Penn State Coach Joe Paterno (official thread)

[MegaWoody]

A 100,000+ seat stadium and a high visibility history will attract a so-called 'power' coach and the program will return to glory eventually. But it may not happen for the first coach they hire.

When Woody left the game, a lot of OSU folks wanted Lou Holtz, who had wanted tOSU job his entire life. But he wouldn't interview for the job because he didn't "want to be the coach who followed Woody Hayes", he wanted "to be the coach who followed the coach who followed Woody Hayes".

You may see that phenomenon happen in Happy Valley. The immediate successor can't possibly live up to expectations, so the school moves on a couple of years later to the successful successor.

[BuckeyeNation27]

Originally Posted by scooter1369

So.... Is hanging up the whistle or not? I'm guessing "no".

didnt you see my first post? my SOURCE says it will be a week from tomorrow. who cares that he thinks that is JoePas birthday

Actually, i should be careful about saying this (even though i believe the source) because ESPN might be reading and print it as fact.

[bkochmc]

Originally Posted by MegaWoody

A 100,000+ seat stadium and a high visibility history will attract a so-called 'power' coach and the program will return to glory eventually. But it may not happen for the first coach they hire.

When Woody left the game, a lot of OSU folks wanted Lou Holtz, who had wanted tOSU job his entire life. But he wouldn't interview for the job because he didn't "want to be the coach who followed Woody Hayes", he wanted "to be the coach who followed the coach who followed Woody Hayes".

You may see that phenomenon happen in Happy Valley. The immediate successor can't possibly live up to expectations, so the school moves on a couple of years later to the successful successor.

The major difference I see with these two legendary coaches is in what kind of state they left/are leaving their teams... Hayes left his team while they were still very competitive and successful while unfortunately for JoePa his last few years have been the exact opposite. While I do agree with you that there will probably be a smaller, unknown coach succeed JoePa, it wouldn't surprise me to see Penn State go after and land a larger name coach since the program has been on the slide for a few years. If they could pull that off and the coach would be successful he would probably have a job at PSU for a long time...

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

I think when JoePa retires, which I believe could be at the end of the season....its my opinion that Penn State will find it difficult to rebuild the program quickly. JoePa is Penn State and when he leaves it will be a big blow to them, it will take an outstanding coach who has experience rebuilding a program and who has great ties with the Pa high school coaches, if they can recruit Pa, whoever is in the head coaching position will have success.

[FKAGobucks877]

Originally Posted by JonathanXC

Him leaving is not going to fix PSU's problems. PSU's biggest problem IMHO is recruiting. I don't think they are going to do any better when JoPa leaves. But that's just me. I guess the rest of the world thinks different.

I don't know about the rest of the world, but I think differently. JoePa is old, and almost everyone thinks he's on his last legs. Think about it - if you're a high school senior, and a blue chipper, do you risk going to a school that will most likely suffer a coaching change while you are there? Hell no. I think their recruiting is suffering because of JoePa. Once he retires, if they have a decent coach, their recruiting will only get better.

[UpNorthBuckeye]

Well.... I know a few Penn State fans and they can be RABID. That is, every major program has its loyal supporters.

Doncha think someone on the level of an Urban Meyer could get the recruiting juiced up QUICK??

As someone else has said, it's the kind of job that would attract some major name coach, not a Gerry Faust.

And then if they start putting the players' names on the jerseys, maybe crank up the uniform design a little (I know, it's a "classic"), who knows what might happen.

You know, it's not even fun beating Joe Pa anymore.

GO BUCKS

[scooter1369]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeNation27

didnt you see my first post? my SOURCE says it will be a week from tomorrow. who cares that he thinks that is JoePas birthday

Actually, i should be careful about saying this (even though i believe the source) because ESPN might be reading and print it as fact.

I'd say your a more reliable source than the ones they've used in the last few days.

[BuckeyeNation27]

And then if they start putting the players' names on the jerseys, maybe crank up the uniform design a little (I know, it's a "classic"), who knows what might happen.

penn state fans would whine.

You know, it's not even fun beating Joe Pa anymore.

blasphemy! try living in PA, its always fun beating JoePa

[buckeyebri]

Well, if this is Joe Pa's last game it looks like he is going to go out a winner. Good for him.

Michigan State is still the all time Jekyll and Hyde team of the Big 11.

[ntd]

Everyone is saying it'll probably be next year, but who knows

Glad to see joe pa winning, if he comes back next year I'd like to see 'em have a good season

[buckeyebri]

Holtz goes out a loser....

[LloydSev]

Originally Posted by buckeyebri

Holtz goes out a loser....

Holtz goes out a definate College Football Hall of Famer...

[buckeyebri]

Originally Posted by LloydSev

Holtz goes out a definate College Football Hall of Famer...

Don't disagree with you on that one, but you have to put some astericks by his name. It will be interesting to see if anything follows his leaving at SC like it did at Arkansas, Minn., and ND

[OSUsushichic]

Originally Posted by buckeyebri

Holtz goes out a loser....

That fight, I'm sure, was not the way Holtz would have liked to finish (in additon to the loss). That was pretty bad. What is with the fighting this weekend!?! It's like everyone (outside of the Buckeye Nation, of course) has PMS!

[Bucklion]

Well one thing's for sure, a big-assed fight followed him leaving SC. What the hell was that all about? If either team had shown any of that all season, they might have been to a decent bowl game.