Bill O'Brien in Play for Redskins

Sometimes it is good to be wrong.

In a recent shake-up of events from what I have been telling people, Bill O'Obrien's name has surfaced for the Redskins head coaching job, if indeed Mike Shanahan is fired as most expect he will be come this morning at 9am.

I suggested a few months ago that O'Brien would be a great hire for the Redskins, and the maturation of Robert Griffin, but felt he would remain at Penn State. Let me just say, there is still a very good chance he remains at Penn State, but a few things are impeding this at the moment.

There is a power play going on between the Penn State administration, and O'Brien. Bill wants more resources allocated to the program so they can keep up with the top programs in the country. A higher recruiting budget, upgrades to facilities, and more money for his assistants are just a few of the things on the table right now.

Many close to the situation have viewed these on-going negotiations between the O'Brien camp and Penn State, as a minor hurdle, but as of the last 24 hours, things have taken a different turn. It has always been reported that the ultimate desire of O'Brien was to be a coach in the NFL, but that this was not an immediate goal. O'Brien has always preached comittment to his players, and he re-affirmed his comittment to the university in public about a year ago at this time. He flirted with the NFL last season in a power play to renegotiate his contract with the university. This year, it has been much the same, although now, it appears Penn State is not giving in so easily, which has muddied the waters a bit.

My feeling on this situation is that if Penn State ponies up the money O'Brien is asking for to improve the conditions of the program, that he will remain the coach in Happy Valley, but the longer this drags out, the more it looks like O'Brien's flirtation with the NFL could actually become a reality.

Right now, I'd say it's about 50/50 on weather or not he returns to Penn State. 48 hours ago, I was about 90% sure he would stay in State College.

You all saw the reports of him being a leading candidate for the Texans job, but I do not believe he was, or is the guy there like some have reported. You also saw the Texans distance themselves from that report a bit. I'm not saying the Texans are out, but I think those early reports were premature. The teams I am hearing about now are the Browns and Redskins. .

My gut still tells me he returns to Penn State, and I believe O'Brien wants to return there, but if the administration does not give in to his wishes, and calls his bluff, things could get interesting.

This situation is very fluid right now, so stay tuned