Nitt Picks is Waiting for Answers

by BSD on Mar 21, 2008 8:33 AM EDT in Football Comment 11 comments

Good morning. Hope your bracket is looking better than mine this morning. USC put a hurtin' on me, but other than that I think I'm in ok shape.

There is a very important Board of Trustees meeting going on in Washington D.C. this week, and a major topic of discussion is Joe Paterno's contract status. From the sound of things it isn't going well.

Joe Paterno's storied coaching career could end on a sour note -- if he lets it.

Two members of Penn State's Board of Trustees yesterday told the Post-Gazette that negotiations regarding a possible contract extension or succession plan for Paterno have not gone smoothly.

President Graham Spanier, who ultimately will decide whether Paterno, 81, stays or leaves when his contract expires after the 2008 season, declined to answer specific questions about Paterno's status yesterday.

"There's nothing new to report," Spanier said before the trustees' bimonthly meeting at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel. "And there are no talks set up for the foreseeable future."

Spanier reiterated there is "no timetable or deadline" for reaching a decision on Paterno's future, meaning it could drag into the start of the season in late August.

It sounds like Spanier is playing hardball. Joe wants to coach another 2-5 years, but Spanier is holding all of the cards in this one. He just got a five year extension and this decision is almost entirely up to him. He remembers how Joe let the cat out of the bag about their Sunday morning meeting at Joe's house in the fall of 2004. Sue's cookies aren't going to persuade him this time. He's not going to let the old man talk him out of what he wants to do a second time.

I've got the feeling this is going to get really ugly. This may drag into the summer. Or even next season. The only kids we're going to recruit this year are the ones that grew up with posters of Ki-Jana Carter and Kerry Collins on their walls. The worst case scenario here is that Spanier just lets Joe play out the rest of his contract and refuses to renew it opening the door for a national search. And that would be disasterous.

But it's not all bad news today. Tyrell Sales had the charges thrown out from his incident in Pittsburgh over the weekend.

Charges against a Penn State football player arrested following a St. Patrick's Day weekend celebration in Station Square were withdrawn or dismissed today.
Tyrell Alexander Sales, 22, a Butler Area High School graduate, was charged with defiant trespass and disorderly conduct after police were called Saturday night for a disturbance at Margarita Mama's.

The defiant trespass charge was withdrawn by prosecutors at a Pittsburgh Municipal Court hearing.

A magisterial district judge dismissed the disorderly conduct charge.

Apparently the Pittsburgh DA has bigger fish to fry, unlike the State College prosecutors. Hopefully this is all behind us now and Sales can go back to focusing on football.

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Sales

If you have the time, check out the last line of the article that Mike has linked. Sales is a two time Academic All American. Doesn't mean that he can't get into trouble, but I wanted to highlight something that can get overlooked. Good to see that the Grand Experiment can still work.

by CheeseHeadLion on Mar 21, 2008 9:44 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Sales news good, paterno news sucks.

We are going to recruit a bunch of one star 300 pound farm boys from rural PA and suck for years to come.

by PSU86 on Mar 21, 2008 10:23 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Good news

on the charges being withdrawn. I'll admit to overreacting in the other thread about zero tolerance.

As for the succession, the longer it goes on, I can't see why the best solution wouldn't be to name Tom Bradley the successor. It would clear up all the questions recruits would have, and I'm not convinced a national search would necessarily yield us anything better that Bradley. I think he's earned a shot at with his ability to keep re-loading the defense.

by Joe 96alum on Mar 21, 2008 10:31 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Bradley

I don't think Spanier is sold on Bradley. He knows he's the first president in over 40 years with a chance to hire a football coach. He's not just going to hand it off to one of Joe's cronies. Spanier wants a national search to get the best candidate. Maybe that turns out to be Bradley, but Graham doesn't want to limit his options.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Mar 21, 2008 10:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's becoming more and more apparent that this is

Joe's last year. Think about it. If Spanier wanted to give JoePa a contract extension it would have been done long ago. The fact that it hasn't speaks volumes as to what Spanier's goal is. Additionally, as has been reported here and in other sources that one of the sticking points for a succession plan is that Joe wants to line up some sort of protection for the staff, the fact that Bradley has not been named successor (now isn't that the ultimate protection?) shows (to me) that Spanier has every intention of going outside the program for a new coach. Face it, after a very subpar recruiting class, this uncertainty at the coaching position is now affecting recruiting. Are Spanier and Curley that dumb, or arrogant, to acknowledge it? You would have to think they realize it if a dumbass like me can see it. So, the fact that Bradley hasn't been named a successor already shows that they have no intention of hiring somebody on the current staff to follow Joe.

That leads to the final conclusion: the next coach will be somebody from outside the program. Who? This is just my opinion, but I think there is more to this Cowher thing than meets the eye. Why would he spend the night a Curley's house? If it's because his daughter is a potential recruit for women's basketball, that's a violation of NCAA rules. How many other recruits' parents have had sleepovers and tickle fights in their pajamas at the Curley's? None. And if Curley was picking Cowher's brain about a new coach, why wouldn't Curley go to North Carolina. Nobody in the Carolina's knows who Tim Curley is (hell, a lot of people in PA don't know who in the hell Curley is!). Just seems a little strange to me. Who else? Al Golden maybe, and Greg Schiano's name keeps popping up. Who knows? But whatever is decided, it had better be done before recruiting heats up in the fall. If it isn't, then our beloved program is in deep, deep trouble.

by Ab4PSU on Mar 21, 2008 10:36 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Eh

I feel the same way. I haven't said anything, because it just seems too strange. Where there's smoke, there's fire?

Enter someone who's not Morelli!

by MarkoMancuso on Mar 21, 2008 10:45 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Comment from Jesse?

Jesse, I hope to hear your take on this--loved the speculation you posted the other day, which was not far off at all.

The whole 'its a different time now' thing with players, college & pro, is massive and very, very real. I'd love to see the coverage of Babe Ruth in the Internet age. Anyway, it's good to know there are still reasonable judges (even local magistrates, who in many jurisdictions are elected, for fixed terms and not appointed for life) who can discern when to chuck out needless charges for a silly incident.

I wonder how many cops these days do the same thing--use judicious judgment in handling a 'situation'? We never hear about them, but in the internet age, we certainly hear about the ones who don't. Well, we hear about their subjects (victims/antagonists, depending on perspective), but the names that end up printed are never those of the police themselves.

It must be a real bitch to operate in Public Life these days.

by jtothep on Mar 21, 2008 11:07 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Well, in a way I cheated...

I have a law degree, and I practice in city court from time to time. One thing I know is that you can always trust a cop to act like a cop; and no cop is going to let some 22 year old kid him tell him to f--k off and walk away. Even if by doing so he isn't breaking any laws. It's nice that the first amendment actually gives you the right to tell a cop to f--k off, I love this country.

Be safe...fight the power.

For the Glory National Champions 1982, 1986, 1994,

by jesse. on Mar 21, 2008 3:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wow

The uglier this gets, the more angry I become. WHo the HELL does Spanier think he is? This program isnt struggling. This program isn't sputtering. Its won 3 straight bowl game with the old man at the helm. Who does he think he is to run Joe out of here like his? Really, we may not win another NC with him, but I don't frankly care. I want to watch the legend coach as long as he is able.

Whats worse is that it appears he is also trying to run out the long time assistants, and do this "national search" thing, which I agree, would be a disaster.

Heres what I say, if it ain't broke, even if its 80 years old, don't fix it. Hes been here for 40 years. Whats 2-3 more? (assuming he doesn't lose it).

God Created the World Out Of Nothing, Paterno Built A National Superpower On Cow Fields...

by fugimaster24 on Mar 21, 2008 1:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Just to clarify

I don't think a national search would be a disaster. Letting Joe's contract just run out without a succession plan in place would be the disaster. If Spanier wants to have a national search reach an agreement with Joe where he grants him an extension to show confidence in him and give the appearance of program stability, but Joe would agree to step down after the 2008 or 2009 season is over.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Mar 21, 2008 1:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Give the man another 5 years

My bet is that he is still well enough to coach in 5 years. His mom lived well into her 90's. He's earned it. Heck, the man raised billions for this university. Spanier is just a blip on the PSU radar screen. He's a nobody. A figure head.

by Umberto on Mar 21, 2008 4:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs