A few weeks ago, Penn State University football coach Joe Paterno signed a three-year extension to his contract, ensuring that he will roam–or perhaps roll on–the Nittany Lion sideline until at least 2011.
Paterno’s extension brought to an end speculation about who his successor would be, since his current deal expired this year.
Paterno’s quote in the announcement was “There’s no reason for me not to think that I can go for a while.”
In case you are unaware, Paterno is 82 years old. He was born in 1926, slightly less than three years before the really big stock market crash of 1929. In other words, when people say that we could be entering another Great Depression, it resonates with Joe Paterno. He lived it.
He has been the head coach at Penn State for 43 years, and has been on the football staff for 58 years. He joined the staff during the Truman administration.
Paterno, along with Florida State’s Bobby Bowden, is the dean of coaches. He is the elder statesman, the winningest Division IA coach of all time.
And there is no doubt that he has been great for the University.
But Paterno’s extension is bad for Penn State University.
It’s true, the Nittany Lions enjoyed a bit of a renaissance this year, rolling up an 11-1 record and earning a trip to the Rose Bowl to face USC.
But speaking as one who is not close to the situation, and has no inside information, there is no way that I can believe that having Joe Paterno on the sideline, or in the press box, for the next three years can be good for the Penn State football program.
Does Paterno do all of the things that other top-notch head coaches, such as Nick Saban, Bog Stoops, Urban Meyer or Pete Carroll do? Can he maintain a workaholic schedule, sleeping only in snippets, and breaking down film for 15 hours a day?
Of course not.
I can already here the arguments that Paterno can accomplish the same things those guys can in limited duty because he is a legend, but I don’t buy it.
Does Paterno call plays, or even wear a headset? Nope.
Can JoePa endure a hot two-hour practice in early August? I doubt it.
In fact, problems with his leg and hip forced him into the press box for several games this year. Before the season, JoePa admitted he thought about being up there full time, saying, “I enjoyed being upstairs, I really did. I sat down, had a nice time, had a cup of coffee…I was even able to watch television.”
Seriously?
Joe Paterno’s extension is not about Penn State winning more games. The amount of coaching that Joe Paterno actually does nowadays must be very little.
No, Joe Paterno’s contract is about Joe Paterno, and choke-hold he has on Penn State. If Paterno really did care about the University as much as he cares about himself, he would step aside gracefully, and admit what all must face: Father Time is an opponent that cannot be defeated.
It is apparent that the Nittany Lions need to promote one of their own assistants or hire someone now, or they will risk falling off when Joe Paterno is no longer around to figurehead the program.
Perhaps they keep Paterno in a little office on the ground floor of the athletic building and when they are showing around the fat-cat donors, they take them into that little office and say “Look, here’s Joe Paterno, coaching legend. We have to ask you to keep your voices down now, Joe is easily startled when he is sleeping.”
Eighty-two years old. Time to hang it up, Joe, and let Penn State, an organization bigger than yourself, move on.
Filed under: Commentary
Glad to see you’re still at it.
Even though what goes on in Happy Valley is of little concern to me, I found this an interesting read. I agree, JoePa needs to step away and reflect on a tremendous career, before it winds up ending on a sour note (admittedly, a lot of us thought that prior to last season). He runs the risk of turning Penn St into a “novelty” program.
There’s something about a lot of those guys in that early seventy to eighty-five year old range that seems to make them not want to give up working. I don’t know what it is, maybe they hate coming home or something. I can see going to your early seventies, but working is the last thing I want to be doing at that age (provided I last even that long).
While it may difficult to understand how an 80+ person can compete in this arena, your argument is hypothetical not factual. No NCAA D1 team accidentally goes 11-1 and to the Rose Bowl. Your depiction of his press box comments also show a lack of knowledge of JoePa. He has an unbelievable dry sense of humor. If you had seen him in more serious interviews you would soon come to realize that this comment was classic Joe “tongue and cheek”. I do not understand how he does it but he clearly does. If you would put his results on paper without his age, anyone would be happy to keep him around. Putting aside his resume, he is clearly one of the most successful coaches in the country in the past 3 years, with 2008 being the best of them.
Richard,
I would have written the same thing about Bobby Bowden, btw. The majority of the coaching on that team is done by the assistants, I believe, and BB has very little to do with it. I believe the same goes for Paterno.
As for his comments, I understand JoePa’s sense of humor. But I think there is more truth to his own comments than he would like to admit. A Freudian slip, perhaps.
AR,
I think what Joe Paterno is afraid of is what happened to Bear Bryant. Quit coaching, and was dead a year later. I think he has that on his mind. His persistence makes Penn State football more about him than it is Penn State, and once he leaves, it will be very difficult, I believe for them to recover.
Paterno just signed on again too. He’s going to be coaching until he’s 110.