Paterno Says Nothing
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Paterno Says Nothing
Big surprise here: Joe Paterno gave away almost zilch during his 12-minute interview with the Big Ten Network during its broadcast of today's practice. Here's a brief summary:
1. Paterno doesn't think the offense will change much even though his son, Jay, keeps trumpeting the Lions' new "Spread HD" offense. "Do you guys have the playbook from the 11 or 12 games [it's 12, Joe] we're going to play?" he said. "If you gave me that I could probably tell you what we're going to do. We're going to play it by ear."
2. He likes this team. [Zzzzzzzzzz.] The team's had some problems. The kids that stayed are good kids. [Blah, blah, blah.]
3. The Lions need to improve their kick return coverage. [That should get them over the hump against Michigan.]
4. Paterno doesn't have the slightest idea if he will use primarily one running back or a running back-by-committee. "We might end up with two tight ends and two running backs," he said. [Who-hoo! A return to the glory days! Where's Franco?]
5. Joe is happy he's kept his staff together after all these years. [I'm falling asleep.]
6. One of the BTN geniuses asked if defensive ends Maurice Evans and Josh Gaines would continue to get better. [What a probing question.] Joe said, "Yeah."
7. News flash: Paterno still enjoys coaching and he still hates the media.
8. Paterno is nervous about the new 40-second rule. In case you missed it, the NCAA implemented a new rule that the play clock will count down from 40 seconds once the ball becomes dead instead of 25 seconds on the referee’s signal.
One final observation: How couldn't the BTN guys at least ask about the quarterback competition between Daryll Clark and Pat Devlin?
Joe REALLY showed his age in that interview. Will this be his last year do you think Jeff?— PhillyNittanyLion- I'm a PSU alum, my first year as an undergrad was Joe Paterno's first year as head coach, so I've been watching him for his entire career. I was not surprised to see vintage JoePa evasion tactics in his interview last night. He has never liked to give away too much information and will do almost anything to keep people guessing. A lot of people misinterpret what he's doing, but it's classic Joe to anyone who has been around awhile as a Penn State fan!
- The fault here would lie with the interviewer, not the guy being interviewed. It isn't exactly news that Paterno doesn't spill the beans about his team, why should he?— danF
This season is Joe's fourth season on the paper's Penn State beat. He previously covered the Nittany Lions for United Press International from 1976 to 1984.
Emily Kaplan is the Inquirer’s fall intern covering the Nittany Lions. She is a senior at Penn State and has covered a variety of sports for the university’s student-run paper, The Daily Collegian. Over the last two years, she has reported for The Associated Press from State College.
A Montclair, N.J. native, she has also interned at MLB Network, NHL.com and covered the 2012 Olympics in London. Follow her on Twitter here @EKaplan24.
