[wadc45]

Be careful what you root for at Penn State

Tuesday, August 26, 2008
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Where and when in college football might a 6-6 record be better than 10-3 or 11-2?

That's an easy one.

At Penn State, this season.

A bad year would make it a lot easier to get rid of Joe Paterno.

That's what Penn State administrators want, isn't it? That became clear when they refused to give Paterno, 81, a contract extension in the offseason. This is his 43rd season as head coach and 59th overall in Happy Valley, but he's working in the final year of his current deal.

It seems just as obvious that the Penn State brass want a clean and total break from the Paterno era. Otherwise, they would have named long-time defensive coordinator Tom Bradley as Paterno's successor-in-waiting. There's nothing wrong with that thinking, with wanting to start fresh. Even a storied program such as Penn State's can benefit from new blood, new energy, new ideas. But if it happens that way, it will be a crying shame for Bradley, who deserves better after almost 30 years of terrific work and unimaginable loyalty to the university.

Continued...