Search committee named to fill Penn State football coaching vacancy

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Penn State took the first step to finding its next head football coach Monday, naming a six-person search committee headed by acting athletic director David Joyner.

The committee, which is set to meet this week, will identify potential candidates and eventually name the next head coach, according to a university news release. Joyner was chosen by university president Rodney Erickson to lead the group.

The committee is composed of Linda Caldwell (Penn State's faculty athletics representative), Charmelle Green (associate athletic director and senior woman administrator), Ira Lubert (chairman and cofounder of Independence Capital Partners and Lubert Adler Partners), John Nichols (professor emeritus) and Russ Rose (women's volleyball coach).

No timetable to make a hire was given. Joyner has said he has no objections to hiring a coach with Penn State ties, but ultimately, he said, he wants to hire the best person possible.

Interim coach Tom Bradley, who took over when Joe Paterno was fired Nov. 9 in the fallout of child sex-abuse allegations against former assistant Jerry Sandusky, has not been ruled out of consideration.

Joyner, who suspended his membership on the board of trustees when named acting athletic director on Nov. 16, is a former Nittany Lions football player (1969-71) and wrestler. More recently, he was a healthcare and business consultant and an orthopedic physician.

One of the most familiar names in the search committee is Rose, who is in his 33d season as Penn State's head women's volleyball coach. Rose is a legend in the volleyball community, having led the Nittany Lions to four consecutive national championships and five overall. He's an interesting choice for the committee, as his team opens play in the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

No more Paterno award. The Maxwell Football Club announced Monday it will no longer present the Joseph V. Paterno Collegiate Coach of the Year Award. Paterno's name was previously removed from the Big Ten championship trophy

Still honored. Defensive tackle Devon Still was named the winner of the Big Ten's Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year Award on Monday night.

Still, who was born in Camden and hails from Wilmington, Del., was also named first-team all-Big Ten by coaches and the media. Linebacker Gerald Hodges, from Paulsboro, was named to the coaches' first-team all-Big Ten, and tailback Silas Redd and safety Nick Sukay were named to the second team by the media and coaches.

Defensive end Jack Crawford was selected to the second team by the coaches, and sophomore Anthony Fera earned a spot on the media's second team as a placekicker.

Beachum has surgery. Backup running back Brandon Beachum underwent surgery on his left ankle, which he broke late in Saturday's loss at Wisconsin. Though he has another year of eligibility, he is scheduled to graduate in December and does not plan to return next season.