Penn State Football: Bill O'Brien Needs to Push to Land Transfer Danny O'Brien

News got out yesterday that the former Maryland quarterback Danny O'Brien was absolutely showing interest in joining new head coach Bill O'Brien up in State College, PA. Penn State is not the only team angling for the services of the 2010 ACC Rookie of the Year, as upwards of 15 schools including Wisconsin, Auburn, Florida and Stanford have thrown offers at the rising junior transfer.

Danny O'Brien is a special case because not only has he proven his ability to make plays in an offense under two well-respected offensive minds, Ralph Friedgen and James Franklin, but he does not carry the same issues as other transfers.

He is set to graduate this school year, which grants him the right to waive the one-year sit-out rule generally applied to transfers. That means he can contribute immediately and unlike players such as Jeremiah Masoli or Russell Wilson, Danny O'Brien will be more than just a one year fix for someone's roster.

They can get two years out of a quarterback that is a solid film study, can command an offense and is capable of making all of the throws in any given coach's playbook.

Now, things get interesting as O'Brien starts to take his trips and tries to figure out where the best landing spot would be for his talents.

Obviously, Vanderbilt and a reunion with his old coach would be a great fit, but in the grand scheme of team ceilings, Vanderbilt, nestled in the confines of the SEC East, would need a special season and woeful seasons out of Georgia, Florida and South Carolina to even dream about competing for a division title.

And that doesn't even throw in their draw from the other side of the division or the SEC Championship game, if the goal for the quarterback is to get to a BCS game.

Of the rest of the names out there, obviously Wisconsin, who has seen success with the transfer from Russell Wilson, stands out as an option. There are plenty of parts and Danny O'Brien is, at least as far as we've seen, better than any quarterback on the Badgers' current roster.

Stanford loses a lot at the tight end spot, along the offensive line, and while they are reloading with talent through recruiting, no one is really sure what to make of the next two seasons of Cardinal football.

Auburn is an interesting case because while they do bring a rich football tradition, they lose Michael Dyer to transfer and no one is sure what's going to happen to the offense under new offensive coordinator Scott Loeffler.

Enter Penn State. The Nittany Lions have a new coach who has proven his worth in restructuring the New England Patriots' offense into the multiple-look, mismatch-creating machine that we've watched over the last couple of seasons. Coach Bill O'Brien is a guy who knows his way around the offensive side of the football.

Throw in Coach O'Brien's familiarity with Danny O'Brien's offensive system thanks to his service under Ralph Friedgen at Georgia Tech and Maryland and what you have is a coach and a player who can make a smooth transition.

The Nittany Lions need to roll out the red carpet for the rising junior and make sure to get him in the fold. Last season, Penn State was a quality ball club that played tough defense, but could not score the football.

Even with a decent run game, Penn State was handcuffed by their inept play at the quarterback position. Matt McGloin and Rob Bolden each took their turn at the quarterback spot, but their 2,256 total combined passing yards speaks to the aforementioned point. The pair combined for under 200 yards a game, less than 50 percent completion and a touchdown to interception ratio of 10:12.

Billy O needs to get this kid from Kernersville, NC on the Penn State roster quick. Sure, he'll get a look at the guys he has during spring football and perhaps the current quarterbacks will show some growth under his tutelage, but the fact is Danny O'Brien is ready to go now.

The Nittany Lions have Silas Redd coming back, they have talent on the roster and some football players ready to compete for a title in a division that has Ohio State ineligible for the Big Ten title game and Wisconsin trying to figure out how to replace Russell Wilson.

Two years with a solid quarterback like Danny O'Brien helps them get some wins now. Wins are what this program, who got embarrassed by Houston in the TicketCity Bowl, desperately needs to help get past the on-field angst of losing Paterno and hiring a coach a lot of folks have not heard of.

That two year window will also afford Bill O'Brien the chance to find his next guy at the most critical position for a college football team, the quarterback spot. With Danny O'Brien in the fold, the other O'Brien can get out there and find a guy who he has faith in to run the offense.

The two O'Briens, no relation mind you, are a smart move for Penn State. One has ample experience working on the offense and the other has the talent and wherewithal to get the job done.