Overreaction to LJsr
by Roland86 on Jan 8, 2009 7:53 AM EST
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PrintFirst, the guy hasn't even left yet, if he is going to.
Also, teams lose highly valued coaches all the time. That is how it works, a guy builds up a great reputation as an assisstant then moves up and trys to build his own coaching legacy. Just because PSU has been about the only example of coaches staying doesn't mean we are immune to it. If LJ leaves, it will suck because he is a great coach/recruiter. It may even mean we lose a prospect or two this year. But some people have been acting like the whole PSU world is coming down because one of our coaches maybe interviewed to take another job. Losing one coach doesn't eliminate the consistency of the past 40 years, we will survive. Someone else will take his position and we'll go from there. How can you fault a guy for wanting to move one rung up on the ladder? It isn't betrayl of any kind, the guy has done a lot for PSU. In the end you have to realize that people have to balance what is good for their own career with their program.
When other teams look at one of our coaches I think of it as a quasi-honor because that means another program says "that guy is better than what we had, let's get him"
If we can live through the early '00's, the otl piece, the fighting, losing Sandusky, losing Ganter, heartbreaks in 78, 85 and all the undefeated/uncrowned teams, we can sure as hell live through losing a good coach, a back-up QB transferring, maybe not getting a recruit and losing a tough Rose Bowl. There is no reason to believe otherwise.
Here's to a solid '09! For the glory.
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I also realize
some of the greater implications involving Paterno and what may lie ahead for him and his staff, but I am thinking about the immediate future. What happens a couple years down the road is nothing we can change, and I don’t think that an assisstant interviewing for another job should be construed as to having some deep seeded secret meaning for our program’s future. Isn’t it completly possible he just wants a shot at advancing his career?
I agree that assistant coaches from other programs leave all the time
but I’m not sure if any one of those assistant coaches is as vital to their recruiting as LJSR is to PSU. Joe doesn’t recruit, Galen doesn’t recruit, Jay sucks at it, Scrap is decent at it, but LJSR gets the job done.
as mentioned, I don't think we will have problems with his actual coaching
Every year he hops in the struggle bus that is PSU recruiting and drives to bordering southern states and packs it full of excellent recruits, losing him would hurt more than any other assistant for this reason. They could have Jaypa.
We just needed a couple players, a couple people to buy in to the fact and we were able to do it. --A.Q. Shipley
I’m not trying to fan the flames, I have no inside knowledge, but I do know what the past has to say:
LJ is already gone.
If an assistant is looking for a new position, and is offered one, he’ll take it. LJ isn’t going to interview, drag this story into the media, just to say “sike, I’m happy at PSU that was all for fun”
If he’s happy at PSU, he wouldn’t take the interview.
Then factor in how Joe treats these situations: if someone is unhappy, they should leave the program immediately anyway. He’s not going to beg LJ, he’s not going to compromise, or try to make him happy. Joe does what Joe has always done: “good luck and don’t let the door hit you on the way out”
The panic comes when you realize that LJ isn’t just some assistant, he’s probably the most important assistant we’ve had in the last 10 years, maybe longer. His recruiting brought this program back to life, and his coaching made our D-line the best in the B10 for several years now — often covering for our other weaknesses.
Why do you assume this is about LJ being unhappy?
Why can’t it be a professional decision in which he is taking an opportunity to move up the career ladder?
You’re right, I was talking about being professionally unhappy. Like feeling like you’re not getting the opportunity to advance your career, or not making enough money, or you tend to disagree with the way your boss does things. Maybe that’s the same thing?
Maybe
Keep in mind, it was Illinois who approached LJ, not the other way around. And, based on the scout article, he’s not interviewing. It sounds like he’s basically been offered the position, and is checking it out to see if it fits. I think you can be professionally happy and still be willing to look into something else. Maybe he is unhappy, but I’m just saying that I don’t think it’s fair to assume he is.
Nah,
Other PSU coaches have interviewed for jobs. Ganter & MSU come to mind.
Maybe LJ is just being polite. Maybe LJ wants more money, and plans to use this to renegotiate. Maybe LJ just wants to feel the love.
by Tailgate Shogun on Jan 8, 2009 1:07 PM EST up reply actions
Never hurts to listen
"I honestly think the "Spread HD" is going to work pretty well, and we’ll be just fine this year". - 8-27-2008
Never hurts to listen...
…unless you are Jeff Jagodzinski.
The tough part
Under normal circumstances teams can lose a position coach and fill the position and keep going without problems. But this is different. Everyone knows Joe only has a few years left. So that makes it difficult to go outside the program and bring someone in. Who wants to come into a situation where you don’t know who your boss will be in a few years? Or if you will even have a job? Most likely I bet Penn State ends up filling this position with a graduate assistant. I’m sure whoever it is will do fine as long as they have Bradley and Vandy around them. But we’re going to take a major hit in recruiting. There are only a handful of individuals in the country as good as LJSR when it comes to recruiting. And to see him go to a Big Ten rival hurts even more.
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
what's your opinion on
The fact that we’re so close to the end of Joe’s career, and he’s got a new contract with (apparently) contracts for all of his staff, yet there’s been not even a mention of “succession plan” or “transition”.
Is this blatant omission a clear indication of a clean sweep of Joe’s staff when the time comes? Or is it just PSU just dragging it’s feet? If Bradley is going to eventually be named a candidate, why hasn’t that happened yet? Why does everyone involved act like this is normal?
I just find it so hard to believe that we’re moving forward with no plan, and the administration and coaches are acting like it’s normal to have an 82 year old HC with no plan for the future. That is unless the plan is to clean house and start fresh when Joe leaves…
Honestly
There are a lot of factors in play here. I don’t think Joe knows how long he wants to coach. So from his standpoint he probably doesn’t think it’s fair to name Bradley or anyone the successor when he can’t tell them how long they will have to wait. And I think that’s only fair to Bradley. It’s not fair to have someone be the “coach in waiting” for an undetermined amount of time. Now if Joe could come out and say this will be his last year, then you can name a successor.
Then there is Spanier’s perspective. He has made it known that when Joe steps down he intends to have a national search to find the best candidate. It’s his opportunity to leave his mark on Penn State football for the next ten years. He doesn’t want to just hand it off to Paterno 2.0.
So my answer is I guess nobody knows what’s going to happen when Joe steps down or even when that will be. When it happens I expect a power struggle between Paterno and Spanier to name their guys.
To tell the truth I’m not really sold on succession plans. They are still a relatively new thing. Maybe that’s a topic for an offseason post down the road.
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
Sure
But nobody knows for sure how it going to work out.
"I honestly think the "Spread HD" is going to work pretty well, and we’ll be just fine this year". - 8-27-2008
And Jimbo Fisher
gets something like $2mil if they don’t make him the next headcoach. Which means that a succession plan isn’t necessarily the safest financial decision. FSU can’t change their minds without a hefty “fine”.
amen.
"We are Penn State. We are not normal. We are Legends." - Deon Butler
by Stately NOVA Lion on Jan 9, 2009 12:45 PM EST up reply actions
Why would someone take it?
Because it’s the D-Line position at Penn State. That is a great opportunity, regardless of how long it will last. The coaching profession is about as transient as any. I’m not saying we’ll find someone who would be as good as LJ, but I am sure there would be a ton of interest in this position, IF he leaves.
I dunno
I just feel like we were competitive and able to bring in talent before he got here and we will be able to afterwards. Not that I don’t appreciate what he has done. Even when Joe is gone, maybe a big change will be good for the program, who knows how it could all play out. I guess I try to be optimistic for my school and team. I guess if i try to sum up my point is this, if we are going to have a complete coaching turnover in 2 years, then so be it. This class will be the last class that will be contributing then for the most part anyways for these next 2 years. Say we take a hit, we are still safe for right now, and when the staff is gone, it will change anyways and if there will be a drop off it would happen then. So basically if Joe is gone and the staff with him in a year or two, this really doesn’t matter because LJ would be gone as well.
I don’t even make sense to myself, but I have a hard time believing this is going to have a lasting impact on the program considering the program is going to be changed in a year or two anyways.
Talent and Recruiting
I just feel like we were competitive and able to bring in talent before he got here and we will be able to afterwards.
That was when Joe recruited and was one of the top recruiters in the country at that. LJSR is our probably our best recruiter on probably the main reason we get our talent in the DC area.
by Screen Name 20 on Jan 8, 2009 11:05 AM EST up reply actions
Seriously
I like how people think Joe leaving would be a good thing, but losing LJSr would be the end of life on planet State College.
No one doubts LJ is great, but seriously. Life will go on.
Shame we can’t make a run at Ed Orgeron. He’d be AWESOME as DL coach and head recruiter:
http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/category/my-god-the-orgeron/
by Tailgate Shogun on Jan 8, 2009 12:03 PM EST reply actions
I'm not saying Joe leaving is a good thing
but he’s 83…there’s not many more good years we can get out of him. While LJSR is relatively young (or extrememly young in Joe Pa years), a pretty good coach and arguably our best recruiter. It’s not the end of the world but it’s going to be a big loss (no pun intended).
by Screen Name 20 on Jan 8, 2009 2:43 PM EST up reply actions
Screen, I wasn’t really referring to your post, but more so the general sentiment of some people here, and a LOT of people over on the FOS board. Some people are chomping at the bit to get rid of the coach that just won two Big Ten titles in the past four years because we lost to USC or lost to Iowa (or whatever retarded reason they thought up today).
by Tailgate Shogun on Jan 8, 2009 4:35 PM EST up reply actions
I hear ya
Just offering my perspective on maybe why people are going nuts. Just saying that Joe is getting old and PSU needs to start looking to the future and keeping younger talent, and LJSR would be a part of that… or maybe they already have and feel that LJSR is not.
by Screen Name 20 on Jan 9, 2009 8:35 AM EST up reply actions
I would never say...
losing Joe Pa is a good thing, because it isn’t. But can anyone say that he’s pulling in recruits the same way he did 10-20 years ago?
For the program’s immediate future, LJ seems to be very vital.
People have been saying that coaches come and go, and Penn State will always be Penn State. This is all true. But I would rather not see us have a new coach come in in less than favorable conditions. Success need to be sustained and it doesn’t take much for things to go from bad to worse.
I was out in the trenches, which enables me to paint such a powerful picture, like Apocalypse Now.-Cormega
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