Less than 24 hours after being introduced as the new head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions, Bill O'Brien has already started filling out the rest of his coaching staff for next season. On Sunday morning, the Tennessean reported that O'Brien had hired Titans' assistant and quality control coach Charles London as the new running backs coach in Happy Valley. Before O'Brien's introductory press conference, ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted Saturday morning that the hire was imminent.
London addressed the challenges and opportunities of his new position, via Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean:
"Our mind-set is we know there will be challenges, but a lot of the guys that were there had nothing to do with the scandal and it is a shame the university has been tarnished in that way,'' London said Saturday. "But we are going to do our best to try and restore the name of Penn State football. I really had no reservations in going. I believe in Coach O'Brien, and that made it easy for me."
London coached with O'Brien at Duke, serving as running backs coach in 2006 while O'Brien was offensive coordinator for the Blue Devils. He has since bounced around the professional ranks, serving as an assistant with Bears, a scout with the Eagles, and then this season in a quality control capacity with Tennessee.
With no prior ties to PSU, he is scheduled to take the NCAA recruiting test on Tuesday and immediately hit the road to recruit while O'Brien continues double-duty as offensive coordinator in New England during the NFL playoffs.
Stay tuned to this StoryStream for even more on the Bill O'Brien press conference and hiring. For more on the Nittany Lions, visit Penn State blog Black Shoe Diaries. For more college football news, check out SB Nation's college football news hub.