Penn State coach Bill O'Brien will visit Altoona for a speaking engagement and Q&A with fans on May 14 as part of the school's three-week Coaches Caravan tour across the state and region.
O'Brien will speak at Penn State Altoona's Adler Athletic Complex during a breakfast from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Other PSU coaches also are expected to be on hand, although they have not yet been announced.
O'Brien will make 18 appearances -- two per day for nine days -- during the Coaches Caravan, which begins April 30 and runs through May 16. He will visit all corners of the state, plus make stops in Ohio, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Washington D.C.
Tickets to the Altoona event are $25 for PSU Alumni Association members, $25 for the first guest of members and $40 for non-members. Tickets are $15 for kids ages 6-18.
To order tickets, go online to alumni.psu.edu and click on "events," or call the Alumni Association at 1-800-548-LION.
SUBHD: QB race update
O'Brien said no frontrunner has emerged in the quarterback competition between Matt McGloin, Rob Bolden and Paul Jones.
"Hopefully over the next eight practices, a couple guys will separate themselves," O'Brien said Wednesday on a teleconference. "Right now, there is no separation."
O'Brien told ESPN.com earlier this week that he would like to trim the quarterback race to two in the next couple of weeks but said Wednesday that he's "not sure if it will come right at the end of spring practice."
"It's hard to get three guys the reps that you need to get for one or two guys to be the starters," O'Brien said. "By the end of spring ball, I'm sure we'll have a better idea of which one or two guys will be the starters. Hopefully we can do that at the end. If not, then we head into training camp and continue with three guys getting reps."
All three quarterbacks have progressed this spring, the coach said, and he gave some insight into what he's looking for in the evaluation process.
"I want to see these guys have their decision making get better," O'Brien said. "I want to see their accuracy get better. I want to, obviously, see them grasp the offense better than they are right now."
SUBHD: Offense matters
O'Brien has said he wouldn't be looking at any game film of last year's offense because his system is entirely new, and he reiterated that Wednesday when asked about his schemes.
"I have no idea what they did in the past," O'Brien said. "I have a lot of respect for what went on here before, but I don't know anything about what they did offensively."
As for his offense, the coach said the running game is progressing faster than the passing game. That's the norm, he added, when installing a new offense.
"The running game, not that it's simple, but it's a little bit easier to learn early on," he said. "I would say we're a little bit ahead when it comes to running the football and a little bit behind when it comes to throwing the football and catching it and getting open."
SUBHD: Touchy subject
New Ohio State coach Urban Meyer has drawn criticism for his recruiting practices as he's taken away players who had been committed to other Big Ten schools. O'Brien wanted nothing to do with that subject when asked about Meyer.
"I have absolutely no thoughts on that whatsoever," he said. "All I care about is Penn State and trying to get us better."
