Some time ago, I had a conversation with a buddy of mine who was dating a girl seriously but met someone else, and they had some similar ideals, perhaps more than his current flame.
I told him that you can’t with a conscious soul figure out what it would be like to date the other person while being with the one he was with now, and that if you make that fateful decision to try to end the current situation, there can’t be buyer’s remorse.
My buddy obviously doesn’t have media at his disposal.
*
Truth be told, Bill O’Brien would be an incredible hire by Maryland. He’s one hell of a football coach. He’s old-school, disciplined, with a fiery personality but a human side to him that plays well with college student athletes. What he did at Penn State in two seasons was nothing short of sorcery.
He led the Nittany Lions to a 15-9 record during the most obstreperous period in program history, with sanctions, a mass exodus of players, and a caged-animal morale around the campus. Considering all things, like the gravid-with-talent division Maryland inhabits, plus the comical lack of decorum the school uses when firing football coaches, Maryland should be so lucky.
Here’s why it makes sense: the Texans seem to not be married to O’Brien after year two, in spite of the fact that he somehow is in the race for the division title after upsetting the previously unbeaten Cincinnati Bengals Monday night to go 4-5. This follows up a 9-7 initial campaign. Granted, the AFC South is roughly as meaty as a vegan Thanksgiving, but it seems a little knee-jerkish.
O’Brien has reportedly clashed with management about serial crappy decision maker Ryan Mallett being on the team. He admitted to his club that he made a “few fries short of a full Happy Meal” decision to bench Brian Hoyer, the flavored rice cake of NFL quarterbacks, earlier in the season.
If the story was leaked to CBS Sports, that means it probably came from him, trying to gauge what it would be like to date Maryland while understanding he’s in a committed relationship with the Texans, but the current flame not being able to prove that he has wandering eyes.
If the story that he wasn’t interested was leaked to the Houston Chronicle, that means the noise is already out through the proper channels, and the courting process can begin without any worry of what will happen if he says “nope,” or if the Texans make the wise decision to keep him.
This is a sports figure using the media to do his bidding, which is fine if the media is going to bite on it hook, line, and sinker. They have a thirst for news and clicks, and a lot of the time that means either knowingly or unknowingly scratching the back of “sources” to ensure “sources” stay in that role in the future for whatever reason.
Jason LaCanfora of CBS Sports got the scoop that O’Brien had wandering Maryland eyes, a place where he used to coach running backs. LaCanfora lives in Maryland, so you can probably do the math on how that news got there.
The denial was to John McClain, a guy who specifically covers the Houston Texans, you so can probably do the math on how that news got there, as well.
Either way, this is an interesting name to throw into the fray. It would make sense that O’Brien may be having buyer’s remorse after clashing with the suits, losing for the first time in his career at a major coaching job, and perhaps thinking the college environment was one that he misses.
O’Brien won’t get the college students bonging beer in celebration over the announcement of his hire, but he’s a significantly better option than a lot of guys who would get more press. He’s a proven commodity — he showed what he could do in Happy Valley, where he landed in very dire straits at a major program saddled with significant barriers to recruiting and winning.
There’s a saying that you cannot “have your cake and eat it too.” Why would you have cake in the first place if you didn’t want to eat it? May as well stick a finger in the icing when no one’s looking, at least.
