Penn State coach Bill O'Brien on if he would recruit Penn State players: "Hell no"

Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien said he would recruit Nittany Lion players if he were coach at another school. (Getty Images) Penn State's new head coach

Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien said he would recruit Nittany Lion players if he were coach at another school. (Getty Images)

Penn State's new head coach Bill O'Brien made it very clear about how he feels concerning other schools having free reign to recruit his players because of the NCAA sanctions handed down severely crippling the program's ability to be successful on the field.

When asked if he would recruit Penn State players if he was at another school, O'Brien was emphatic in his answer.

"Hell no!" O'Brien said to a Philadelphia television station. "That's not the right thing to do in my opinion. So I wouldn't do that. I'm not fighting for my career, I'm fighting for Penn State. For what's right about this football program and so at the end of the day, like I said, these coaches are playing by the rules. That's what they're doing."

So far, seven players have transferred from the school: quarterback Rob Bolden (LSU), running back Silas Redd (USC), linebacker Khairi Fortt (Cal), tight end Kevin Haplea (Florida State), safety  Tim Buckley (N.C. Sate), kicker Anthony Fera (Texas) and defensive tackle Jamil Pollard (Rutgers)

"The sanctions are what they are," O'Brien said. "They're there for a reason, and then we move to the positives. You can't look back on and you can't dwell on what the sanctions are. You know what they are. These are the rules with which we play under now. And so what are the positives? There are still many, many positives.