Will Penn State Coach Bill O'Brien Be the Nittany Lions' Version of Gene Chizik?

You would have thought that when Penn State finally landed a head coach, everybody would have been happy. Not exactly thrilled, but at least they could breathe knowing that somebody was willing to take over the program under these circumstances. Especially with so many possible candidates turning the program down.

With the recent hire of Bill O'Brien, that hasn't been the case.

Former Penn State players aren't exactly thrilled with the hire and refuse to support the program on their decision. This is what LaVar Arrington had to say:

"

I will put my Butkus [Award] in storage. I will put my Alamo Bowl MVP trophy in storage. Jerseys, anything Penn State, in storage. Wherever Tom Bradley goes, that's the school I will start to put memorabilia up in my home. I'm done. I'm done with Penn State. If they're done with us, I'm done with them.

"

Players can be upset all they want, but the Nittany Lions had very few options available. Normally candidates would be lined up around the campus but, under the circumstances that involve a sex scandal, may refuse to be apart of that.

It's also hard to replace a legendary head coach like Joe Paterno, as we've seen how this movie ends before.

Lou Holtz retired from Notre Dame, and the Irish are still stuck looking for a good head coach since 1996. It took Oklahoma forever to find a good replacement for Barry Switzer. It appears Michigan found the right guy in Brady Hoke but it took a while to replace Lloyd Carr. 

Everybody is just truly upset because the current hire is not Joe Paterno. That's really what it all comes down to. When a coach has been with a program forever and wins a ton of games, you fall in love with him and think it will never end. When it does, the next guy will never be good enough no matter what he does.

We've also seen this movie end in a good way with current Auburn head coach Gene Chizik.

When Chizik was hired, it was one of the most surprising moves of recent memory. He was coming off two seasons at Iowa State where he finished with a 5-19 record and no bowl appearances. It was hard to convince Tiger fans that he was the right hire, considering he was replacing Tommy Tuberville.

A guy that went 85-40 at Auburn and won five of eight bowl games.

It didn't take long for the Tigers to fall in love with their new coach as he led them to a 8-5 record and a bowl victory in his first season. In fact, his overall record in three seasons is 30-10 with three bowl victories, including an undefeated season and national championship in just his second year. And the recruiting classes couldn't be better.

O'Brien really has his work cut out for him, but who's to say he can't turn this program around? He doesn't have any head coaching experience, but I'd rather have that than a 5-19 record in two years.

The way Penn State is feeling right now is understandable, but Happy Valley has to give him a chance.

They don't have a lot of other options at this point.

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