Collier's Corner
Diminishing Returns
By Sean Collier

As a graduate of the mighty Pennsylvania State University, I am contractually obligated to hold a reverence for Joe Paterno normally reserved for particularly interesting saints and the founding fathers. I believe I'm violating several of the alumni association bylaws simply by not having a cardboard cut-out of JoePa in my apartment.

When not in the vicinity of Beaver Stadium, though, I count myself among those who believe Paterno is no longer helping Penn State football. The reasons for this have been expressed approximately once every two weeks for the past ten years by writers more eloquent than myself, but for me, they boil down to two primary complaints: first, incoming recruits would like to know who will be coaching them for the next four years, and that is never a guarantee at Penn State; and second, simply put, a head coach should do much more than Paterno does for the Nittany Lions. Namely, fulfill the myriad duties of a head coach.

But I digress.

With the begging-for-retirement cannon pointed more squarely at Florida State coach Bobby Bowden this season, JoePa was twice called to comment on Bowden's situation. On the first such occasion, an October 6 Big Ten coach's conference call, he bluntly replied, "Honest to goodness, I don't know what's going on," claiming a lack of time to read the papers prevented him from keeping up with the news. Two days later, on a radio call-in show, he added that Bowden "ought to be able to decide what he wants to do now."

Something of a coded message to Bobby, perhaps. Bowden did, after all, rebuff the efforts of Florida State Board of Trustrees chair Jim Smith to oust him after the end of this season, just as Paterno dismissed similar efforts from PSU President Graham Spanier a few years ago.

Paterno knows that Bowden will be "able to decide what he wants to do," because he knows that he and Bobby are too big for any little school administrator to truly threaten. Both of them will leave when they want to leave, and not a moment sooner. Paterno is subtly saying that Bobby should do whatever he wants, regardless of what Florida State wants.

Assuming, though, that Bowden does depart within the next couple of years-and he did say that he's in "the last years" of his career-the need for Paterno to step down will be thrown into even more stark relief. There is one, and exactly one, positive to keeping JoePa on the sidelines at this point - to keep the all-time wins record from falling to Bowden. Having a record like that as a recruiting tool would be incredibly valuable to Penn State, now and forever; it's a mark that will likely never be touched by anyone, and would be the last of Paterno's many, many gifts to the university.

If Bowden were out of the picture, that final accolade in Paterno's stellar career would be solidified, and there would be nothing left to achieve. Without the pursuit of the wins record, Paterno would just be an anachronism, incongruous to what's actually happening on the football field.

Joe Paterno has done more for Penn State football than anyone; his generosity and fundraising activities for the university itself are also unmatched. However, he may not know how to leave the sidelines as a hero rather than a black eye. He has himself admitted a fear that, if he retires, he'll simply drop dead; in effect, the Nittany Lions have a coach that presses on out of fear. For a program as storied as Penn State, that is simply unacceptable.