New England Patriots assistant coach Bill O’Brien is the new head coach of Penn State.

January 6, 2012- Penn State has been rocked by scandal over the last three months. Joe Paterno, the longtime, legendary coach of the university’s football program was fired last fall. The school will take its first step in closing the Paterno chapter by hiring New England Patriots assistant coach Bill O’Brien to run its football program. 

The announcement is expected to take place on Saturday. O’Brien was at State College Thursday to interview. A source close to the university said O’Brien would be hired as the head coach of the football program. 

Since November 9, the school has not had a permanent head coach. Paterno was fired following the child sex abuse controversy that involved an ex-assistant coach of Paterno. Tom Bradley took the interim head coaching duties after Paterno’s firing and the team lost three out of four games to end the season. 

O’Brien started with the Patriots in 2007. He worked his way up to his current position and helped the team’s offense average over 32 points per game. New England will enter the playoffs as the top seed in the AFC.