Penn State Football Recruiting: Bill O'Brien Can't Be Blamed for Class of 2012

Following the Jerry Sandusky scandal and firing of late head coach Joe Paterno, the Penn State Nittany Lions weren't expected to have a great recruiting class.

That seems to have come to fruition, but new head coach Bill O'Brien certainly isn't to blame.

According to Joe Juliano of Philly.com, six recruits who had originally committed to Penn State decommitted and went elsewhere after the scandal came to the forefront. When you add a complete restructuring of the coaching staff to that, it's no surprise that the Nittany Lions have the No. 46 overall class in the nation, according to Rivals.com, and No. 47, according to Scout.com.

That leaves them in the middle of that pack in the Big Ten, which really isn't too bad when you consider what the school has gone through the past several months. With O'Brien finishing up his duties as offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, it has been speculated that he has neglected recruiting, but I don't see that to be the case.

Perhaps O'Brien wasn't able to reel in top-flight prospects like Penn State is accustomed to getting, but he was a victim of circumstance. There were some great players ready to become Nittany Lions before the Sandusky scandal, so O'Brien and his assistants have had to do damage control and have had to rebuild Penn State's reputation.

All things considered, I think O'Brien and co. actually did a decent job. They did manage to reel in a couple 4-star prospects, according to Rivals, in the form of wide receiver Eugene Lewis and defensive tackle Jamil Pollard. The Nittany Lions also nabbed a host of 3-star recruits, and there's no telling how many of them could pan out.

I think everyone pretty much knew that the 2012 recruiting class would be light on elite players, so it's best to reserve judgment on O'Brien until he gets an entire season to properly court recruits. He simply did the best he could on short notice while essentially juggling two jobs.

It's fair to say that unless Penn State had Urban Meyer, no coach would have been able to do a significantly better recruiting job. What happened at Penn State was catastrophic, but O'Brien was somehow able to scrape together what looks to be an acceptable class at the very least.

With Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Ohio State (although they aren't postseason-eligible) all looking strong this season, Penn State wasn't likely to compete for the Big Ten title in 2012 anyway. The Nittany Lions are lacking in offensive talent aside from running back Silas Redd, and that is something O'Brien will address for 2013.

I don't think there is any question that 2012 will be a rough year for Penn State, but most expected that to be the case. O'Brien deserves a grace period and a couple years to gather the personnel needed for his offensive system.

If things haven't improved in a few seasons, then it will be time to criticize O'Brien, but based on the mess he has walked into, I think he did as well as he possibly could.