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Penn State’s O’Brien named Big Ten Coach of the Year
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By Scott Brown
Published: Tuesday, November 27, 2012, 9:10 p.m.
Updated: Saturday, December 1, 2012
On the same day he reaffirmed his commitment to Penn State, Bill O'Brien was named Big Ten Coach of the Year in separate votes taken by both the media and the conference coaches.
O'Brien, in his first season as a head coach at any level, held Penn State's program together after the NCAA levied severe sanctions against it. He also led the Nittany Lions to an 8-4 record and a 6-2 mark in the Big Ten that Penn State capped last Saturday with a 24-21 overtime win over Wisconsin.
“It's very humbling,” O'Brien said in a statement Tuesday night. “It's an honor for our program. We have a great coaching staff that did a nice job of keeping everything together and teaching our players. And our players did a great job of going out there every week and playing as hard as they could.”
In addition to O'Brien, Penn State defensive end Deion Barnes earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. The Philadelphia native led Penn State in sacks (six) and tackles for losses (10). He also tied for fourth in the Big Ten with three forced fumbles.
Barnes has said he plans to stay at Penn State even though players can transfer without penalty until the start of the 2013 season.
O'Brien also said he will return to Penn State in an interview Tuesday with an Atlanta radio station.
“I plan on being the head football coach at Penn State,” O'Brien told 790 The Zone. “That's my plan, and that's what I intend to do.”
O'Brien established a Penn State record in victories by a first-year head coach. He beat out Ohio State's Urban Meyer for top coaching honors in the Big Ten even though Meyer led the Buckeyes to a perfect 12-0 season.
Scott Brown is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at sbrown@tribweb.com.
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Not to take away from O'briens accomplishments but deserving of coach of the year??? His biggest win was against Wisconsin who had 5 wins and that was in overtime and he finished 8-4. Meyer took a 6-7 team last year at Ohio State to a perfect 12-0 with basically the same roster. I doubt he cares about getting coach of the year but he is definitely deserving of it. If O'brien can get to 8-4 3 years from now they should name the trophy after him. Bad decision in my opinion.
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