Bill O'Brien: Penn State Rumors Dismissed by Agent of Patriots OC

New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien may not be bolting for Happy Valley after all.

In a phone call with the Boston Herald, O'Brien's agent, Joe Linta, said that no deal between Penn State and O'Brien is imminent and that he will be keeping his options open.

Here's what Linta had to say:

"

Any imminent contract signing or agreement (with Penn State) is just off-base. The most important thing for him is to win the Super Bowl. But if someone is going to be interested in him in the NFL, it’s going to happen this week. He could be going somewhere else, he could be returning to the Patriots. But we’ll wait and find out if someone is interested in him and seeks permission to talk with him.

"

Early on Sunday, Johnny Saraceno of the USA Today tweeted that "only contract details" needed to be finalized before O'Brien was the new head football coach of the Nittany Lions, who cut ties with legendary head coach Joe Paterno in November in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

In addition, ESPN's Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen reported that O'Brien is the coach that Penn State wants to replace Paterno. They expect the school to "intensify" its efforts to land O'Brien after the Nittany Lions square off against Houston in the TicketCity Bowl.

Penn State athletic director Dave Joyner later told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that there was no deal in place with anybody.

With the regular season coming to a close, it can be taken for granted that NFL head coaching jobs are going to open up this week, and O'Brien's plan is to wait and see if any teams come calling.

“Everybody’s dream, like his, is to be an NFL coach, said Linta.

O'Brien just finished his first regular season as New England's offensive coordinator. The Patriots finished third in the league in scoring with an average of 30.9 points per game.