It's Never Too Early To Complain

The Man Who Must Make The Most Important Decision In Penn State History, Shown Here Playing The Weara-Saxa-Tambor-Shake-a-Cow-Bell-Horn.
While we were all getting ourselves worked up over the non-news of second hand inside sources telling us all that Joe is old, it appears someone was actually listening.

Scout.com has released the "Big Complaints" for 2008. Joe made the list:

The Penn State head coaching situation
Joe Paterno can't be kicked out the door fast enough by the Penn State higher-ups who realize the transition of power just isn't going to be smooth. Succession plans are all the rage nowadays, like at Florida State where Bobby Bowden is turning the reins over to Jimbo Fisher while still serving as the head of state, but Penn State is in an uncomfortable situation of trying to figure out its future while still respecting the past, and even the present.

Paterno has been resistant, to put it mildly, to giving up the program he made into one of the models of college athletics, and now there's a problem. How much say does Paterno get in finding his successor when his bosses would love nothing more than to start clean, sort of like Michigan did with the Rich Rodriguez hire? Penn State will be decent again this season, but a recent slip in recruiting doesn't paint a rosy picture for the immediate future.

This begs for a rehash of all the things that Penn State Blog Army has been posting but I just can't do it. Emphasis mine on the last sentence of the first paragraph; while a large part of their blurb reads like a third grade No Child Left Behind essay, they get an A on their thesis.

One thing I want to point out that doesn't seem very consistent with all the implied news: if Old Main is clear that a high priced replacement isn't in the cards, why are they so against an internal hand-off to a long time assistant? A guy like Bradly would be cheap and safe, two things the Administration loves (not just in football, by the way). The flip side is expensive, even when poaching someone with ties like Schiano.

The only alternative I see that seems to satisfy both of these needs is Al Golden, but is he really better than Bradley? And would he be cheaper? I would say "I'm not sure" and "probably not".

New Coaching Wrinkle - Golden Waiting It Out Too?

Temple head football coach Al Golden, who interviewed twice for the UCLA job, has withdrawn his name from consideration.

"UCLA is a world-class institution, and athletic director Dan Guerrero is a first-class person," Golden said. "However, we are on the brink of something truly special here at Temple."

My take on this: Turning Temple around is a noble task indeed. This team perpetually made ESPN's Bottom Ten, but managed to climb out of that mock list this year. They almost beat UConn in week three, and would have given PSU a game if it wasn't for the red zone turnovers. Golden has done a good job there and I understand why he wants to finish what he started. Sort of.

This is still UCLA, a Pac 10 team in a major market. Turn them down for, a lower tier Mac school? There has to be something else to this. And I think there is.

Spaniard has said that once the Paterno era is over they have no interest in signing a multi-million dollar coach. I believe him. Schiano (and if you're a dreamer, Stoops) would have to take a huge pay cut to be the Penn State coach. I just don't know if you would give up a decent/good thing with a lot of money for a not certain thing and something like one-third the cash. There is no promise that, with what will probably be the existing staff, you are going to do well enough to keep the job for more than five years.

This is where Golden steps in. The guy would probably be getting a raise if he were hired by PSU. He has the character to appease the older alums and the performance to get the "let's win already" guys excited. Patero love him, which appears to be more and more important as we sail through this thing.

Would I want the guy as a head coach? Sure, he has class, he is a "Blue-Blood", and he might even be able to land some Philly recruits. He turned around Temple, a team that was on the brink of folding, and now he has turned down the UCLA job to finish what he started. I know internal hire is another option, but if we go outside the program this guy's name is going to be at near the top of the list. He's a perfect fit from the progam's perspective.