Nittany Lions will watch Super Bowl closely with eye on new coach

STATE COLLEGE - Silas Redd is torn.

A lifelong New York Giants fan, the Penn State running back will be glued to the TV on Sunday, hoping his G-Men can steal a Super Bowl victory from the New England Patriots for the second time in 5 years.

But Redd has a new allegiance this year.

As much as he'd love to see New York steamroll Tom Brady and the Patriots, Redd also wants Bill O'Brien - Penn State's new head coach and New England's offensive coordinator - to arrive in Happy Valley with a Super Bowl ring.

Decisions, decisions.

It's a predicament Redd said he and his new coach have yet to discuss.

"I'm not going to because I still want to keep my job as a starter," Redd said Wednesday afternoon, a broad grin stretching across his face.

O'Brien has been balancing his time between State College, Boston and now Indianapolis since taking over as Joe Paterno's successor on Jan. 6.

The 42-year-old first-time head coach decided to remain with the Patriots throughout the playoffs while doing his best to keep up on the Lions' recruiting trail, a decision the Lions have openly respected.

"I'm just thinking logistically how he's doing it; it's very impressive," Penn State linebacker Michael Mauti said. "I've got all the respect in the world for him. I'm looking forward to getting him here, selfishly, to see him every day and move us in the right direction here."

O'Brien said he'll be returning permanently to State College on Tuesday. Until then, the Lions will have to wait patiently and watch Sunday's showdown intently to get a better grasp on what kind of offense they'll be running in 2012.

"They'll know what they're watching, they'll see the offense," said Stan Hixon, the Lions' assistant head coach and wide receivers coach. "But once we tell them what they saw, we'll use some of that film and have it make more sense to them as we go."

Penn State defensive lineman Jordan Hill said the team will likely get together at the Lasch Football Building on campus Sunday night to order pizzas and watch the game together.

Hill added he won't be paying very close attention to the schemes O'Brien implements, but fully expects his teammates on the other side of the ball to keep an eye out for certain tendencies the Patriots have on offense.

"If you just watch the Patriots, you see they go in there with a strict game plan, and if that's not working, they have to adjust 'like that,'" quarterback Matt McGloin said.

McGloin knows he's not Brady. He's also aware he doesn't have Pro Bowl-caliber weapons like Rob Gronkowski to get the ball to.

And while the team might be far off from implementing a fast-paced, NFL-style no-huddle offense, McGloin said he feels he and the Lions can run some of the things O'Brien has made staples in New England.

"I'll throw to whoever's open in this system," McGloin said. "I think with the guys we have now, he's going to find ways to use everybody."

McGloin said he hasn't been more excited for a football season since he arrived on campus as a freshman in 2008. O'Brien gave his signal-caller a "quarterback manual" to study, a thicket packet of pages McGloin said just "teaches you how to play QB."

McGloin sat down for more than an hour earlier this week, thumbing through and taking notes on the manual.

But on Sunday, perhaps McGloin will put O'Brien's manual aside during the game and get out a notepad and pen instead

"I might actually," McGloin said with a laugh. "We'll see, we'll see."