Tag: danny o’brien

Former Badger quarterback plays big role in Penn State 28-13 win over Wisconsin

Former Badger QB plays big role in Penn State 28-13 win over Wisconsin

A former Badger was at the center of Penn State’s 28-13 win over Wisconsin on Saturday night.

It was not necessarily Penn State OT Nolan Rucci, who transferred over from Wisconsin after the 2023 season. He saw limited action at right tackle in the Nittany Lions win and was far from the game’s deciding force.

The big reason that Penn State improved to 7-0 with the win over Wisconsin: Nittany Lions quarterbacks coach and former Badgers quarterback Danny O’Brien.

Related: Badgers fans dejected after hard-fought loss to No. 3 Penn State

O’Brien captains the Penn State quarterback room, which was arguably the biggest contributing factor to Saturday’s result.

Penn State star QB Drew Allar and backup Beau Pribula, each who played exactly one half, combined to go 25 of 31 passing (80% completion) for 246 yards,  two touchdowns and zero interceptions. The two also added 36 rushing yards on 10 total carries.

Allar’s injury in the closing moments before halftime appeared to tip the matchup further toward the Badgers’ sideline. Instead, Pribula was terrific in relief. He led the Nittany Lions on two critical late-game scoring drives to seal the victory.

O’Brien’s work with the room deserves credit. Not many top programs don’t miss a beat, let alone improve, when their starter goes down with an injury.

The rising coach played for the Badgers back in 2012. He transferred in after two years at Maryland, and actually entered that season as Wisconsin’s starter. Former Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema wound moving to Joel Stave early in the season after O’Brien struggled with turnovers. Stave later suffered an injury, though O’Brien remained on the sideline to backup to Curt Phillips.

O’Brien played only seven total games for Wisconsin in 2012, completing 52 of 86 passes for 523 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

He recently entered the coaching ranks following an abbreviated professional career, mostly in the CFL (2014-19).

The former Badger signal-caller joined the Penn State staff as an offensive analyst in 2021. He was recently elevated to the program’s quarterbacks coach entering the 2024 season after the team hired new OC Andy Kotelnicki.

His work with Allar and Pribula cannot be overlooked as Penn State inches closer to a possible trip to the Big Ten title game, and the expanded College Football Playoff.

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Penn State hosts No. 1 2026 quarterback for visit

Penn State hopes to have left a solid impression on top-ranked QB in 2026 on recent visit.

Penn State is looking to lock up their 2025 recruiting class for the quarterback position still, but that’s not stopping [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and his offensive staff from looking ahead to the next cycle.

Right now, the Nittany Lions have already secured one commit for the 2026 class in elite Pennsylvania running back [autotag]Messiah Mickens[/autotag].

There is no rush as the 2025 class is still being worked on as spring and summer camps are underway or are getting finalized with participants, but coaching staffs across the country are starting to host recruits from younger cycles.

Penn State is doing just that when they welcome elite 2026 quarterback [autotag]Faizon Brandon[/autotag] to campus on March 26.

The North Carolina native is ranked as the 46th-best recruit in his class according to On3’s Industry Rankings, but On3 themselves have him listed as the top quarterback and No. 12 overall player.

According to their database, the Nittany Lions haven’t offered Brandon, but that likely changes during his visit. The talented quarterback has amassed just under 20 offers from elite schools across the country.

Brandon is a 6’3″ 185-pounder who finished his last high school season with over 3,500 passing yards and 45 touchdowns.

Penn State will try to jump into consideration for the North Carolina quarterback as he has started visiting schools. There is a real focus on this position early in this class as the Nittany Lions have hosted two other top quarterbacks for visits as well.

With new offensive coordinator [autotag]Andy Kotelnicki[/autotag] and quarterbacks coach [autotag]Danny O’Brien[/autotag] running the offense, it’s more important than ever that they start getting guys who fit their system onto campus and develop future relationships.

It looks like that’s what the class of 2026 will be for the quarterback position.

Penn State promotes Danny O’Brien to QB coach

Penn State has promoted a grad assistant to be the new QB coach in 2024

Penn State head coach James Franklin has promoted graduate assistant [autotag]Danny O’Brien[/autotag] to a new role on the coaching staff ahead of the 2024 season. O’Brien will now be labeled as the quarterback coach for the Nittany Lions.

O’Brien will take over the role that was previously held by former offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. Yurcich was removed as offensive coordinator late in the 2023 season, and O’Brien helped fill the void on the staff with the quarterbacks immediately. Now, with new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki taking over the offensive coordinator role, O’Brien will help coach [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] and the Penn State quarterbacks adjust to a new offensive system this spring.

O’Brien will continue to be a graduate assistant on the football staff. O’Brien joined the Penn State program as an offensive analyst in 2021 and filled that role for two seasons before taking on the role as a graduate assistant coach working with the offense last season.

O’Brien and Franklin go back to when O’Brien was playing quarterback for Maryland. Franklin was Maryland’s offensive coordinator and quarterback coach when O’Brien came into the program. O’Brien was the ACC Rookie of the Year and a Freshman All-American. O’Brien transferred to Wisconsin in 2012, a year after Franklin left Maryland to become a head coach at Vanderbilt and after having a slight sophomore slump for the Terrapins in 2011. Penn State was among the schools vying to bring O’Brien to the program once he decided to leave Maryland, with former head coach Bill O’Brien welcoming the transfer quarterback to spring practices.

Along with Kotelnicki, O’Brien will hope to elevate Allar to the next level in 2024. Allar is coming off his first full season as the starting quarterback. He had some ups and downs all year long and ended the season with 2,631 passing yards, 25 touchdowns and just 2 interceptions. But Allar’s effectiveness in Penn State’s biggest games was highly, and justifiably scrutinized. Allar passed for just 70 yards in a loss to Michigan, completed 18-of-42 pass attempts in a loss at Ohio State, and 19-of-39 attempts in a Peach Bowl loss to Ole Miss.

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Penn State heavily recruiting top in-state quarterback in 2025 class

Penn State wants the best in PA to stay in PA, including this quarterback target in 2025.

College football is getting more similar to the National Football League in the fact that to win big, teams need to have elite quarterback talent.

That wasn’t always the case, but it’s now more evident than ever that quarterbacks are driving the results of programs that are able to lift trophies at the end of the season.

Penn State has seemingly picked up on this, evident by their relentless pursuit of multiple quarterbacks in their last few classes.

2025 will be no different.

They have already secured a commitment from [autotag]Bekkem Kritza[/autotag], but that has not stopped them in their heavy pursuit of the top quarterback prospect in the state of Pennsylvania, [autotag]Matt Zollers[/autotag].

Rated as a four-star, Zollers is a 6′ 3″ 200-pound gunslinger who has a big arm and can move around in the pocket and scramble for large chunks of yards.

He will be visiting Happy Valley this weekend for the third and final Junior Day, marking his sixth visit to campus.

As an in-state prospect, his recruitment is not quite as straightforward as one might expect. He’s recently taken a much more national approach having spent time down south this past weekend visiting Florida, USF, Georgia, and Missouri instead of attending Junior Day at Penn State last weekend.

This has created a larger sense of urgency for the Nittany Lions to increase their recruitment of the four-star quarterback.

Sean Fitz of On3 (subscription required), recently said that Zollers is one of Penn State’s top-10 targets on the board and James Franklin visited him at his high school in Royersford, PA on Friday ahead of the Junior Day visit this weekend.

For all intents and purposes, the Nittany Lions are the favorites to land Zollers according to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine, but it’s still early in his process with other offers seemingly still coming in this spring.

This will be perhaps the most important visit he’s taken to Penn State as new offensive coordinator [autotag]Andy Kotelnicki[/autotag] starts to develop a relationship with him and he continues to build on the previous one he has with quarterbacks coach [autotag]Danny O’Brien[/autotag].

No. 1 overall prospect 2025 QB Bryce Underwood set to announce his decision on Saturday

This could be the biggest commit in Penn State football history.

With signing day over for the 2024 class, the college football world is about to find out the college decision for the no. 1 player in the 2025 class with Belleville (Mich.) High five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood announced his decision on Saturday.

Underwood’s decision is expected to come around 5:30 pm. After releasing his top-7 schools on November 6, he is expected to choose between Alabama, LSU, Michigan, Colorado, Penn State, Florida State, and Oregon. Underwood currently has two 247Sports crystal ball predictions for LSU.

He has taken visits to each of his final seven schools, including attending the Penn State whiteout game this past fall. Underwood spoke about his seven finalists in an interview with 247Sports. He had this to say about Penn State:

“Coach (Danny) O’Brien has been a big factor with me having them on my list. I feel like, without coach O’Brien, they wouldn’t be in the position they are, in my eye. They have a great coaching staff. They push their players amazing and it’s a great place to be.”

Based on Underwood’s recent comments, it sure seems that Penn State is an underdog in recruiting the top player in the 2025 class. [autotag]Danny O’Brien[/autotag] clearly made a huge impact on Underwood’s decision to keep Penn State around this long during his recruitment, and perhaps new offensive coordinator [autotag]Andy Kotelnicki[/autotag] can influence the decision even more.

It would be a surprise if, come Saturday evening, Penn State has a commitment from the top player in the country. However, they have stayed involved and are perceived by many as only behind frontrunners LSU and Michigan for Underwood’s commitment. Colorado is also lurking around with Penn State in that second wave of schools, but at this point, any school not named Michigan or LSU would be a surprise.

Only time will tell if Penn State can beat out its Big Ten rival and LSU for Underwood, but by Saturday, we will have an answer.

Penn State promotes Danny O’Brien from analyst role

Penn State makes football staff change

Penn State has done some minor adjusting to its on-field coaching staff in preparation of the 2023 season. Offensive analyst [autotag]Danny O’Brien[/autotag] will be moving into an on-field coaching role as a graduate assistant under head coach James Franklin.

As noted by Lions247, O’Brien’s title was updated on the updated football staff directory on Penn State’s website. His official title is now offensive graduate assistant. While no official announcement had been made, that change doesn’t happen by accident. O’Brien will now have the opportunity to work more closely with players on the practice field and more as opposed to his role as an analyst, which prevents staff members from having direct contact with players in any coaching situation.

O’Brien joined the Penn State staff as an analyst in 2021. The former Maryland quarterback, who played for Franklin at Maryland, was once coveted as a transfer player by former head coach Bill O’Brien, but he ended up transferring from Maryland to Wisconsin.

The former ACC offensive rookie of the year will now help to coach Penn State’s quarterbacks in practices and in games with offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. That includes Penn State’s new starting quarterback, expected to be sophomore Drew Allar.

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Penn State adds another analyst to the football staff

Penn State adds special teams analyst to staff from Auburn

Penn State head coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] had an analyst role to fill on his staff after seeing Ken Whisenhunt move on to a similar role with Alabama this week. It appears that the vacancy has been filled. Eric Sachse, a former Boise State kicker who most recently was serving as an analyst with Auburn, was confirmed to be the latest addition to the support staff for the football program.

Sachse will be the second special teams analyst for Penn State to help assist special teams coordinator Stacy Collins, who also has a previous stop at Boise State in his coaching career. Collins and Sachse did not overlap their time with the Boise State program, however. Penn State’s other special teams analyst is Eric Raisbeck.

Sachse spent one season at Boise State after four years at a Division 3 school, Trinity College. At Boise State, Sachse converted 14 of 17 field goal attempts and connected on 61 of his 62 extra point attempts for the Broncos in 2019.

Other analysts on Penn State’s support staff include [autotag]Deion Barnes[/autotag], [autotag]Dan Connor[/autotag], [autotag]Gabe Infante[/autotag], [autotag]Calvin Lowry[/autotag], [autotag]Frank Leonard[/autotag], [autotag]Rick Lyster[/autotag], [autotag]Danny O’Brien[/autotag], [autotag]Danny Rocco[/autotag], and [autotag]Charles Walker[/autotag].

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Former Wisconsin QB joins the Penn State coaching staff as an offensive analyst

Former Wisconsin quarterback Danny O’Brien, a seven-game starter for the Badgers in 2012, joined the Penn State coaching staff yesterday

Former Wisconsin quarterback Danny O’Brien, a seven-game starter for the Badgers in 2012, joined the Penn State coaching staff yesterday as an offensive analyst.

O’Brien was most recently the running backs coach for the Canadian Football League’s BC Lions after playing in the league for several years after college.

Related: Film Room: What should we make of WR Chimere Dike’s freshman year?

The quarterback played at Wisconsin for just that one year in 2012 after spending his first two collegiate years at Maryland. His one season with the Badgers was spent largely on the bench as Joel Stave won the starting job early in the season on the eventual Rose Bowl-losing squad.

O’Brien finished his short Badger career with a 60.5 completion percentage, 523 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Oct 27, 2012; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers back-up quarterback Danny O’Brien (6) talks to his team in a huddle after he replaced quarterback Joel Stave after Stave was injured during the third quarter at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. Michigan State defeated Wisconsin in overtime 16-13. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports

O’Brien now is on the staff of a Penn State football program that was reportedly in the running to land him as a transfer back in 2012.

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