Penn State Recruiting: Bill O'Brien Paying Minimal Attention To Signing Day

Read More: New England Patriots, Penn St. Nittany Lions

New England Patriots offensive coordinator spent much of his Super Bowl media day time being asked about the Penn St. Nittany Lions. As he prepares for Sunday's game, he's also got to keep a portion of his mind on his next job, which begins as soon as the Pats' season finally ends.

O'Brien has his work cut out for him once he does finally arrive in State College. Not only is there that replacing-Joe-Paterno thing, he's also got to immediately begin work on a 2013 recruiting class that will need to make up for a leaking 2012 ship. He wasn't able to invest much of any time into the 2012 class, which will officially come aboard on Wednesday.

For the time being, in fact, O'Brien says he's not able to do much of anything beyond seeing a list of recruits once it's finalized. Transcript via the Patriots:

(on his first dead period in recruiting at Penn State)
"Dead period, yeah. Don't quote me on the rules, but I know it's 48 hours. But again, this is about the Patriots this week. I'm thrilled to be the head coach at Penn State, but I'm really focused on the Patriots and trying to do the best we can to put together a great game plan on Sunday."

(on how difficult it is to execute both jobs at the same time)
"I've been asked that question a million times, and it's really about the people at both ends. Bill (Belichick) has really helped here as far as the offensive staff and some administrative people that have helped me in New England when I haven't been here, and then I think I've put together one of the best staffs in the country at Penn State, and they've hit the ground running up there."

(on how he will hear about the new signings at Penn State)
"Tomorrow night, I'll get a fax of our signees. I already have a pretty good idea of who they're going to be. Again, it's really more about the Patriots and making sure we're ready for today's practice, tomorrow's meetings and Sunday's game. So it's day-to-day."

B.O'.B. is in a tough position for the rest of the week. He's got to say things just right to appease both his current and future fan bases, but there's really not much more he could be doing for PSU at the moment. This class pretty much is what it is, and, all things considered, it's really not that bad.

For more on the Nittany Lions, visit Penn State blog Black Shoe Diaries and SB Nation Pittsburgh.