With ESPN's Chris Mortensen reporting that New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien has agreed to replace Joe Paterno as the head football coach at Penn State, it might be worth noting an incident involving O'Brien and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady on the New England sidline in a game against the Washington Redskins on Dec. 11.
Following an interception thrown by Brady in the game, the two were seen on CBS engaged in a heated argument. Check out video below.
Days later, as Boston.com's Michael Whitmer reports, the two appeared to put the argument behind them.
O'Brien...
"Just two competitive guys that want the best for the team," O'Brien said today during his weekly teleconference with the media. "We’ve moved on to Denver, getting ready for Denver now."
Brady...
"When you walk in the door here and you work for Bill Belichick, you’re gonna learn how to coach and you’re gonna learn how to play," he said. "That’s one of the things we pride ourselves on here, both coaches and players looking to improve every day, and communicating with each other every day, and sometimes communication takes different forms.
"It’s an intense environment and a competitive environment, and the players would want it no other way, and the coaches would want it no other way. So that’s what it is."
Fair or not, this is the first impression many Penn State fans are going to get of O'Brien, a fairly anonymous assistant at the college and pro levels for most of his career, if his is, in fact, named the Nittany Lions' new coach in the near future. And it's fair to say most Penn State fans, far from used to that kind of spat on the sideline, won't be wild about what they see. It'll be interesting to see if he's asked to address the incident if he is Penn State's man.
For the latest on the Penn State coaching search, stay tuned to SB Nation Pittsburgh.