Penn State Recruiting: Bill O’Brien Largely Unable To Contribute To 2012 Class

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:

The following Penn State football recruiting National Signing Day primer is provided by Jeff Junstrom of Black Shoe Diaries, SB Nation’s excellent Penn State blog:

Only three days left in the Class of 2012 recruiting period, which culminates on February 1 with National Letter of Intent Day, commonly referred to as Signing Day, the first day that high school seniors can officially state their intent to play college football with a certain school. Until then, everything is verbal and non-binding; once ink meets paper and paper meets fax (one of the last remaining vestiges of that godforsaken machine), a contract is formed with certain requirements and expectations.

Black Shoe Diaries, the excellent Penn State blog has the details. First up is three-star running back Akeel Lynch. Lynch, from Attica (N.Y.) St. Francis High School, had been committed to Boston College. But it was just a matter of time before he switched, according to Penn State insiders. Lynch looks good on film (see link), and appears he can be a workhorse back, should Penn State need him to tote the rock 20 times per game.

Three other commitments also joined the fold, in receiver Jonathan Warner, cornerback Da’Quan Davis and receiver Trevor Williams. Davis has good speed and quickness for the corner position and is an improving prospect. Warner and Williams are possession types who should be dependable.

Jeff Junstrom has an excellent update up on Penn State’s most recent recruiting weekend. It’s absolutely worth a read. In it, Junstrom details the weekend visitors, committed players who the new coaching staff reached out to, and this bit from a recent interview given by new head coach Bill O’Brien:

Penn State has not won the national title in the lifetime of any current recruit. It will be interesting to see how much the Penn State brand is worth on a national level, as this is the first time in a while Penn State will look to recruit semi-nationally.