Blue White Illustrated Online

As Bill O’Brien puts the finishing touches on his new coaching staff, it is clear that at least six assistant coaches who were once part of Joe Paterno’s staff will not rejoin the team in the spring.

But that doesn’t mean they’ll be leaving Penn State empty-handed.

Athletic director Dave Joyner disclosed on Jan. 20 after a board of trustees meeting that the university has allotted more than $4.4 million in combined severance for the assistants who were not retained by O’Brien. Continue Reading

Penn State mourns the passing of its greatest champion, Joe Paterno For a long time, it seemed Joe Paterno was going to outlast us all. He was Penn State’s head football coach for 46 seasons, and for all but the last few, he looked as though he was aging in slow motion. Continue Reading

The rumors arose swiftly, almost frantically, Friday night and grew exponentially Saturday.

Joe Paterno was dying.

Though the prospect shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone, the dark cloud that had settled over the Penn State community for two months in the immediate aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal suddenly appeared even more threatening than before. Continue Reading

The Joe Paterno I knew best was still a relatively young man in his 30s or 40s, 20 years before he became the Penn State and college football icon we know today.

I was reporting part-time about Penn State football, and Joe was making the transition from a loyal assistant and offensive guru under Rip Engle to head coach, reconstructing the team with his own philosophy and innovations. Continue Reading