February 01, 2001|By Christian Ewell | Christian Ewell,SUN STAFF
Former Maryland head football coach Ron Vanderlinden has taken a job at Penn State, this time as linebackers coach.
Yesterday, Penn State head coach Joe Paterno announced the hiring of Vanderlinden, who plans to begin work today.
"We are delighted to land someone with Ron Vanderlinden's credentials for our defensive coaching staff," Paterno said.
"We had great admiration for the job he did with the Northwestern defense during his tenure in Evanston and the progress he made in improving the Maryland situation," he said. "Ron has a great knowledge of defensive football and has been a marvelous teacher and mentor to his players everywhere he's been."
Vanderlinden, 45, was hired as Maryland's coach in 1997 and fired one day after the end of last season, having compiled a 15-29 record in four seasons.
In the months since, the coach's name had been mentioned in connection with openings on several staffs.
Before coming to Maryland, he was assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Northwestern and held several positions at Colorado.
Though he wants to run a football program again, he described his lower profile as "kind of refreshing ... I love the on-the-field coaching part of it.
"I feel very fortunate and grateful for the opportunity, and honored that Coach Paterno would call on me to come here."
For the next year, Maryland will pay Vanderlinden the difference between his salary with the Terps and what he earns at Penn State. At Maryland, he had earned a base salary of $130,000.
He replaces Al Golden. The former linebackers coach has become defensive coordinator at Virginia.
