And then came December 31, 2013... The day he left. The day that Bill O'Brien failed Penn State. At least, that is the reaction you got from most who were in an uproar over the incident.
If you read the news, or blogs, or opinion articles, you know how people reacted to this. That is not what I want to focus on. I want to take a moment to talk about how I think coaching has changed over the years. How it has gone from being a passion to being a profession.
From what I could tell, Paterno's goal was to see his players excel in life - not football. He wanted to see his kids become successful, well rounded individuals with an education that would get them somewhere in life. Paterno coached because he loved helping young men become something great. Paterno coached because he had a passion for coaching.
So as a passionate coach, you coach for the love of assisting someone to become a better person and athlete. And that, is enough to satisfy you.
I could beat you to death with what makes a passionate coach what they are. But I think its pretty well understood. Money doesn't matter (although it is nice). The players and their own success matters. Well just leave it at that.
Now for the second breed... The coaches who coach for a profession. I want to start off by saying that this is not a bad thing! I'm just trying to put this into perspective.Lets say you're an athlete - of any sport. Maybe you get injured, or can't perform at a professional level outside of college. But you still love your sport. What is the next best thing you can do? Coach!
Alright. So you're no longer going to be a professional athlete - you're going to be a professional coach. I state again... PROFESSIONAL. You probably want to make this your career. What is the ultimate position for a professional coach? I cant speak from experience here, but I'm gonna go with probably coaching a professionally recognized team of some sort. Be it the Olympics or be it in a nationally recognized organization, like the NFL, NHL, NBA, etc.
Now... Bill O'Brien. Professional coach. Bounced around a little as an assistant coach at a few colleges. Then lands a job working with the New England Patriots. That's a pretty sweet deal - he's working his way up the ladder. And then, this head coaching job opens up with Penn State... Now he would be moving down to the collegiate level (not that there is anything wrong with that) from the pros... It is still a head coaching position - that looks pretty nice on a resume. Along with that, its taking a team that is hurting pretty bad from not only the death of their coach, but the crippling NCAA Sanctions. If you can turn that team into something strong and great, you're looking pretty good.
In my opinion, despite how tough of a position it is, you've got a chance to make a pretty good name for yourself there. So why not take it? This could lead to bigger things - like a head coaching job in the pros.
We all know how that story ended. Well, not ended. Progressed. His story isn't really "over" so to speak. But he's thinking from a career stand point. Something that someone who is using coaching as a career should do. So does this make Bill O'Brien a bad person? No! Does it mean he doesn't care about the players? I sure hope not. I hope that he does care about his players - and I am sure to some degree he does. But instead of putting all of his focus on them, he's thinking about himself too. There's nothing wrong with that.
So here's the deal. There are, or were, two breeds of coaches. Your Joe Paternos, and your Bill O'Briens. Ones who coach for the love of their players, and ones who coach for the desire to move up the ladder. Now I'm not saying you can't have a hybrid of these two coaches. But I do feel that we have lost a lot of those coaches who are there specifically for the players. Who turn down professional contracts because of the love they have for where they are, what they stand for, and the number of people they can impact by being simply who they are.
Was I upset that O'Brien left Penn State? Yeah sure. But I was upset because there were promises made to prospects that he wasn't leaving. My deal is, be up front! Make your intentions known. Ha! But in their lies another issue. If O'Brien came to Penn State and said "Hey, I'm just using this to help boost my resume. I'll help you out for a year or two, and if a professional contract rolls around, I'm walking away." Well.... Isn't that... Considerate? If I were an athlete, I wouldn't be too thrilled about that. "Cool. So this guy is coming in just to pity us, and move on." That isn't the best attitude to have toward your coach...
So as fans I think this is something we need to consider. We have on our hands, the battle of the breeds... That I think we have basically lost. Not because of anything we did, but just the nature of the game. We all want to have our coaches who we love, who stay forever, who we don't want to see go. But by the flip side - we want to win too. So maybe the loved coach with an alright team isn't as good as the professional one whose helping lead an undefeated team? Once again another argument... All of which is food for thought.
(Note: Please take this for what it is worth. Leave the money factor out. Leave the W/L columns out. There are so many factors that go into a topic like this that I know I didn't touch on. So just take this for what it is worth - an opinion about styles of coaching.)
