn State football, O'Brien, a former offensive coordinator with the New England Patriots, said NFL teams, which he did not identify, "reached out" to his representative.

"At the end of the day, it's right for me to do what I said I was going to do," he said, "and that's stay at Penn State and coach these players and work with this staff and do the best I can for Penn State."

O'Brien hopefully will explain his reasons for staying at a news conference tentatively scheduled for Monday.

Penn State players took to Twitter to praise O'Brien's announcement, although they didn't seem to doubt he would return.

"The temptations were strong but not strong enough. Thank God," freshman running back Akeel Lynch said.

"Told ya so," said Adam Breneman of Camp Hill, Pa., the nation's top high school recruit among tight ends who will enroll at the university on Monday.

Cornerback Stephon Morris, who finished up his senior season in November, was a little more outspoken.

"Y'all people panic too . . . much," he said. "Always in panic attack. Relax, take a deep breath and hush."

Linta told the Associated Press that O'Brien's "heartstrings were too strong" toward his players for him to make a move, but it appeared that the agent got Penn State to sweeten his contract, which is valued at $2.3 million this season.

Reports indicated that Penn State alumnus Terry Pegula, who donated more than $100 million to the university to build a hockey arena and start up men's and women's hockey programs, pledged $1.3 million to add to O'Brien's 2013 salary.  A report also said O'Brien gained some decision-making power in the athletic department. 

Various reports said Linta worked to try to ease the buyout language in the contract. Had O'Brien left this year, he would have had to pay more than $9 million to cover the final four years of the five-year deal at the time of his hiring a year ago, and perhaps close to $10 million more for the four years added to the contract after the NCAA sanctions were imposed in July.

In an interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Linta said any talk that O'Brien's decision was affected by the buyout was "patently false," adding that it was "predicated on integrity and commitment."

O'Brien's announcement came just in time for the start of winter workouts on Monday. Five new players, including Breneman and junior college quarterback Tyler Ferguson, will enroll at school but not count under the 15-scholarship limit for the Class of 2013 that had been reduced by sanctions.