Editor’s Note: We’ve updated this story. Here’s the latest: Penn State Football: Temple Not Hiring Bradley or Vanderlinden.
A pair of reports have linked longtime Penn State football assistant coaches Tom Bradley and Ron Vanderlinden to the open head coaching job at Temple.
The Temple position became vacant when Owls coach Al Golden accepted the head coaching job at Miami (Fla.) earlier this month. Golden, a 1991 co-captain of the Nittany Lions, was a Penn State assistant coach in 2000 before leaving for Virginia.
Golden was 27-34 overall at Temple and 8-4 in 2010, including a well-played loss to the Nittany Lions.
Bob Flounders, the veteran and reputable Penn State football writer for The Patriot News in Harrisburg, reported online on Tuesday that Bradley and Vanderlinden were ‘in contact’ with Temple about the vacancy before Penn State headed south in preparation for its Jan. 1 Outback Bowl game against Florida.
Flounder credits unnamed Penn State sources in his report.
Tom Dienhart of Rivals.com has reported that both Bradley and Vanderlinden ‘have been interviewed’ for the Temple job. Frank Bodani of the York Daily Record gives this comprehensive report.
Earlier this month, some considered Bradley a candidate for the Pitt head coaching vacancy, but reports indicated that he was not granted an interview. Vanderlinden had been linked to the head position at Ball State, where he was formerly an assistant coach. The position has since been filled.
BRADLEY ’WOULD MAKE A GREAT COACH’
Bradley, 54, is the Lions’ defensive coordinator and also coaches the cornerbacks. He is in his 32nd year on coach Joe Paterno’s staff after playing four years for the Lions, excelling on the special teams while earning the nickname “Scrap.”
“He would make a great head coach,” said Lion defensive end Pete Massaro, an Academic All-American in 2010. “He’s a fiery guy. He knows his stuff. I think he’d do a great job.”
When Paterno retires, the affable and media-savvy Bradley is thought to be the leading internal candidate to replace Paterno. That is if Penn State president Graham Spanier opts to look within the program for a successor to the coaching legend, concluding his 45th year as head coach and 61st overall at Penn State.
Other internal candidates would include defensive line coach Larry Johnson Sr., quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno and Vanderlinden.
Under Bradley’s direction, with the support of Johnson and Vanderlinden, Penn State had one of the nation’s top defenses in 2004-2009.
Over that five-year time period, only the defenses of Penn State and Ohio State were ranked in the top five nationally in rushing defense (third, 97 yards per game), scoring defense (third, 15.1 points per game) and total defense (fifth, 290 yards per game).
Heading into the 2010 season, Penn State had to replace three linebackers who have gone on to the NFL (Sean Lee, Josh Hull and Navorro Bowman) and a first-round NFL draft pick, Jared Odrick, a defensive tackle. In the 2010 national rankings, the Lions fell to 76th in rush defense, 44th in total defense, 40th in scoring defense and 118th in red zone defense. They were ranked 22nd in pass defense.
VANDERLINDEN ‘IS LOOKING ELSEWHERE’
Vanderlinden, who turns 55 in January, is in his 10th season as linebackers coach at Penn State. He was the head coach at Maryland from 1997-2000, with a 15-29 record, after assistant coaching stints at Northwestern Colorado and Ball State.
His search for a new job is nothing new, said one of his current players.
“I’ve heard that he is looking elsewhere,” said linebacker Michael Mauti at Penn State’s bowl media day two weeks ago. “But every year he’s looking elsewhere. He has to do what is best for him.”
OTHER POSSIBLE CANDIDATES
Given the Lions’ opponent on New Year’s Day, it’s ironic that another candidate for the Temple position was Florida assistant coach Steve Addazio, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Make that past tense. According to Chip Brown from Orangebloods.com (part of the Rivals.com network), Addazio has been hired as the offensive line coach for the Texas Longhorns.
Addazio is the Gators’ associate head coach, offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. He’s coached at Florida since 2005, but would have been out of a job when Urban Meyer’s successor, former Texas assistant Will Muschamp, takes over as Florida’s head coach.
Matt Rhule, Temple’s offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach under Golden, has also been reported as a potential successor to Golden. Rhule, a State College native, was a Penn State linebacker from 1994-97.
Mark D’Onofrio, the assistant head and defensive coordinator under Golden, followed his boss to Miami. D’Onofrio, a Penn State teammate of Golden’s, played linebacker for the Nittany Lions from 1988-91.
GOLDEN’S REIGN
Temple was 1-11 in Golden’s first year at the helm, in 2006. Under Golden, the Owls finished 9-4 in 2009, earning a berth in their first bowl game in 30 years, the EagleBank Bowl.
Golden was unable to beat his alma mater, losing by scores of 47-0 (2006), 31-0 (2007), 45-3 (2008), 31-6 (2009) and 22-13 (2010). In September’s contest at Beaver Stadium, the Owls led the Nittany Lions 13-6 in the first quarter.
Golden, at 41, is the sixth-youngest head coach among those coaching at BCS schools. He was the second former Penn State assistant coach to be head coach at Temple. Ron Dickerson, a Lion assistant from 1985-1990, was 8-47 in five seasons (1993-1997) at the Philadelphia-based school.
PENN STATE IN FLORIDA
The Penn State squad is in Clearwater, Fla., at the Philadelphia Phillies’ spring training complex to prepare for its contest with against Florida.
Flounders has reported that Penn State backup quarterback Kevin Newsome did not make the trip. Both Paterno and Newsome indicated earlier this month that the sophomore quarterback was considering transferring.
