Stop me if you have heard this before. Joe Paterno is hurting the Penn State program more than he is helping it at this point.
For those of you who may not be familiar with my background or line of thinking, I have generally been quick to dismiss that kind of comment whenever it comes up in the conversation. While I readily admit that Paterno does not have the same kind of impact he had 10, 15, 20 years ago I have always felt that there was some exaggeration in anti-Paterno comments. You have to understand something about me. I grew up in a house hold that placed a miniature cardboard Joe Paterno on top of the Christmas tree every other year, in a family that forced my uncle to reschedule his wedding not once, but twice due to conflicts with a Penn State football schedule. I grew up reading books about Paterno and idolizing “The Grand Experiment” that based success as a program not just on the field but in the class room.
For the most part, Paterno’s impact on Penn State and the sport of college football is largely overlooked because he does not run a program like Bob Stoops runs Oklahoma, Nick Saban runs LSU and Alabama, Pete Carroll led USC. These coaches took historic programs and made them great. I think many feel that Penn State could see the same kind of turnaround ahead of them, and there are plenty of reasons to expect that, but nobody seems to find the Nittany Lions getting back to an elite level with Paterno in charge.
Count me in that mix.
I still want to believe that Paterno has earned the right to step aside on his own decision (a position I still support) but now I’m becoming one of the guys who says that change needs to happen. Soon.
Cory Giger, of The Altoona Mirror, made some strong statements in a recent column following Penn State’s less-than-inspiring 16-10 victory against Indiana.
“Joe and Jay Paterno are making decisions based on what’s best for them and a few others instead of what’s best for the team,” Giger says. At first glance it seems to be a little harsh, but find me one Penn State fan who will disagree with this. Really. Try. I’ll give you some time to go search and come back and finish reading.
Go ahead. I’ll wait.
Continue reading on Crystal Ball Run.
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