UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Less than 48 hours from directing the New England
Patriots offense in Super Bowl XLVI, head coach Bill O'Brien returned to Happy
Valley on Tuesday for his first full-time day as head coach of the Nittany Lion
football team.
Coach O'Brien flew into Happy Valley at mid-day before attending a human
resources orientation at Beaver Stadium throughout the afternoon.
"I flew in around noon time and went over to a human resources orientation
meeting," Coach O'Brien said. "I met a
wide range of people, from Herb Combs, the field guy, to Dr. Sebastianelli, our
team doctor, and everybody in between.
It was a great day, and I met a bunch of special people that are going
to help us towards our goals at Penn State."
As Coach O'Brien gets settled into program, the first item on the agenda is
analyzing the returning Nittany Lions on the roster.
"We need to get together as a staff and start talking about our current
roster," Coach O'Brien said. "We will
evaluate the roster and start plugging guys in where we see them fitting in for
our football team. We will get on top of
our academics with our players...And then we will start hammering out our
playbooks."
Standing outside his newly-renovated second floor office inside the Lasch
Football Building, Coach O'Brien talked about the experience of coaching in the
Super Bowl for the second time during his career.
"Any time you have the chance to go to the Super Bowl, it is a special team and
a special experience," Coach O'Brien said.
"The Giants made a few more plays than we did on that night...We had a
very special season, and it was a team I was proud to be associated with. Hopefully, I keep in touch with those guys
for the rest of my life."
Coach O'Brien said that getting to know the players on the roster better is
something he is really looking forward to leading up to spring practice.
"One of the things I have been very impressed with here is our players," Coach
O'Brien said.
Take a look at a video interview with Coach O'Brien on his first full-time day
at Penn State.
Welcome to happy valley coach, best of luck.