Penn State's O'Brien to Speak at Shenango Campus
SHARON, Pa. -- Bill O'Brien, Penn State head football coach and Bear Bryant Coach of the Year, is the featured speaker at the Penn State Shenango Friends of Penn State 2013 annual dinner. The event is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 13 in the Penn State Shenango Auditorium.
After he was named the Nittany Lions’ 15th head football coach Jan. 6, 2012, O’Brien led the team to winning eight of the final 10 contests and achieved a 6-2 record in the Big 10 Conference, finishing second in the Leaders Division. Penn State capped its season with a 24-21 overtime victory over eventual Big 10 champion Wisconsin.
In his 20th year of coaching but first as a head coach, O’Brien was selected the 2012 Bear Bryant Coach of the Year, ESPN Coach of the Year and the Maxwell Football Club Collegiate Coach of the Year. He was a finalist for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year and the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year by the Football Writers Association of America. And O’Brien was among the finalists for the 2012 Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year, an honor presented to a metropolitan Pittsburgh sports figure.
"Bill O'Brien has been an outstanding addition to Penn State athletics and to our university community," said Rodney Erickson, university president. "His leadership has been exceptional as he has rallied fans and players in their support of our team and delivered a winning season. Coach O'Brien's commitment to both athletics and academics continues Penn State's long-standing tradition of achievement both on the field and off, and his first year as head coach of the Nittany Lions has been one of tremendous success and positive impact on the entire University."
A graduate of Brown University, also the alma mater of his predecessor, Joe Paterno, O’Brien spent 14 years coaching college football at Brown, Georgia Tech, Maryland and Duke before spending five years on New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s staff.
Doors open at 5:45 p.m. and dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $50 per person and a cash bar will be available. Proceeds from the dinner will go to Penn State Shenango student scholarships and Special Olympics of Pennsylvania. To order tickets, call 724 983 2907.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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