Report: Penn State considered Bill Parcells to clean up Paterno's mess

Published Feb. 18, 2015 11:15 a.m. ET

Teddy Mitrosilis

Can you envision Bill Parcells roaming the sidelines in State College, trying to lead Penn State football out of the dark days of the Jerry Sandusky scandal and into an era of newfound light?

Apparently it was considered in some corners of the university.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio tweeted this on Tuesday after reading Parcell's book:

Paterno was fired in November 2011 after the Sandusky story unraveled everything at Penn State, at which point Parcells would have been 70 years old and more than 30 years out of college football.

Of course, those three decades were spent winning a couple Super Bowls in the NFL and building a Hall of Fame career, which was recognized with his induction in 2013.

Parcells is a Wichita State alum and never passed through Penn State during his coaching career, but PSU presumably wanted him for the instant credibility and stability he would have brought to the university and program at its most traumatic time.

Things still worked out well for the Nittany Lions. Bill O'Brien did a noble job guiding the team through the following two years before leaving for the Houston Texans, and now Penn State has a bright future guided by the boundless energy and enthusiasm of James Franklin.

The Big Tuna squaring off against Urban Meyer and becoming a godfather of sorts for the Big Ten, though? I kinda, sorta feel cheated.

Teddy Mitrosilis is an editor and writer for FOXSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TMitrosilis and email him at tmitrosilis@gmail.com.