JoePa being shown the door at PSU?

Give him a break. It's easy to mix up all of Testaverde's interceptions in that game. There were so many. "Gifto" had the game of his life that night. Two picks if I remember correctly.

 

Playing minor league fact checker:

Actually Miami beat Penn State 33-7 in Beaver Stadium in '01 in the last meeting between the two...first game for vonnegutnaked2 there as a student.

 

Observing from a distance, it looks like Paterno has completely rejected the idea of formulating a plan for a graceful exit.

Given that, I don't think Penn State is longer under any obligation to give him one. Just say this is his last season and be done with it.

Choose someone else and move on. There's no reason why a crazy old man should hold a university by the balls.

 

That would be a pretty accurate summation of the situation.

Remember: This man thinks he's going to die six months after he retires from coaching, just like Bear Bryant.

 

I feel badly about that, but a guy who's 81 is in the bonus round according to actuary tables.

If he can't find something rewarding to do with his life without being the head coach at Penn State, then a lot of what he's probably told student-athletes over the years rings pretty hollow.

Anyone on the scene know how much hands-on coaching he does these days? I'm guessing a guy his age is more administrator than he's even been.

 

Damn false teeth.

 

I'll bet Paterno's doing a lot more hands-on coaching than Bobby Bowden does these days. Bowden doesn't even know his players' names anymore, and hasn't for years. He mostly refers to their numbers.

On the other hand, JoePa is still employing JayPa, which is not a good sign.

I agree that it's time for Paterno to step down, but I don't agree with writers/pundits/fans from outside Pennsylvania thinking they ought to have a say in the matter. Paterno is a State College institution, a Pennsylvania hero, and people who live there wish the rest of the country would butt the hell out.

They love him there. They're ready to deal with the transition, too. But they love him too much to put up with bad noise and hateful "analysis" from people who care more about 12-1 records than they care about a great coach, a great man, who comes along maybe once every century for a program like that, and for almost any great college football program.

I wonder what's next for Penn State after Paterno. It could go bad, but it could be fine. It could be muddled for years, though. Most of all, I hope they get a great coach that can keep the program strong. I'd hate to see Penn State go the way of Pittsburgh or Maryland or whatever. I remember when Maryland used to be at least pretty good.

The pressure is on the university now: The suits have to find someone who can keep the program vital. I'll bet that's one of Paterno's major concerns. I would be reluctant to walk away from that myself. Look at what has happened to Indiana basketball since Knight left, for one example.

 

This "great man" is the same one who chased the university president and AD away when they visited to tell him they thought it was time to step aside.

His unwillingness to even outline an exit plan would seem to indicate he's all about Joe with PS as an afterthought.

Great coach? He was. Seems like PS is pretty ordinary these days and has a lot more off-the-field problems than it used to.

 

It's wrong to say that Penn State is an afterthought with Joe. Penn State is his life. And anything he's doing, he at least thinks he's doing in the name of what's best for the school.

 

And what happened after Paterno chased Spainer and Curley away? He reeled in a few top-notch recruiting classes and has gone 30-9 the last three years with three bowl victories.

That said, the lack of an exit plan or a succession plan is starting to get irritating. I believe that's why Pryor is not at PSU and why other big time recruits went elsewhere the last two years. Would you want to go somewhere and in two years realize you're not a fit anymore? (See Mallett, Ryan at Michigan).

And he's not a great coach anymore. I don't think you'd fine many people at age 81 great at any profession though.

All in all, Penn State is Paterno and Paterno is Penn State. The man has earned the rigth to walk away when he sees fit and that could be sooner than later. IMO, if he doesn't get a contract extension by the end of spring practice on April 19, he'll walk away and Penn State will have egg all over its face.

 

Well, again ... playing both sides of the fence as usual ... 10-3 and a second-tier bowl game does not make it in State College.

There's been some sentiment that 10-3 and the Dot.Com Bowl with Paterno is preferable to 12-1 and a BCS bowl without him.

That might be the case with the old-timers, the "character" types. But they are the minority, and there are fewer of them every year. Losses to Michigan and Ohio State are beginning to irritate them as much as it does for Michigan and Ohio State fans.

Penn State football fans are like any others -- they want the big night game on ABC with 110,000 doing the white-out. Then they want the BCS bowl game.

Being Texas A&M does not satisfy them.

 

I can imagine it's a tough quandary for PSU fans. They want to let go, but they just can't bear to, and the man who could do the right thing will leave his job only by dying.