Joe Must Go (Even King Says So)
11 comments so far
June 4, 2008 by
If you’ve been a Husker fan for twenty-five years or more, you’ve likely got little affinity for Penn State head coach Joe Paterno. Sure, you may respect the job he’s done over the last 40+ years at PSU (going on 60 years if you count time spent as an assistant at the school), but there’s been enough pain dished out in the last quarter century to make him a guy an NU fan isn’t going to root for.
So it can hardly be called an unbiased opinion when a Husker fan suggests that at 81 years old Paterno is likely now more of a hindrance to his team than an asset. Still, Husker fans are hardly lonely voices in the wind. Joe Pa’s age has been a lively debate topic nationally for nearly a decade. His 2005 squad won a share of the Big Ten and the Orange Bowl to finish 3rd nationally, which would suggest that at least within the last few years he was still on his game. But 2005 was the only season in the last ten that the Nittany Lions managed to finish higher than 4th in the Big 10 and aside from that bowl they haven’t been to a BCS bowl since 1996.
The bigger issue is the future. You recruit players for three to five years which means that Paterno would be 86 or 87 when redshirting members of the recruiting class of 2009 would be seniors. Can recruits really believe that better days lie ahead for Paterno or his team? Will they expect that he can offer them the kind of energy and “relatability� as someone half his age? Even if his age is just a number, doesn’t he hurt this important “marketing� aspect of his program? What about assistants? If they want to stay employed, don’t you want to work for someone you expect to have some staying power? That’s another marketplace where his age hurts. And is he really as able and involved at 81 as he was at 61 or even 71? Common sense tells us no.
Perhaps an ominous sign that the heat is increasing on Paterno to retire, Sports Illustrated’s Peter King wrote in his Monday Morning Quarterback blog (sort of a weekly brain dump of items too small to merit their own story) last week that Paterno is being selfish by not stepping aside. Here’s a quote, “It’s not in the best interests of his team for an 81-year-old man showing increasing signs of frailty to be running a world-class college football team�.
If it were any other writer, you’d dismiss this as just another voice. But King practically defines the “East Coast Media Bias� that Midwesterners talk about so much. He’ll declare a cheeseburger joint or ice cream shop the greatest in the world because it happens to be one he visited in New Jersey. After covering the New York Giants for so long, he wanted to put Phil Simms, Mark Bavaro, and Tiki Barber in the Hall of Fame – and keep Art Monk out. King’s rationale for keeping out one of four receivers named to the 1980’s All-Decade Team (Monk) as voted by the Hall of Fame selection committee? The Giants (the one team he was covering) didn’t sound scared enough of Monk when he played. He says the campus his daughter chose is the most beautiful in the country (how many schools did she visit, like five?). The examples go on and on, but needless to say, this is not a guy known for distancing himself from his surroundings. Which is why, living in spitting distance of State College and no doubt having been inundated with all of the love for JoePa that the area has provided over the years, King jumping ship is a real sign the Titanic is sinking.
King’s not the canary in the mine, he’s more like the last man standing. This is the guy who just discovered “Family Guy� after six seasons (Hey Peter, there’s this show called “The Simpsons� you might want to check out too). Which is why, it’s fair to say there’s almost no one left without Penn State allegiances that’s ready to declare Joe Pa the right man for the job. When even Peter “Jersey Guy� King turns on you, it’s over. Not to say that Paterno won’t continue coaching, but the number of people who support him in that decision will continue to dwindle to next to no one.
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Tyler Jun 04 08
The JoePa situation is similiar to the looming Brett Favre retirement. Both were certainly entitled to make their own decisions (they earned the right), but both brought intangible negatives to their teams in doing so. They hindered planning for the future, hindered current moves that might make each team better, and left a cloud of indecision over their teams. If JoePa really loves PSU, he'll recognize this (finally) and move into an administrative role. He'll help select a new coach and watch over the transition (if necessary) and they'll name things after him for years. Meanwhile PSU could take the next step and offers recruits a reasonable expectation that the coach that recruits them will be there during their career.
Ice Mike Jun 04 08
The thing is...you know that the moment JoePa walks away from the gig, the guy will be dead inside 6 months. When Bear Bryant retired at Alabama, he was gone less than a year later. JoePa's probably keeping the job not because he wants to keep coaching, but because he wants to keep LIVING. Seriously though, his time has come and gone and Penn State needs to handle this with the class and respect he deserves, but he does need to step aside after this season.
OU7times Jun 04 08
In an effort to keep the record straight...Barry Switzer was not the one who coined the phrase "We want to build a university our football team can be proud of". He (Switzer) did use that repeated quote in his book, though. That exact quote was from University President Dr. Leon Cross when he went before State Legislature asking for funds for the Football program. I believe that may have been 1990, as I recall. Switzer's origional quote was "Ole Bud (Wilkinson) created the monster and it's our job to keep it fed". Funds are not a problem at OU now thanks to the Gaylord family and their extremely generous endowment of over 1 Billion in cash and art.
OU7times Jun 04 08
My apologies, Steve. That post should have been on Darren's last story.
The Man Jun 04 08
I've hated Joe Pa ever since the huskers were scr---ed in 1986 when that player recieved the ball 3 yards out of bounds and they called it a completion. And then the same ref made a similiar call in the National Title game against Alabama to give JOE Pa his fit National Title. Its time for that Talking head to retire.
ze bop Jun 04 08
I think those Gaylord peeps must have been a very large, rich, and influencial family back in the day: they sure do have their name on everything, out here on the east coast too! I worked a job in a town called Gaylordsville last year.....
Anyway, I think JoPa and Bobby Bowden should certainly retire: like 10 years ago! Ya just don't see the fire from those guys, especially when they lose. It's like, "whatever, we lost, we did some stuff wrong, hope things get better....p.s., you can't fire me."
I see Nittany Fan out here from time to time, they don't have a lot to say, they seemd fairly confused....
Dwayne Jun 04 08
The Man,
I think that play was before 1986. I'd say more like 1982, but not for sure. I'm curious what PSU fan's opinion is of this percentage wise.
The Man Jun 04 08
You are correct Dwayne 82', we were ranked # 2 in the country and lost 27-24.
James Moore Jun 04 08
The end of this era in Happy Valley is coming soon. The losses of Terrell Pryor, and the latest Pennsylvania elite QB (Tom Savage)who went to RUTGERS over Penn St., are devastating. Savage was asked if he was still entertaining the idea of possibly switching to Penn St., his response was: (I copied & pasted from rivals.com)
"Only if Greg Schiano were to become the new head coach at Penn State,"
A devastating public statement to the appeal in-state and the overall perception of Penn St., as a program in-state as well. Pitt appears to be slowly waking up, Rutgers will be all over Eastern Pennsylvania, and I'll put to you that a kid like Bordtmann would've been a hard pitch for us a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away. . .
Penn State is approaching some hard times. Unlike Florida State who seems to be recruiting well in Florida despite the problems keeping Bowden (I think he too is hurting Florida State) Penn State can't even say that they're a big player anymore for PA's in-state prospects. People are coming into their neighborhood and walking out with some pretty nice stuff. Michigan, Ohio State, West Virginia, Rutgers, and possibly Virginia Tech are going to pick up their presence BIG TIME inside Pennsylvania if Joe Pa continues this ongoing process holding on for too long. . .
Please bear in mind that King lives in Dirty Jers and nobody out here on the East Coast likes Dirty Jersey. Nobody is happy in New Jersey, and frankly how could you be? It's the universally recognized armpit of the East Coast!!! They've got an inferiority complex cause they live in the shadow of New York City but the NYC people don't give them New York recognition. Better yet it's the red-headed stepchild of NYC. On a random note, I'd like to add that I live just outside Washington, D.C. in Northern Virginia and today we did our very best imitation of the fireworks you guys see out there on a regular basis in tornado alley, man what a day!!! Over 100+ reports of tornado/hail/wind damage, and at one point 11 counties (all sharing borders) were under simultaneous tornado warnings with an average of 8000 lightning cloud-to-ground strikes per hour between 2-5 pm EST. How do you guys live with that? Yall get the REAL STUFF out there!!! It certainly puts Hallam, Greensburg, 1999 Oklahoma City, and many other places in a new light for me today. To everyone in Husker Nation, please take care always!!! I have a very small idea now of what you have to endure sometimes. . .
James Moore Jun 04 08
Steve and the guys at Bigrednetwork
please be patient with this last post. This is not football related but I'd like to share this with all. . .
These are local pictures from the tornado outbreak in the Greater Washington D.C., area today on June 5th, 2008. Click on the link below and the photo gallery will be on the left-hand side. We've never had ANYTHING remotely close to a day like this before. Schools are closed tomorrow, people have died, power is out over widespread areas affecting about 500,000 people. . .
http://wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1415430
Grant Jun 05 08
I'm positive I'm in the minority here, but I believe Joe Pa has earned the right to stay as long as he so wishes. His career achievements, dedication, and commitment to young men is tremendous. I'm not a big Joe Pa fan, but I certainly respect what he has done, how long he has done it, and how he went about doing it. Do I think Penn State is better served by Joe Pa retiring...sure. However, it's not up to us. He's done enough to be given the choice to leave on his terms.