Wherever his long and eventful coaching career may take him, James Franklin owes Bill O’Brien a debt of gratitude.
Not for deciding on New Year’s Eve 2013 to leave Penn State for the Houston Texans. Not for leaving the program in pretty damn good stead, all things considered, after the punitive measures the NCAA had laid on it 17 months before that.
No, Franklin should thank O’Brien for the simple fact that no one wants to be the guy AFTER The Guy, and that O’Brien’s brief but memorable tenure allowed Franklin to avoid having to directly follow the winningest Division I-A coach of all time.
Even if O’Brien couldn’t quite help him escape the inevitable comparisons to Joe Paterno altogether.
