Laughing at PSU
- Thread starter MacNit
- Start date
Players, OC, DC deserve as much blame yesterday as CJF. That was an all around team loss (players and coordinators) as we have seen at Penn State in quite some time. It was like the OC and DC were both schooled by their counterparts.
Yes, it’s so difficult to have a “make shift” OLine when you have to replace two five stars with two different five stars. Tough stuff there.
Joe Paterno was the greatest of all time!
Paterno is Penn State and Penn State is Paterno - Twas always thus, and always thus will be.
Paterno is Penn State and Penn State is Paterno - Twas always thus, and always thus will be.
In his first 10 years as head coach, Paterno had 3 undefeated teams (1968, '69, and '73), a one loss team ('71), and two two-loss teams ('72 and '74). His bowl record first ten years was 5-2-1. Of course, he won Nattys in '82 and '86. In his first 20 years, Paterno's teams finished in the AP top 5 10 times.
Joe WAS the greatest, and if he did suffer some ignominious defeats and losing seasons, he gets a pass for those - easily. Moreover, Joe recognized that it is COLLEGE football, and emphasized scholarship and getting a degree. He taught his players to conduct themselves properly and speak well.
The college football Joe mastered and loved is dead. His accomplishments should always be honored. But trying to compare now with 50 years ago is a fool's errand. Joe didn't take over a program under some of the most severe sanctions in the history of the NCAA either. Also, given the current state of big boys college football, if PSU fans want to adhere to Joe’s admirable academic standards then PSU needs to move to the Ivy League.
Take away Joe and Penn State has the national reputation of Syracuse.
No one disputes that. But when it comes to national reputation...we lost control of that narrative . Even if we know it's incorrect.
No one on the current roster came because of Joe. We are dinosaurs. They are there because of James, Terry, Deion etc.
With neutral refs it's a different game. They still have a higher payroll, but it would be a winnable game.
I don't disagree that NIL has turned "college" football into "NFL Lite." It is a way different game that it was then.
Joe might not have been handed the keys under sanctions, but he arguably had a more difficult job - building a powerhouse (admittedly with a good foundation under Rip Engle). Penn State had some great teams under Engle, but it was Paterno that took the school to the next level, and made Penn State a national name.
Academic standards shouldn't be an issue for "college" football. If the players aren't taking classes and adhering to standards then they shouldn't play - NIL money or otherwise.
Without Joe, where would Penn State be? The MAC? AAC? ACC? Would Franklin have come to Penn State if Joe hadn't made Penn State what it is? No one on the current roster came to play for Joe, but they did come to Penn State because of what he made Penn State.
It pains me to see that schools like Alabama revere their former coaches, like Bear Bryant, whereas the Penn State of today seems intent on making us forget who Joe was. The national reputation narrative was fueled by Penn State people jealous of Joe, who wanted to bury him.
Where would we find neutral refs? In every Big Ten game, non-conference game, and bowl game that we've played in the past 20 years, I've read about how the refs have it out for us.
Is there a ref on earth that could get it right and call the 25-30 holding penalties that should be called on our opponent each game?
Being a HC these days, no matter the conference, is brutal. People are in these players ear 24/7, trying to dictate where they go initially, trying to get them to transfer.
Back in the day, phone calls, letters, and visits were the way you competed for recruits. Outwork, out hustle, show a player they were important, you had a great chance of getting a player on campus. Now you have many others trying to counteract this and pray on the indecisive nature of these young men.
Back in the day, phone calls, letters, and visits were the way you competed for recruits. Outwork, out hustle, show a player they were important, you had a great chance of getting a player on campus. Now you have many others trying to counteract this and pray on the indecisive nature of these young men.
Luckily for them, some of the stress is offset by 7, and even 8 figure paydays each year. And if you fail, you'll still collect that $$$ for the rest of their contract.
There are certainly challenging aspects of it, but it's "first world problems" of the highest order.
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