Penn State Football: His Nittany Lion Peers Set High Standard for Bill O'Brien

His peers at Penn State are setting the bar high for new football coach Bill O'Brien. Over the weekend, Penn State's wrestling program claimed its second straight NCAA team championship, with three individuals winning national championships in their weight class.

Penn State hired wrestling coach Cael Sanderson to get its strong wrestling program to get over the hump and become a national-championship contender. Two NCAA titles in two seasons shows what a difference a coach can make.

Penn State women's basketball program is working its way back to national prominence, opening the NCAA  tournament Sunday in Baton Rouge, La., against UTEP as the No. 4 seed. It is the highest Penn State has been seeded since being a No. 4 in 2005.

Not to be outdone, Penn State's swimming team capped its best season since 2006 at the NCAA championships. The men's gymnastics team is currently ranked fourth in the nation after achieving the nation's highest score in a weekend win against Minnesota. Eleven members of Penn State's fencing team are on their way to the national championships in Columbus, Ohio, looking to capture their 13th national championship and third in the last four years.

It is an exciting time for Penn State athletics, proving that the ugliness that went down in November has not had an impact when it comes to success in sports. While men's basketball remains in the shadows of the rest of the Big Ten and the football team failed to finish strong in the 2011 season, the tone is clear. Penn State expects to win in its athletic endeavors.

Football will remain the most public sport at Penn State, and this whole year will be one everyone will watch closely as the program returns to the field with a new head coach who is looking to put behind the unfortunate events of last fall. O'Brien already has given Penn State fans reason to be optimistic.

The recruiting class of 2013 is off to a strong start and the energy in the program seems to be going to a new level, from players to fans and supporters. Of course, O'Brien has yet to coach a game, so there are a lot of questions to be answered.

The job for O'Brien is to match the success of the other Penn State coaches.

Kevin McGuire is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report and the managing editor of Nittany Lions Den. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook and add him to your Google+ circle.