Bil O'Brien knows he has big shoes to fill in succeeding the legendary Joe Paterno as head coach of the Penn State football team, but it was his destiny.

"I'm not here to be Joe Paterno," O'Brien told reporters that day ni early January at his first news conference." There's only one Joe Paterno. What I'm going to try to do is be Bil O'Brien and we're going to do the best we can to continue the success that (Joe's) had here for many, many years."

It has been 40 years since Penn State had a new football coach. But Bill O'Brien was destined to follow Paterno, just as Paterno was destined to follow Rip Engle. Engle. Paterno. O'Brien. And the roots were planted at Brown University in 1942 when Engle, a native of central Pennsylvania, went there as assistant coach. Two years later Engle was the head coach, leading Brown to its greatest years in football with a Brooklyn born quarterback named Joe Paterno.

When Penn State hired Engle as head coach in 1950, he brought Paterno along as an assistant - and in 1966 Paterno succeeded his mentor. Now, another Brown man succeeds Paterno. "I want to congratulate Bill on his appointment," Paterno said when he heard of O'Brien's hiring. "I am particularly pleased we share a connection to my alma mater, Brown."

O'Brien was a linebacker and defensive end at Brown from 1990 to 1992 and graduated with a double concentration in political science and organizational behavior management. He began his coaching career at his alma mater, working with the tight ends in 1993 and the inside linebackers in 1994. He was so proud that he and Paterno had played and graduated from the same college that he wrote Paterno a letter, even though he had never met Paterno.

Ron Musselmman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette told about the letter after visiting O'Brien's hometown in Andover, MA:

"Billy showed me the note, and coach Paterno actually wrote on the other side of the piece of paper when he sent it back," recalled Mr. O'Brien's boyhood friend, John Perry, who was a part-time wide receivers coach on that same Brown staff.

"Billy told coach Paterno how much he admired him and how proud he was to have a degree from Brown, just like Joe. Billy said he was just entering his collegiate coaching career and he was hoping someday to follow a similar path as coach Paterno.

"Well, here he is now, replacing coach Paterno. How ironic is that?"

O'Brien left Brown in 1995 for an assistant;s job at Georgia Tech under George O'Leary, helping the Yellow Jackets to bowl appearances in each of his last six seasons. O'Brien was an offensive graduate assistant his initial three years at Tech and then worked with offensive coordinator Ralph Friedgen as running backs coach from 1998-2000. Georgia Tech finished no lower than third in the Atlantic Coast Conference in rushing all three seasons. O'Brien was promoted to Georgia Tech's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2001 and assistant head coach in 2002.

O'Brien was reunited with Friedgen in 2003, joining his Maryland staff as running backs coach. The Terrapins finished second in the ACC in rushing in his first season and defeated West Virginia, 41-7, in the Gator Bowl. Following two years in College Park, O'Brien served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Duke in 2005 and 2006 before deciding to coach in the National Football League.

New England's head coach Bill Belichick hired him in 2007. He coached wide receivers in 2008, and in 2009 became the quarterback coach and play-caller for the Patriots, with a promotion in 2011 as the offensive coordinator. His prime pupil at New England has been All-Pro quarterback Tom Brady.

Recently Brady told the Associated Press that O'Brien's "been a great coach and friend. We have a great relationship, probably a very unique relationship in that we communicate all the time. I always enjoy working with him and he's done an incredible job with this team and this offense."

O'Brien's last game with New England was at the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis, and two days later he was in his new office at the Lasch Building. Until mid November that was the office of Joe Paterno. The torch has been passed but the Brown-Penn State link continues. Destiny.

This biographical story of Bil O'Brien is written by Lou Prato.