Pete Thamel of SI.com thinks that Penn State’s head coach, Bill O’Brien, would be one of five potential candidates to replace beleaguered Mack Brown at the University of Texas. His reasoning is that O’Brien revived a major brand that was in turmoil, and would be an attractive prospect to do the same where the bloom is off the yellow rose.

Of course, this is the speculation of a sports writer and nothing else at this point. I can look at it from two angles. One is that at Texas, O’Brien would have the unfettered ability to make gross changes for better or worse, undaunted by scandals and alumni clinging to the past. In this case, the alumni wish to depose his predecessor would give him a longer honeymoon. The other is that he’s partway through a rebuilding process at Penn State, so why leave until his job is complete? His brand will be worth much more with such a successful project under his belt.

However, there’s no doubt in this turkey’s birdbrain that Texas has enough money to throw at the job to entice anyone out there. Football in Texas is a religion. It’s life. You throw at it whatever resources it takes to make it healthy.

I have a better idea. Since they’re in the market for an AD, how about spending all that money on “stealing” Dave Joyner from Penn State. That would be a merciful crime.

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