Bill O’Brien doesn’t mind having critics from time to time, but go after his coaches and players behind a fake name on the internet and he’s going to call you out.
Following Penn State’s 63-14 loss to Ohio State, Penn State’s staff has heard plenty of legitimate complaints, but that doesn’t mean O’Brien likes how some people treat Nittany Lion players. In the spirit of Halloween, O’Brien wants people who are critical of his players to show their faces.
“One of the things that bothers me with all this social media — the things that are tweeted toward them,” O’Brien said at his Thursday radio show. “These kids are hard on themselves about that. The important thing is that we care about them, we stick with them. I think the one thing too that’s been different for me is that in pro football you don’t see as much as that. In college football there’s a lot of anonymity out there.”
“I respect the writers. But I don’t respect anybody that doesn’t put their name on a complaint.”
It hasn’t been the best week for Penn State, but it’s clear that O’Brien isn’t going to let some internet chatter get in his way or his team’s.
And as far as critics of defensive coordinator John Butler, O’Brien isn’t interested in hearing them in the first place.
“(Butler is getting heat) From what? Ten guys on an internet chat room? Who cares about them?”
Well now we know how he feels about that.
Here are a few other highlights from O’Brien’s Thursday night radio show, which was rather upbeat despite that particular exchange.
The health of safety Ryan Keiser:
“In practice he can’t tackle because he’s in a red jersey. The first contact he has is Saturday in a game. It’s not an excuse; it’s just difficult for him.”
On calling plays verses hiring an offensive coordinator:
“I enjoy running the offense and calling plays. I think I’m pretty good at that. I’m going to keep doing that right now. My first year I learned a lot about being a head coach and I’m still learning. As far as my duties as a play caller, I don’t think that affects me as a head coach. I don’t see that changing.”
Penn State’s senior class:
“Everybody talks about last year’s senior class and that was a great group of guys. But this class right here were the ones that stuck with it when they could have left. I think it would be great for these guys to run into a stadium with 110,000 people in it.”
Favorite Halloween candy:
“I love Reese’s Pieces, oh my God.”
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