A Note About an ‘Unknown’ Coach
January 7, 2012 at 10:17 am Lori Shontz 1 comment
Let me start by saying that I have no idea whether Bill O’Brien will turn out to be the right coach for Penn State, and I’m certainly one of the people who knew him only as Guy Who Yelled at Tom Brady until recently. But while I was flipping through decades of old issues to gather nuggets for our 100th anniversary issue, I came across these paragraphs in the “Old Main Columns” department in the April 1966 issue:
The announcement of Rip Engle’s voluntary retirement was expressed through the radio and press on Friday morning, February 18. On that evening Rip was scheduled for an appearance at a dinner meeting of the Bucks County Penn State Club. Alumni in attendance were conscious of having been privileged to be with the popular Engle on a very special occasion and at a significant time in the coach’s life. The public was not to know officially of Joe Paterno’s appointment until Monday.
Rip was in a very light-hearted mood and willingly answered most of the questions put to him following his formal talk. However, he hesitated when some alumnus asked him about next season’s team. “I don’t think I should talk about that,” he replied, slowly. “You’ll be having Joe down here one of these days …” Realizing what he had said, Rip quickly continued, “Any more questions?” “Yes,” someone replied from the back of the room. “Who’s Joe?”
Lori Shontz, senior editor
Entry filed under: Bill O'Brien, Joe Paterno, Penn State football, The Penn Stater magazine. Tags: Bill O'Brien, Joe Paterno, Rip Engle.
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1. Tom Burich | January 7, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Good article but Joe was part of the Penn State family. I have no idea if Bill O’Brien will be a good coach – its a shame that Tom Bradley was shown little interest after all he has done for Penn State.
We begin a new era today – lets hope Coach O’Brien embraces our traditions and mends the tremendous divide that now exists.