Amended rule allows Penn State to put 'rising star' Danny O'Brien into graduate assistant role
INDIANAPOLIS — Penn State entered the 2023 season expecting to keep former Maryland and Wisconsin quarterback Danny O’Brien in an analyst role. Now, with preseason camp on the horizon, he’s actually a graduate assistant.
An altered NCAA rule that changed who can be a ‘GA’, how many academic credits they must be taking, and what they can be paid allowed the Lions to make the move. It is a big one, according to James Franklin. He coached O’Brien with the Terps and brought him onto his staff in an off-field role back in 2021.
“Danny, as you guys know, Danny played for me as a quarterback,” Franklin said at Big Ten Media Days. “Been in the CFL for a number of years. Danny, he was the ACC Rookie of the Year. He understands how we do things, he understands our culture, and how I’m wired, and how we think. And I think he’s a rising star in the profession. I really do.”
O’Brien is not the only new graduate assistant on the staff this year. Lions letterman Torrence Brown is working with the defensive line after filling the void created when Deion Barnes was promoted to a full-time role. Kevin Ceh, then, was brought in to work with the offensive line when Dwayne Scott left for Pitt. Bryce Jones, then, is the only returning ‘GA’. He works with the defensive backs.
“We work really hard at following the rules. So by being able now, under the new GA provisions, to move him from an analyst to a GA, allowing him to coach and kind of be able to take those restraints off of him, is going to be not only valuable for Danny and his development, but for our quarterbacks and really for our offense.”
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O’Brien will help figure out the Penn State quarterback situation
Make no mistake: Franklin, with help from Mike Yurcich, will eventually pick Drew Allar as this year’s starting Penn State quarterback. But, O’Brien is sure to be in the room when it happens. And, he’ll be tasked with helping foster a competitive environment for Allar, Beau Pribula, and Jaxon Smolik.
“Obviously the sooner the better. But, we’re not going to rush any of these decisions at these positions,” Franklin said when asked when a final decision will be made on the replacement for Sean Clifford. “We grade everything in every practice, so all the data will be there. Obviously, you’re going to trust your gut and your instincts on that as well. But, you have the data to back it up.
“I think at any of these positions the sooner the better. It’s probably magnified at the quarterback position. You don’t rotate and play the same type of way that you do at some other positions. But, it will be obviously watching how they move the offense, the confidence that their teammates have in them. And, then obviously a lot of the data and analytics that go in it as well to make sure that what your gut is telling you aligns with what the numbers say.”
