Why Wisconsin terrifies me (trap game)
- Thread starter africamurphy
- Start date
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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🤷🏻♀️
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.
Last edited:
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.
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
Son: Paterno has treatable form of lung cancer
Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno has a treatable form of lung cancer, according to his son.
9 days after he was fired. Died 2 months later.
In retrospect, you could list a lot of different times that Joe should have retired. After the '86 title, after the '94 undefeated team (first to go through Big 10 since '68 I believe), after '04, etc. They all have a logical end to them, other than Joe didn't want to go.
Why would they leave Roberson on the team if he couldn't run the offense? Vellieux should have been ready. This is totally Franklin's fault whether he admits it or not. It is his fault we lost that debacle to Illinois and cratered the back half of the season.
Did they just discover the lung cancer in Nov and then he dies in Jan? I have to think he had been informed at some point earlier than Nov that he had long cancer. Had to be symptoms that prompted him to go to the doctor or Sue would have made him go. You would think he would have seen a doctor in the summer of '11 at least. Maybe he did but nothing public until Nov.Son: Paterno has treatable form of lung cancer
Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno has a treatable form of lung cancer, according to his son.www.espn.com
9 days after he was fired. Died 2 months later.
In retrospect, you could list a lot of different times that Joe should have retired. After the '86 title, after the '94 undefeated team (first to go through Big 10 since '68 I believe), after '04, etc. They all have a logical end to them, other than Joe didn't want to go.
Lung cancer often doesn’t show symptoms until it’s in late stages. One of the reasons it is so deadly. And a lot of people, especially men, ignore early, minor symptoms.
I think he knew a few weeks earlier but wanted to wait until the season was over before going public.
Yes, but still, how did Franklin let it happen? They had 2 1/2 years to know Roberson wasn't going to play for them. The issue wasn't mobility or arm strength (Roberson had plenty of both), it was someone who couldn't learn the offense. They knew Levis was gone in Feb.
They had to know by the end of spring practice that they had quite literally no second string QB and apparently decided they would just gamble and hope Clifford stayed healthy.
I would just love to hear Franklin tell the story but he probably can't.
After Levis left, we just weren’t good enough at QB after Clifford with the guys we had at that point in their careers. Look what happened the next year: we had to burn Allar’s redshirt to be a backup as a TFR. It’s why I’m good with the Pribula package, he’ll be ready if we need him.
Portal prob wasn’t an option; how many QBs transfer to be a backup behind a 4th year starter who has another year with a 5-star committed?
If Clifford doesn’t get hurt, I’m not sure that’s not the best CJF team.
Pribula isn't "ready" because he's running that package. We'd be a heavy run team that would desperately avoiding letting him through the ball
I think your "classic Greek plot line" reference is right on target. On so many levels...and not just for Joe...this story is a tragedy in the classic sense of the word.
But Joe in particular is a tragic figure. Good man, great coach, legendary sports figure ultimately done in by the most common...and deadly...character flaw in human nature: pride.
Everything he stood for...worked for...accomplished...smothered almost overnight by an unimaginable scandal magnified a thousand times by a media mob which created an instant narrative, NCAA jackals who sought to outdo one another in their hypocritical virtue-signaling, and a cowardly Penn State board that promptly surrendered to the demands of the mob.
I mean, the whole thing makes me sick to this day. That said, however, the hard fact is that Joe played a role in his own downfall. Another hard fact is that the story is not black or white...but rather gray. Most tragedies are. That's why they're tragedies.
The biggest mistake to me was not getting a QB after Levis left. Any QB who at least had 2 years (with some game experience) or 3+ whether he started or not. Roberson had no meaningful snaps prior and honestly, nobody expected him to stink it up like he did vs Iowa. I don't think the staff did as his total abandonment there after and pivot to CV would seeing support this.
It's the same thing as Harbaugh leaving Michigan with the cupboard of Orji, Warren, and Tuttle.
Correct...if you lose a QB in the portal you need to find one most of thebgime
And I have no idea what Michigan was thinking
Michigan…umm…speaking of pride…is there a team more delusional in their laurels? Surely mighty Michigan would be fine with the guys they brought in previously… 😜
I think the powers that be caught wind of Joe’s illness and retirement plans and had to activate “project Sandusky” immediately to get Joe tarnished before it was too late. Politics weren’t the whole story…but a part. The advent of the twitter mob…just the perfect storm of a scandal…
Considering the disaster '20 was and that both Clifford and Levis both looked so bad, I think I would have leaned into my new OC and seen what he could do in the portal.
One has to wonder what anybody saw with Orji throwing. He's worse than Roberson. Maybe. Maybe not. Both are bad.
That was the rumor, even in 2011 it was a rumor. I had tickets to the last home game of that year expecting it and instead I ended up being there for the weirdest game I'll ever attend. It was the Nebraska game the week after he was fired. I believe Jay had confirmed somewhere publicly many years later that Joe was indeed planning to retire after that 2011 season.
It's way too early for me to worry about end of season scenarios. Lots of football to be played and so much always changes once into the heart of conference play. I've seen it many times, teams you think are good in early October disappear like a fart in the wind come mid November.
Who is going to beat them other than Ohio State?
OSU, Michigan, and I gave Washington a chance before watching parts of todays game.
In his defense, he said it before Michigan got dominated by Illinois.
FWIW, Joe had a persistent cough that was readily apparent well before his lung cancer diagnosis became public. I remember people on this board commenting about it. The coughing may not have been connected to the lung cancer, but Joe was coughing all the time on the football broadcasts that I saw, going back to the previous football season.
And Michigan could still beat them--I wouldn't bet on that but it wouldn't be that shocking
Washington got a whole lot more difficult without Rourke
Always a choice. Dwell (and look for) negative things, or focus on the positives. I'm with the players. WE ARE...
Similar threads
