FanPost

Hold The Phone, Smizik Still Drinks For Free

BSD - The people have spoken. They want Fugi's post on the front page. So the front page they shall have. Now please disperse peacefully before we break out the water hoses and tear gas.

It took dear Bob Smizik exactly 24 hours and 45 minutes to add the "but" to his "Last Laugh Goes to Joe Paterno" post from the day before.

Anyone who says Joe Paterno is the greatest college football coach of all time doesn’t know what he or she is talking about.

No, I'm pretty sure they know they're talking about Joe Paterno being the greatest college football coach of all time.

And that’s no reflection on Paterno, who is a great coach.

But the greatest? How could anyone possibly know that?

So what you're saying is that you don't know what you're talking about either?

How much knowledge would a person have to have stored in their brain to make such an assessment. Even if there is someone who has seen all of Paterno’s games, all that means he’s barely seen anyone else’s games.

And if he has seen all the games, has he seen all the practices? Has he seen all the halftime adjustments? And does he know whether Paterno was doing it with better players than another coach with a similar record?

Well, I mean, they could write it down.  It doesn't all have to go in their brain....but anyway, as far as "better players than another coach with a similar record" goes, isn't that part of being a great coach?  I mean if you recruit better players than another coach, and win more games with those players because YOU RECRUITED THEM, doesn't that mean you're the better coach?  If we were talking about the pros, that'd be one thing, but in college, head coaches have control of all personnel acquisition, meaning they get the credit for finding the players as well as putting them together and coaching them into a winner.

Better still, has he evaluated the strength of schedule of all the great coaches?

Just count the bowl wins.  No one has won more big games than Paterno.  That's not an opinion, it's a statistical fact.

Maybe the greatest coach of all time is Knute Rockne, of Notre Dame fame. who was 105-12-5? Or Pop Warner? Or Amos Alonzo Stagg? Or Bear Bryant?

I mean, I guess that's a fair question, but again, count the wins, the bowl wins, and most importantly, the longevity, because that's what really separates Paterno from everyone else.  He's been doing it for so long, through so many eras, and at such a high level that even if a guy like Rockne seemingly had a better run over a shorter career, it doesn't matter: he didn't sustain it as long as Joe did.

Maybe it’s Pete Carroll? Or Urban Meyer?

Or Rich Rodriguez? 

But he couldn't say that.  It would simultaneously pis off Pitt, Penn State, and West Virginia fans all at the same time. even though we all know its true.

Until someone comes up with a legitimate system of ranking coaches, no one can claim to know who is the greatest. And there is no system of ranking coaching greatness nor will there ever be.

I've got an idea.  Why don't you get off your partisan ass, make the grueling 2 1/2 trek to State College, and just walk around outside the stadium for ten minutes on a gameday.  Forget the game.  Look at everything that surrounds it.  Look at the oceans of tailgating cars.  Look at an entire city of people dressed in white.  Look at the Bryce Jordan Center, or Jeffery Field, or Lubrano Park.  Look at the library with his name on it.  Look at the graduation rate.  Look at the philanthropy.  Then walk inside the stadium and feel the electricity, and ask yourself if you've felt it anywhere else in your career.  Ask yourself if there has ever been a coach with a more lasting impact on the university and community he represents than Joe Paterno. 

Some football coaches are great men.  Some men are great football coaches.  While it might be debatable whether or not Joe Paterno is the best at being either, you can't argue that he is the best combination of both that college football has ever seen. 

Those goosebumps?  They're my system.  They're how I know.

We Are Penn State

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