Penn State reportedly will hire Patriots’ Bill O’Brien

New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien has agreed to become Penn State’s coach, according to multiple reports Thursday. ESPN, CBS Sports and the Boston Herald, citing people who spoke on the condition of anonymity, reported that O’Brien, in his fifth season with the Patriots, will become the 15th head football coach in Nittany Lions history.

The ESPN report said an announcement could come Saturday. Asked about the reports, a Penn State spokesperson said, “We will comment when we name the new coach.”

O’Brien, 42, would arrive at Penn State during one of the most tumultuous times in school history. Joe Paterno was fired Nov. 9, during his 46th season as head coach, after former assistant Jerry Sandusky was charged with child sexual abuse.

Penn State’s search, which covered two months and a cross-section of college and pro candidates, apparently has ended with a person who has not been a head coach at any level. O’Brien began his coaching career at Brown University in 1993 after playing linebacker and defensive end there.

For the last five seasons, O’Brien has been on New England’s staff. He coached running backs and quarterbacks before being promoted to offensive coordinator this season. The Patriots earned the No. 1 seeding for the AFC playoffs and have a bye this week. Patriots Coach Bill Belichick said earlier Thursday that O’Brien would not attend practice. O’Brien reportedly was interviewing for the Penn State position.

Earlier this season, O’Brien and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady got into a shouting match that was televised. But asked this week about O’Brien, Brady praised O’Brien as a “great coach and friend.”

“We have a great relationship,” Brady told reporters. “Probably a very unique relationship in that we communicate all the time. I always enjoy working with him. He’s done an incredible job with this team and this offense. He expects nothing less than our best.”

In 1995, O’Brien began a 12-year run that took him to three schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He was an offensive graduate assistant at Georgia Tech before becoming the team’s running backs coach in 1998. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2001, when Georgia Tech led the ACC in passing.

O’Brien left Georgia Tech in 2003 for Maryland, where he spent two seasons as running backs coach. After that, he served two seasons as Duke’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Earlier Thursday, David Joyner, Penn State’s acting athletic director, said in a radio interview that he “would love” to have a coach in place by Jan. 13, when the next open recruiting period begins.

Todd Blackledge, a former Penn State quarterback and ESPN analyst, said he was “surprised a little bit” by the hire.

“Obviously, there are so many things involved, so many emotions for me as a Penn State guy,” Blackledge said on ESPN. “I understand Bill O’Brien probably understands football very well. But I think understanding Penn State and what Penn State is all about and what Penn State needs to go forward from here is also as equally important as what he knows about football. That leaves me with a little bit of a question mark.”

ESPN reported that O’Brien is expected to remain with the Patriots through the playoffs.

mark.wogenrich@mcall.com