Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

July 26, 2012

Penn State Coach O'Brien: Team will stay together

He says the selling points of playing at Penn State are the world class education, playing in front of huge home crowds and a coaching staff that could help prepare players for the NFL.

Rick Gano / The Associated Press

CHICAGO — Penn State coach Bill O'Brien says he doesn't anticipate losing the core of his team, despite the heavy sanctions the NCAA dropped on the Nittany Lions.

Joining his colleagues at Big Ten media day today, O'Brien said he and his players are ready to push hard against adversity. Penn State is facing plenty of that after the NCAA levied tough penalties on the program this week, all stemming from the school's handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

The sanctions will keep Penn State out of bowl games for four years and allow players to transfer without sitting out. Those who are going to make a move will likely do so soon. Training camp for all schools begins in early August.

Buzz has centered on the possible departure of Silas Redd, an incoming junior tailback who earned second-team All-Big Ten honors last season while rushing for 1,241 yards.

"The sanctions are what they are. It's time to get up and get going," O'Brien said. He added he didn't know of any player who is planning to transfer from Penn State. He also said he didn't know which schools had visited State College to see if any of his players would be interested in leaving.

"I have no idea which schools were on campus, nor do I care," O'Brien said.

"I don't anticipate losing any core, key players."

O'Brien said the selling points of staying at Penn State were the world class education, playing in front of huge home crowds and learning the game from a coaching staff that could also help prepare them for the NFL.

Senior Nittany Lions linebacker Michael Mauti said the university community has rallied around the team.

"I know people are behind us, I know the whole school's behind us, the Penn State family," he said.

"I've had at least 50 emails, 100 text messages, phone calls from everybody, alumni, players who played here in the '60s, 70s, 90s and active guys on rosters in the NFL. The heads of departments — psychology, education. There's no doubt in my mind that there's a huge, huge, support base for us and when I get messages like that I put them up in my locker room for everyone to see and together to know that we do have that kind of support."

Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said today that he has no plans to recruit the players at Penn State, suggesting it would violate what he calls a Big Ten coaching brotherhood.

Other members of the brotherhood weren't so sure about that.

"We're going to follow the rules and the rules allow you to recruit," said Purdue coach Danny Hope, who acknowledged contact between his staff and some PSU players. "For us not to compete would be a disadvantage for our football program. Whether anything materializes out of it, I don't know. If they're available, we're interested."

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said he had a "problem" with recruiting at Penn State.

"I don't know enough about the rules," he said. "If a player reaches out, says, 'I want to leave here, I'm out of here, I'm gone,' and reaches out to someone, the player has a right to choose, especially by the rules, to go where he wants. To actively go get a player on a team, I'm not sure. ... I don't really understand the rule, I'm going to look into it."

Bielema has already decided.

"I made the decision as a head coach we would not reach out to any Penn State players," he said. "I think one of the things that I've loved and appreciated about being in this conference is there is a genuine respect for everybody in our league that you are a Big Ten brother and ... we're a group of coaches that have a network that's beyond anybody's expectations and helping us in recruiting."

(Continued on page 2)

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