Welcome, Bill O'Brien.
Penn State's new head football coach was confirmed by the school late Friday night and introduced at a press conference at the Nittany Lion Inn on Saturday morning.
It takes courage to succeed a legend, and Joe Paterno certainly was that with his 46-year head-coaching tenure, his Hall of Fame status, his commitment to academics and his willingness to help Penn State strive for greatness.
It takes even more courage to enter - with no previous ties to Penn State - a coaching position at a school rocked by the worst scandal in sports history.
The fallout from the arrest of former Nittany Lion defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky on sexual abuse charges of children that led to the dismissal of Paterno, the resignation of school President Graham Spanier and pending perjury charges against university officials Gary Schultz and Tim Curley will never totally go away.
And it left Penn State with uncertain times ahead as a university, the centerpiece of which has been its beloved football program that has contributed immeasurably to the pride of its alumni, to State College and to central Pennsylvania.
Indeed, the Paterno era gave Penn State a past almost no other school can match.
Now, Penn State can start working on its future.
O'Brien brings a diverse background. He's an Ivy League product. He's a graduate of Brown - ironically, like Paterno - and has trained at several universities such as Georgia Tech and Duke, where a high priority is placed on academics.
During the past five years, he's been groomed at the elbow of Bill Belichick, one of the most successful coaches in the history of the National Football League, and been part of the great New England Patriots' organization as its offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
This is O'Brien's first head-coaching stint, and while some Penn State fans may have preferred someone with an established track record, it's worth noting that Paterno wasn't a head coach, either, prior to getting his opportunity at PSU.
We're sure O'Brien, 42, won't coach at Penn State 46 years or win as many games as Paterno's all-time record of 409. No one will.
But there's plenty of room under the bar Paterno has set for O'Brien to be successful at the highest level and build on - and in some ways rebuild - Penn State's great football legacy.
That journey has officially begun, and we look forward to chronicling its path and enjoying its highlights.
Congratulations, coach Bill O'Brien, and good luck.
