Bernard Fernandez: Decision time for Penn State

SPORTS WRITERS being a rather cynical lot, Penn State's seemingly interminable search for its next head football coach was frequently brought up in the Cotton Bowl Stadium press box during the Nittany Lions' 30-14 TicketCity Bowl loss to Houston.

"They'll probably name somebody by the start of spring practice," one of the Penn State beat guys said with a dollop of sarcasm.

"Or at least by the week of the season opener," replied a columnist seated nearby.

Ah, gallows humor. There's nothing quite like it.

I think the six-member search committee will announce a hiring before national signing day on Feb. 1, but maybe not far enough in advance of it to salvage what had been shaping up as a fairly strong recruiting class. There already have been a number of decommitments in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal and subsequent Joe Paterno firing, and more are sure to follow if the coach selected doesn't score off the charts on the "wow" meter. With each passing day, expectations for a home-run hire as Paterno's permanent replacement are being downgraded to, say, a ground-rule double.

The committee's hesitancy to move boldly, swiftly and with some clear sense of purpose has made it likely Penn State will settle for a second-tier candidate.

USA Today, citing a person with knowledge of the situation, reported that New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien will interview today.

The delay has been unfathomable for a university that, despite its high-minded academic ideals, has a football program that generated a $52 million profit the last fiscal year and in essence funded 28 other varsity sports. Continuing to pack Beaver Stadium's 107,282 seats is paramount when you consider that any new coach will be paid considerably more than the $1 million or so Paterno received, and statewide budget cuts will take a chomp out of allocations for the commonwealth's flagship university.

"Penn State screwed up, because they should have been better prepared for the day when Joe Paterno wasn't there, for whatever reason," said Bob Lichtenfels, a recruiting analyst for Scouts.com. "It's clear they were ill-prepared for it.