This is from a transcript, provided by Penn State sports information, of JoePa’s press conference before the Blue-White game. The questions are in bold, Joe’s answers in regular type, and my comments in italic. Maybe I’ll do this for every Joe presser during the season…
How has the Blue-White Game evolved since your first Blue-White Game?
I really can’t remember my first one. In fact we weren’t in this stadium, we were over across the field.
Joe couldn’t really think of anything to say to this lame question. Some civilians on the upper level, overlooking the media room, were making some noise, leading to LSSID (Long-Suffering Sports Information Director) Jeff Nelson asking the folks to quiet down, leading to…
You guys have to be quiet up there because these guys sit on every word I say and I wouldn’t want them to miss one word. It’s hard for me to remember. It was a scrimmage and it’s slowly developed into some of the things you see today.
At this point Joe has noticed that longtime nemesis Dave Jones of the Harrisburg Patriot is sitting directly in front of him holding a mic, meaning that questions about his contract, a “succession plan”, etc. are coming…
I don’t know how many people will be here, but I had a tough time getting over here. I met with 3,000-3,500 people over at the Bryce Jordan Center and then trying to get over here the traffic was horrendous. I didn’t realize how many people would be here but it’s kind fun and exciting. I really don’t remember the first one. It would be dishonest if I said I did. I was assistant coach and probably was more concerned about if a couple kids were ready to play or not ready to play and what kind of spring practice we had. In those days we had more time. We had six weeks of spring practice with no restrictions as far as when you put pads on and when you didn’t put pads on. Now we have 15 practices. Three days you have to go without everything except helmets.
In an apparent attempt to filibuster Dave Jones, Joe is taking 7-8 minutes to say he has nothing to say about the Blue White game…
So, it’s a whole different environment and the amazing part, if you’re asking me the difference, is the interest. You see so many people who come to see literally a scrimmage. It’s not only here. There are a lot of schools across the country that are experiencing the same thing. Is that a tribute to college football? I think to a degree it is. So many people who graduated from a certain university identify with the football program as well as the university. I really haven’t given it much thought to answering that question.
Obviously.
Jay (Paterno) has talked about using a spread offense. How do you envision the offense looking this fall?
I think people might make a mistake when they try to say what they’re going to do. People think the spread offense is something new. I played in the spread offense in 1944 in high school. I was the quarterback in the shotgun. In 1944, my high school team never went into a huddle.
Every time this kind of question is asked, and it’s asked often, Joe goes back to WW II. Why? Nobody’s saying it’s new. Nobody’s asking if it’s new. Nobody cares if it’s new. And we’ve all heard this homage to the single wing 37,681 times. That Red Grange could pick em up and lay ‘em down in his day, too. We’ve been to the moon. What’s the point?
The things we’re doing now, we did then, except we did them from a little different angle and if we had a blackboard here [no blackboard? Damn!] I could show you how we ran the quarterback draw, the quarterback counter, the reverse, and all those kinds of things. I think you can do what you do best. I’m not sure yet where exactly we’re going to be as a football team. I think we’ve got some great wideouts. I think we have the potential to have a couple great tight ends, we have young tailbacks. We have the ability to have a very diverse offensive team. There’s only one football and there’s a lot of guys who should get their hands on the football. Our job is to make sure we get it to the right guy at the right time and place, in the right situation. You’ve heard me say that statement several times. So whether we call it a spread depends. If Daryll Clark’s the quarterback then we can probably lean towards some things, but he doesn’t have the job yet. I think Pat Devlin and Paul Cianciolo are good football players. We’ll see who comes out of this, works the hardest this summer and comes back. We’ll take it from there. There’s no need to make a decision right now.
Do you think the recruiting will be hurt by this “one year at a time” contract?
That’s ridiculous. You take a look at the wideouts. (Deon) Butler was a walk-on. (Jordan) Norwood only had one scholarship. The best freshman skill guy we have is (Drew) Astorino. Astorino was going to go to Kent State if we didn’t give him an offer. You guys always get caught up with stuff. I think we’ve had a heck of a year recruiting. You’re succumbing to the website mob. I think we’re doing great.
This is the beginning of a lengthy exchange with Dave Jones, some of which was cut from the transcript. Joe thought, perhaps understandably, that Jones was suggesting Penn State’s last recruiting class had been a bad one because that’s what the gurus said. Actually Jones meant recruiting going forward.
What do you tell recruits about you possibly not being here?
You know what, some of the guys that tell you I may not be here are washing streets and doing dishes. I don’t get into that. I tell them I hope to coach here while you’re here. God only knows what’s going to happen to me in the long run. I’m excited about the team I have. I’m excited about our prospects in recruiting. I’m excited about your being interested in Penn State and if I’m not here, the people you see around you, the facilities, the commitment to this program and the kind of attitude that Penn State has had about athletics will be. We have a whole mess of kids up here today, a lot of juniors, 40 or 50; Mike (McQueary) would know better than me. I say take a look at this place and say this must be one heck of a place. If I walk down the stairs, they may not even know me. I kept looking as I drove over, looking at those girls with those shorts; I hope they know me (laughter).
This last part is from a relatively recent strain of Joe rhetoric in which he portrays himself as a girl-chasing ne’er do well. I kinda like it. Later, he was asked about d-lineman and Brooklyn native Maurice Evans and said that, “Evans got fast the way I did, running from the cops.”
Are you hopeful one of your assistants would be your successor in a perfect world?
I would hope. [Moment of honesty before the tape in his head kicked in.] I don’t know. I think when I decide to get out of it, that will be up to some people who are more responsible for the program than I would be if I’m not here. I’m looking forward to having a good football team this year. You guys waste my time with all of this. It doesn’t have a darn thing to do with whether or not I’m going to have a good football team this year or not. That’s the only thing I’m worried about. I’m not worried about the years after.
Here’s where a sizable chunk was cut. There was some business about whether Joe should be concerned about the program’s future, etc. At one point Joe became genuinely angry at Jones and, referring to a story in the Patriot a couple weeks back that anonymously quoted Penn State trustees, pointed a finger and barked, “Go find some trustee who doesn’t have the guts to use his name.”
Remember: Joe doesn’t read the newspapers. Has no idea what’s in them.
You have a few players serving suspensions. When will you evaluate their status? What are they doing this spring?
Depends on their grades, to be frank with you. None of them have been out at practice. I’ve tried to wait out and see what the university decides to do with them. And wait to see if there were some things with judicial affairs downtown and wait until that’s worked out. I have my opinions about different things, but I’m going to wait and see. They all know where they stand. They’ve got to do certain academic work. I’ve got to feel comfortable that they’ve grown up and aren’t silly kids and that they can walk away from situations. When they do that, then we’ll re-evaluate their situations.
Considering the injuries and off field incidents, has this been a tough spring?
I have thoroughly enjoyed working with this squad. This is one of the best squads I’ve even been around. I don’t know if I’m getting mellow or what. I’ve really enjoyed them; we’ve had a lot of fun. It’s a young squad in a lot of places. I would loved to have had the four or five kids who aren’t with us but I think eventually, whatever happens to them, will be a plus. I’ve really enjoyed it. This stuff and crap about, “what are you going to do about this, and how will it effect that, and what’s going to happen,” that’s a pain in the rear end to be frank with you. I just get tired of that bologna. It’s got nothing to do with this football team. It’s over, it’s gone, it’s past, and if I’ve got to make a decision, I’ll make it. Right now we’ve got a good squad that’s been fun to be around.
Any reaction to the charges against Austin Scott being dropped? Any regrets about suspending him?
I really haven’t followed it that much. Austin and I talked a little on the phone last week and said as soon as you get through this thing, I want you to come in and talk about your future. He can graduate in May and I think he will. I told him if I can help him maybe get a better opportunity with a pro team after this thing is over with, that I will do that. It’s up to you guys to judge. I don’t know. There again, you get me involved in stuff that I don’t know. If I took time to get involved in everyone of these things, I would not be able to sit down and figure out how we were going to practice tomorrow. My problem with Austin was the fact that it was three, four o’clock in the morning during the season. That was my gripe with him. He knows that. Regardless of the other incident, I probably would have suspended him anyway. (Andrew) Quarless went through that. He was out at two o’clock in the morning drinking. You do have certain team rules, believe it or not.
Several interesting things about this: One, this is not the first time, or even the second time, that a Penn State player was charged with a crime and Joe said his primary problem with it was that the kid was out too late. Two, it’s hard to see how Scott’s offense, as an isolated incident, is different from the sexual assault charge against Anwar Phillips a few years back. Scott was kicked off the team in effect, if not publicly, while the charges were pending. Phillips, with charges pending, was allowed to play in a bowl game even though he’d been kicked out of school. 3. Scott’s attorney has said he’s considering legal action against parties who wronged his client. It seems possible those parties could include Penn State and. given point two above, even Paterno.
How is the quarterback race shaping up and is there a favorite?
I think we’ve got three really good kids. Last year, Jay Paterno, who coaches quarterbacks, kept talking to me about (Daryll) Clark, and I was reluctant to stick Clark in there too soon. I was afraid that if he wasn’t quite ready it might affect his confidence in himself. He went to prep school and hadn’t had a lot of really tough experiences. He’s had a really good spring. Having said that, at times (Pat) Devlin lights you up and (Paul) Cianciolo has a little something about him. I don’t know what to tell you. I’m going to try and make sure we give everyone of those guys an opportunity. If you said to me we have to start tomorrow, I’m not sure what I would I do. Again, you have to put the whole puzzle together. I was watching one of the networks that had one of the Florida spring games on and I was saying to myself, “you know what, he’s got a problem; with that kid from Virginia, Percy Harvin, and he’s got that good running back and he’s got to do…” and then I start doodling and I can’t sleep. Now, what are we going to do? We’ve got (Derrick) Williams, we’ve got (Deon) Butler, who nobody knows how good Butler is, nobody’s giving him the kind of credit [Butler is underpublicized? Never occured to me. Not saying it’s wrong, I guess] …and we’ve got Norwood. I think we’re going to have a heckuva tight end, I think we got good tailbacks, now what do you do? I’m just going to wait and see what happens. But with the quarterbacks, we’ve got a good situation. That’s a long answer, but I think we’ve got three good kids and I really couldn’t tell you how it’s going to go.
Cianciolo has no shot.
What are the pros and cons of playing two quarterbacks?
I think there are pros and cons, obviously. You wouldn’t have brought it up if you didn’t feel that way. Believe it or not, I have played two quarterbacks. I think it depends on the individual. If I could start Clark, Devlin, or Cianciolo without having it impact the other I would. We could play two quarterbacks. We’ve played two in a game. We put Clark in there in the bowl game (2007 Alamo) when it was appropriate. As long as I’ve been coaching, I’ve been through it all and there comes a time when something up here says, “wise up, play two quarterbacks.” This thing isn’t black and white. We should have played Michael Robinson sooner than we played him. People don’t realize he was the outstanding player in the Big Ten at quarterback, coached by a guy who doesn’t know how to coach quarterbacks…(laughter).
Actually a good answer. Seriously.
