Another season, another Penn State Media Day.
Penn State’s annual session with reporters came on Friday. In today’s edition of Morelli OnLion, we’ll take a closer look at media day.
We’ll also have our No. 3 moment of the year in Penn State athletics.
Media Day Breakdown
In his 43rd season as head coach, Joe Paterno talked with the media for 51 minutes on media day, which was held in the Beaver Stadium Media Room on Aug. 8.
Paterno was in a relatively good mood on this day, touching on a number of topics. In one of his longest news conferences in recent memory, Paterno talked about the dismissals of Phil Taylor and Chris Baker, ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” piece about Penn State, the status of three suspended players and about keeping the current squad out of the headlines for the wrong reasons.
He even talked a little football.
Some highlights from the afternoon session:
Baker and Taylor Dismissed
After saying at Big Ten Media Days that he was waiting for grades to decide on the status of five suspended players, Paterno kicked Taylor and Baker from the team on July 29.
When pressed about why Taylor and Baker were booted from the squad, Paterno danced around the question.
“You guys put me in a tough spot because I don’t want to embarrass anybody more than I have to,” Paterno said. “I understand where you’re coming from because you have to have some information … the reasons I dismissed both Taylor and Baker are reasons that the squad knows and I feel comfortable with the decision.”
The decision to dismiss Baker and Taylor was obviously made recently as both players are listed in the 2008 media guide.
In 2007, Baker had 37 tackles, 16 of which were solo jobs. He had 4
1/2 sacks and eight tackles for loss. Taylor had 20 tackles, 12 of which were solos. He had three sacks and 6 1/2 tackles for loss.
Suspended Status
Paterno addressed the status of three suspended players — Andrew Quarless, Navorro Bowman and Knowledge Timmons.
All three are practicing, according to Paterno.
“They’re still with us. I’m still waiting for grades on Quarless.
Timmons and Bowman have been practicing with us, as is Quarless. But he knows he’s gotta get a certain grade,” he said.
Injury Update
The good news for Paterno and the Nittany Lions is that through the early fall practice sessions, no one has gone done with a severe injury, a la Sean Lee during spring practice. In fact, Paterno said that there’s just one player — A.J. Wallace — banged up.
He pulled a hamstring during practice on Aug. 7.
“A.J. is going to be all right in a day or two,” Paterno said matter-of-factly.
Marks Departs
There were numerous Internet reports that Josh Marks and Nerraw McCormack were no longer with the team.
Paterno confirmed that Marks, an offensive lineman, has left the squad.
“Marks has given it up. He never showed up when he was supposed to show up. Josh is a good kid. I don’t want to get into anything negative about him,” Paterno said.
Meanwhile, McCormack, a senior tackle has not been practicing because he is not physically ready to perform with the squad.
Paterno insists that he will be back, however.
“McCormack will be practicing in a day or two. He’s just not in the kind of physical condition I think he ought to be in to go out there and participated without our worrying about him getting hurt,” Paterno said.
Outside the Lines
Paterno said that he didn’t watch the ESPN show “Outside the Lines”
when it aired and he had no plans to watch it.
“I think (Outside the Lines) really didn’t try to get both sides,” Paterno said.
In the piece, ESPN interviewed Paterno, senior safety Anthony Scirrotto and Penn State president Graham Spanier.
Pressed, Paterno didn’t blast ESPN for airing the piece.
“ESPN has a job to do, whether I like it or not,” Paterno said. “What am I going to do about it?”
Will Daryll Clark get the starting nod on Aug. 30?
(Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
QB Battle Wages On
Just days into preseason practice, Paterno still insists that the battle for the starting quarterback job is a three-man fight. Daryll Clark and Pat Devlin are the front-runners to take over for Anthony Morelli.
Again, Paterno said that senior Paul Cianciolo is very much in the mix.
However, he’s not even close to naming a starting QB.
“Not yet. We haven’t had a scrimmage yet. But I think they’ve all done well. Everyone keeps pushing Cianciolo off on the side. And we have a walk-on who’s done well,” Paterno said.
The walk-on would be true freshman Matt McGloin. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound signal caller from West Scranton High School.
Keeping Their Noses Clean
Paterno said that the five captains — Scirrotto, Sean Lee, Derrick Williams, Josh Gaines and A.Q. Shipley — need to do a better job of policing the squad.
However, Paterno didn’t stop with the players. He said that he needs to do a better job policing the squad as well.
“I think all of us are under the gun. I wouldn’t pass the buck to the players. I’m under the gun. We have to stay on top of things,” Paterno said. “It’s got to be a question of who you are and what you stand for and if you want to walk out of that tunnel and have people cheer for you and respect you, there’s an obligation that goes with that.
Sometimes that’s hard for a kid, particularly a young kid.”
Joe Paterno addressed reporters at media day on Friday.
(Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
Moment No. 3: No Contract for Joe
Our No. 3 moment of the year involves Paterno’s contract situation.
As winter workouts transitioned into spring drills, the buzz around the Penn State football team centered more on the contract status of its iconic coach than who might be playing what position on the field.
Working in the final year of his contract at 81 years old, Joe Paterno shrugged off talk of a contract extension.
“I don’t even care if I get a contract. I’ll be very frank with you,”
Paterno said during his spring practice news conference. “I think the university will do what they think is right, whenever the time comes.
Right now, I’m very comfortable.”
Paterno’s words echoed through Nittany Nation until Penn State President Graham Spanier told the Associated Press on April 10, “We are in agreement that a contract would have little practicality given coach Paterno’s seniority. None of us see that as necessary. There will not be a new contract. We have an understanding that a contract is not necessary or practical. The absence of a contract with a specified number of years does not, however, imply any particular retirement date. We will review the status of the program at the end of the season, as we always do.”
Athletic Director Tim Curley mimicked Spanier’s words in a phone interview with the AP.
“The plan is we will visit after the season and do our regular assessment. I don’t look at it as any much different from any other year,” Curley said. “The contract discussion to me is over. We’re just moving forward. The three of us have discussed it, we’re real comfortable with it and we’re just going to move forward.”
In addition to writing for gantnews.com, Chris Morelli is the editor of Blue White Illustrated, a sports publication devoted to Penn State sports. He is also a regular on “Front and Center,” which airs on ESPN Radio in State College and Altoona. E-mail him at morellionlion@gmail.com.
