Bill O'Brien to Penn State: Will His Trip to College Be Better Than Charlie Weis

The Penn State coaching search is finally over.

After losing legendary head coach Joe Paterno to a sex scandal, the Nittany Lions have went ahead and hired Bill O'Brien, who was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the New England Patriots.

O'Brien was obviously good at what he does considering the Patriots have an offense that is always at the top in points scored. But we've seen this done before where a New England offensive coordinator leaves his NFL position to become a college head coach.

Will O'Brien be more successful than Charlie Weis?

Right now, that's a question that's really hard to answer. Penn State is going through a rough time with a black cloud hanging over the university, which will likely affect recruiting and set the program back a few years or so.

Adding Urban Meyer to the Big Ten conference doesn't help either, as the Buckeyes have landed big prospect after big prospect. They will be the overwhelming favorite to win that conference for many years to come as long as he remains the head coach.

Weis was always able to bring in the talent; he could just never deliver the results, as his teams often struggled to fulfill expectations.

O'Brien may struggle to even land top players with a Big Ten that's improving around him.

O'Brien has no previous head coaching experience and has a below-par recruiting class right now. The current roster struggles to find the end zone, and the defense at times is shaky.

The new Nittany Lions head coach really has his work cut out for him to turn this program around. We could end up seeing another successful Patriot offensive coordinator fail at the college level.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]