It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks for Patriots offensive coordinator/Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien, but he says he hasn’t allowed himself to take a step back from the situation.
For one more week, O’Brien says he’s fully focused on the job in front of him.
“I’m very focused on New England. When you work for Bill Belichick, you are focused on one thing: That’s doing your job. He demands that out of you,” O’Brien said. “The detail that goes into putting gameplans together for the players here, very, very smart players.”
O’Brien starts at Penn State on Tuesday. He credits his strong staff there for doing all the work necessary while he finishes his responsibilities for the Patriots. O’Brien was asked if he has been able to reflect on the insanity of his last month.
“I don’t think about that. I think about every day, like today I think about our 9:30 meeting today that’s about to occur in 15 minutes and how I need to be prepared for that,” O’Brien said this morning. “Maybe at some point on the plane ride up to Penn State on Monday night, maybe I’ll think about it a little bit.”
Albert Breer of NFL.com notes that former Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis spoke at length with O’Brien about his experiences in the 2004/2005 playoffs, when Weis was on his way to Notre Dame.
The Patriots can only hope that O’Brien, like Weis, heads to college with a fresh Super Bowl championship to savor.