College football

Aging but constant, Paterno guns for perfection

Paterno more figurehead than coach now, but another title in sight

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Slideshow: A look at Paterno's legendary career
Take a look back at legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno through the years.

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During games this fall, he has taken to sitting in the press box. He takes a seat at the far right end of Room 208 in the press box of Beaver Stadium. And Paterno appreciates the change in perspective.

"I’m not sure if that’s not the best place for a head coach," he says. "You can see what’s happening, the formations, so much better. You can’t see anything from the sidelines."

Besides, the sideline can be dangerous. In the loss at Wisconsin two years ago, a Badgers defender tackled a Nittany Lions wide receiver right into JoePa, breaking his left leg.

"I don't sit next to him, Dick Anderson (the offensive line coach, in his 19th season at Penn State) does ... which is good," says Jay Paterno. "Joe's got a quick left hand, which I remember from the dinner table."

While Barack Obama may be proffering a change we can believe in, Joe Paterno offers constancy you can trust. The Nittany Lions uniforms (the media guide cover proclaims, 'Black shoes, basic blues, no names, all game") have not been altered since Paterno’s arrival. At least five assistants or program-related staffers have been with Paterno for two decades, not including his son. All of this in a town nestled in the Appalachian foothills of central Pennsylvania that seems as untouched by time as the hills themselves.

Yes, it can be argued that Paterno is more a figurehead these days than an actual coaching figure. He does not stand on the sidelines during games, does not even leave the press box at halftime. "It's too tough for me to go down and come back up," he says. "I ask the coaches — we have a microphone, we can talk.

"I'm not as into practice as I used to be," he allows. "I got a motor cart, scoot around. I used to get right in there and demonstrate. I miss that."

The players themselves will tell you that Paterno is less involved in the details as well. Quarterback Daryll Clark may be the only Nittany Lion who, by headset, even speaks to Paterno during a game anymore. "I speak to Jay about the offense and what we need to do,” says Clark. "Coach Paterno is more of a pick-me-up guy."

Paterno is a father figure to these players. Heck, for five Nittany Lions on the roster, he was their father’s father figure. Freshman tailback Joe Suhey, for example, has had his dad (former Chicago Bear Matt Suhey), two uncles and a cousin play for Paterno (it should be noted that Joe’s great grandfather, Bob Higgins, was the Penn State head coach from 1930-1948; only Paterno’s tenure has outlasted that one).

Last week, in a radio interview with Dan Patrick, ABC play-by-play veteran Brent Musberger offered the following opinion on why his longtime friend is unlikely to go gently into that good night of retirement: "(Joe) is fearful — and he looks back at Bear Bryant as the example — he is fearful that he would not be with us if he stepped away. He is a man that doesn't fish, doesn't play golf ... he has no other interest other than his family and football. And he's just afraid what would happen with the rest of his life if he walks away from it."

Musberger was suggesting that Paterno is not chasing a third national championship as much as he is fleeing mortality. The irony of that coming from Musberger, a 69-year-old who seems to take fewer weekends off than your parish priest, is remarkable.

There may be credibility to Musberger’s comment. Still, Paterno’s age seems nearly incompatible with his regimen.