Why Wisconsin terrifies me (trap game)

[LandoComando]

Not sure how much coaching he was doing in his last 10 years. I wonder what his succession plan was if all the Sandusky crap did not happen. Was he going to retire at the end of 2011? He got cancer so that would of forced it. Was Jay going to be the guy? I don't think Curley or Spanier were going to tell him you can't hire Jay to be the HC.

Bradley or LJ may have been the guy but no succession planning

 

[bdgan]

I don't believe there was a succession plan. Nobody knew about the cancer until he died IIRC. He was scared to retire after watching Bear hang it up and die within a year.

I thought I read that he had already decided not to return in 2012. He just didn't make it public because he didn't want a big deal made out of it and he didn't want an announcement to impact the current team.
Maybe that's not accurate but I'm sure the administration had discussions about a succession plan.

 

[mcpat]

Bo sucks. He is absolutely not even close to talent level of Paul Blake, former PSU QB.

Blake was a HUGE signee. Dude threw for like 7 TDs in the Texas high school state championship game. But I don’t think he ever enrolled. Heard he became a farmer.

 

[mcpat]

64-20

I didn't claim it was his peak.

2005: 11-1
2006: 9-4
2007: 9-4
2008; 11-2
2009: 11-2
2010: 7-6
2011: 8-1

66-20 actually. But I originally excluded 2011. That was the 58-19.

 

[lazydave841]

I thought I read that he had already decided not to return in 2012. He just didn't make it public because he didn't want a big deal made out of it and he didn't want an announcement to impact the current team.
Maybe that's not accurate but I'm sure the administration had discussions about a succession plan.

Joe Paterno was given sweeter deal while Sandusky investigation was ongoing

STATE COLLEGE, PA. - Veteran Penn State football coach Joe Paterno began talks that resulted in a sweetened retirement contract in the same month that he testified before a grand jury in the Jerry Sa…

www.jacksonville.com

It seems like they were trying to get him out in '11. He signed a contract with "payment if" language, but who knows what he actually planned to do.

 

[tboyer]

PSU was leading Iowa 17-3 before Clifford got hurt. IIRC Franklin said PSU didn't have time to assess and get a 2nd team QB ready to play. That seems ridiculous given they had fall practice + 5 previous games to make that assessment. Roberson couldn't even get the snap count. IMO that's a coaching problem.

According to Lando the #7 team (PSU) should never lose to the #24 team (MSU). I don't buy the storm delay excuse. PSU was struggling in that game long before the delay.

It's always been a mystery to me -- why did PSU not have a 2nd string QB in 2021? It would be interesting to hear Franklin tell the story. It was Yurcich's first year, they were putting in a new offense, of course there was a lot of work to do. But you have to have a 2nd string QB at this level -- at any level.

They'd had Roberson in the program since summer 2019 so they knew his limitations well -- they certainly knew he wasn't an option. They had lost Levis unexpectedly but they had lost him in the spring. They had Christian Veilleux, who had enrolled early in January.

Did they try to prepare Veilleux? Did they try to land a transfer QB? Did they try open casting -- there were probably dozens of former HS quarterbacks on the Penn State campus who could have learned the plays and run the offense better than Roberson, which is to say run the offense AT ALL.

It's just bizarre that PSU's plan A was Clifford and their plan B if Clifford got hurt was ... we have no idea what to do. It led directly to Franklin's worst season, a stinking 7-6 and an actual losing record in conference. (Other than QB that was a good PSU team, probably another 2-loss or 3-loss top 15 finish.) I wonder what Franklin would say now -- did he overlook it? Did he try to get Yurich to address it but Yurcich just wouldn't?

It's just odd to me because Franklin is a details guy. He's a planner. He's all about contingencies. Franklin knew Roberson couldn't run the offense -- no doubt they had seen plenty in practice.

 

[The Spin Meister]

I don't believe there was a succession plan. Nobody knew about the cancer until he died IIRC. He was scared to retire after watching Bear hang it up and die within a year.

He announced his cancer a couple months before he died. IIRC, about six weeks after the scandal broke.

It wasn’t going to be Jay. A friend of mine close to Joe said that Joe didn’t want to hire Jay in the first place. Joe knew it would look bad and wanted Jay to earn his chops elsewhere. It was the OC that hired Jay.

The administration had made it clear they were going to open it up and not automatically hire a current coach. They didn’t like Joe having more power then they and they wanted a clean new start.

Joe probably should have retired about five years earlier. After ‘08 he had the program in great shape. Maybe he though he could one more natty and go out on top🤷🏻‍♀️

 

[tboyer]

Joe probably should have retired about five years earlier. After ‘08 he had the program in great shape. Maybe he though he could one more natty and go out on top🤷🏻‍♀️

For sure, Joe got punished, and Penn State REALLY got punished, for Joe not retiring when he should have. That stupid lifetime wins contest with Bobby Bowden meant both of them stayed too long. In Bowden's case, it meant the cupboard was bare when he finally retired and Fla State football hasn't been the same since.

In Paterno's case it meant this scandal exploded 100 times worse than it would have if Paterno had been golfing in Bermuda. You could probably argue that Joe's inability to retire cost PSU a billion dollars. And it certainly cost Paterno his reputation.

That is a classic Greek plotline -- Joe wants the total wins record because he's so concerned about his legacy -- so he destroys his legacy.

 

[LandoComando]

He announced his cancer a couple months before he died. IIRC, about six weeks after the scandal broke.

It wasn’t going to be Jay. A friend of mine close to Joe said that Joe didn’t want to hire Jay in the first place. Joe knew it would look bad and wanted Jay to earn his chops elsewhere. It was the OC that hired Jay.

The administration had made it clear they were going to open it up and not automatically hire a current coach. They didn’t like Joe having more power then they and they wanted a clean new start.

Joe probably should have retired about five years earlier. After ‘08 he had the program in great shape. Maybe he though he could one more natty and go out on top🤷🏻‍♀️

Wait--the OC isn't hiring a coach that Joe doesn't sign off on. I agree with everything else (though he should have retired after the 99 season IMO) but Jay being on the staff was 100% Joe's decision--just like every single coach.

 

[lazydave841]

why did PSU not have a 2nd string QB in 2021?

1. Levis transferred out.
2. Roberson crapped the bed in Iowa, but probably isn't a P4 starter (currently backup in KState)
3. CV was in trouble (and was new) and he turned out to not be a good P4 starter later on.
4. QB recruiting had been about mobile guys instead of passers who could move.
5. We didn't take a portal QB after losing Levis