St. John's Prep Alum Linked to Penn State Coaching Job

Patriots offensive coordinator, alum Bill O'Brien has been linked to the open coaching position at Penn State, replacing Joe Paterno, according to reports that surfaced from USA Today and ESPN on Sunday.

O'Brien, a Dorchester native, graduated from in 1988, moving on to Brown University. O'Brien has been with the New England Patriots since 2007.

“Any imminent contract signing or agreement (with Penn State) is just off-base,” agent Joe Linta of JL Sports told the Boston Herald. “The most important thing for him is to win the Super Bowl. But if someone is going to be interested in him in the NFL, it’s going to happen this week. He could be going somewhere else, he could be returning to the Patriots. But we’ll wait and find out if someone is interested in him and seeks permission to talk with him.”

Penn State backed those statements, insisting they have not found a leading candidate since the start of their two-month long search for a football coach, according to the Washington Post.

Prior to entering the NFL, O'Brien coached in the Atlantic Coast Conference for 12 seasons, including tenures at Georgia Tech (1995-2002), Maryland (2003-04) and Duke (2005-06).