Penn State still has all its coaches. So now what, geniuses?

As far as anyone knows, by Tom Bradley and Ron Vanderlinden not leaving for Temple, Penn State will retain its staff for the foreseeable future. Will things stay put all the way though next football season? Probably, but not definitely.

Here are a few quick thoughts on the matter, as this entire situation we will promptly put on hold until anything new or more substantive comes up...

Linkbacker U can't see Larry Johnson Sr. in 'panic mode'

Mike Mauti... the next Poz?

Oh, we can only hope... From PSU's resident AP reporter, Genaro Armas:

"Michael Mauti's brown hair crept out from beneath the cap turned backward on his head, and his arms were crossed in front of his heavily muscled chest. A bystander remarked that Mauti looked a lot like one of Linebacker U's most famous graduates, the stoic Paul Posluszny."

I highly recommend the full article. No, not just because it's all about this site's namesake. But Armas is good at what he does.

Try knowing your audience... Zac Jackson at Fox Sports Ohio likes the idea of the new Lucas Oil Stadium getting into the Big Ten Championship Game race--an idea I happen to like, too. But he sells short the passion of Big Ten football fans along the way, calling out by name Penn State and Iowa fans:

"I think Indianapolis and the brand new Lucas Oil Stadium is the best site choice. I’m all for bringing people and business to downtown Cleveland, but playing it inside in Indianapolis (or Detroit, or even St. Louis) is a much better plan. First and foremost, there’s too much at stake in this BCS system to potentially play that game in eight inches of snow if there’s an alternative. Secondly, the Big Ten’s goal is to fill every seat – easy to do in Cleveland if Ohio State is playing, but is it feasible in snowy Cleveland if not? Ohio State fans will travel regardless (Indy is only an hour-max drive more from Columbus than Cleveland is), but I’m not sure Penn State-Iowa would sell out if it’s played outside in Cleveland on six days notice."

No harm, no BCS foul... Adam Rittenberg at ESPN talked to a BCS big-wig about how a potential Big Ten championship game would impact the Big Ten's regularly-earned second BCS bowl bid:

"I’ve looked back at it and I don’t think you can quantify that [a championship game] has made a whole lot of difference," BCS executive director Bill Hancock said this week. "The jury’s still out on the effect of championship games of how many teams you get in the BCS. We’ll know more when Big Ten and Pac-10 go to championship games, but I don’t see a tremendous advantage or disadvantage."

Rutgers is still respectable, according to Dave Curtis at TSN.

10-3 is where the Detroit News pegs Penn State to finish in 2010.

A tornado watch was issued for State College yesterday.

Fire up those DVRs! Cuz it's Penn State week on BTN!

Let me finish...

This was originally going to go at the top of this post, but I ended up going on such a rant, that I figured you wouldn't read on once you were done with it. So, here ya go.

I was going to wait to break out the "OMG!ONOZ!" but this one just begs for it. Also, I should mention that I generally hate engaging in fisking, but sometimes it's unavoidable. This is one of those times.

Ron Musselman isn't a writer who strikes me generally either negatively or positively, but his July 18 story Recruiting: PSU hurt by Paterno's absence just screams "Hey! Look at me! Link to this article!" So, naturally, that's exactly what I'm going to do this morning.

Let's start out with, as you might have expected, the first "expert" quote on Penn State's 2011 class: "

Penn State is lagging behind this year in... states where they are normally very strong," said national recruiting expert Tom Lemming of CBS... and Maxpreps.com. "I don't expect Penn State to have a real good year in recruiting, unless they go outside of their normal states... If things don't turn around soon, Penn State could find itself in sort of a panic mode."

I would find it very difficult to imagine Mike McQueary and Larry Johnson, Sr. in anything remotely close to panic mode, particularly after pulling in, as Musselman himself points out in a so very by-the-way manner, "a strong 2010 football recruiting class that many experts ranked among the top 10 in the country."

That was in the first few graphs of the article, naturally, since the headline and the lede of the story was written to frame this story in a predisposed light: Joe Paterno is bad for recruiting.

Then there was a few hundred words about this and that, how Joe isn't really all that bad, pointing out that this would be a tough recruiting class for any program, and all that jazz.

Wait, what was that? Oh yeah, sandwiched between the JoePa=bad intro, and this final nugget from Rivals.com's Mike Farrell... (I kid you not, it was the very last graph in the story)

"When Paterno is gone, I think Penn State's recruiting will improve tremendously. They will have a younger, more energetic person in charge who will go on the road and compete with all the top coaches for the best players in the country."

... between those, Musselman basically blew up the entire argument:

-Lemming said of current verbal Shawn Oakman:

"With good coaching, he will be a No. 1 draft pick."

So much for not being able to recruit talent this year.

-Musselman then points out:

"Penn State's 2011 class is expected to range between 14 and 18 players. The fact that no WPIAL players appear on Lemming's list of the top 100 players in the country does not help the Lions."

But why should it matter that the entire state of Pennsylvania sucks for recruiting this year?

-Farrell, before the quote above, said:

"I still think Penn State is going to be OK. I still think they will get some good football players and finish among the top three teams in the Big Ten. But their class won't be anywhere near as good as it was last year."

So which is it? Is Joe Paterno causing the destruction of Penn State football? Or is Penn State going to be OK? Because I swear finishing with a top-3 Big Ten recruiting class, is a supposedly terrible year for recruiting, was pretty fucking good.

-And finally, my favorite, from Lemming:

"Joe Paterno is an icon, he's the biggest name in a college football," Lemming said. "If he's not out there on the road matching up against the Urban Meyers and Lane Kiffins of the world, it is not going to help your program; it is only going to hurt it... Paterno is the biggest weapon Penn State has. Kids want to see him and say he came to their house or school."

Wow, isn't that just a sucker punch to the collective gut of everyone associated with the Penn State football program? What Lemming really said was that without Paterno, Penn State has no remarkable attributes.

As this recruiting season drags on, I'm sure we will know better which way this will all turn out. Either those guys will be proven correct in some way. Or, the more likely outcome, I will be proven correct in my assertion that all these guys are doing is advancing a media-driven storyline that gets hits, sells papers, and draws in viewers.

Penn State will be fine in recruiting. Penn state has been fine in recruiting; very fine, actually. And if I seriously have to sit here and write another 1000 words on why everything in that article was essentially disingenuous, I'm going to throw this keyboard across the room.

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Tuesday Recruitin': In the mix, out of the mix

The winter snow is still melting away, yet we're already getting a good look at what kind of recruits Penn State will make a serious push for in the 2011 class. Sometimes, though, early sure-things can quickly turn into "oh yeah, we did recruit him, didn't we?" That's what happened this week, as several of one-time Penn State prospects virtually ended their chances with the Nittany Lions before they even took hold.

Gaston not interested in Penn State

Chicago prospect, and hot name this past week around the Penn State recruiting world, Bruce Gaston, Jr. will not commit to the Nittany Lions when he announces his college choice tomorrow. According to Gaston, "the more I thought about it all the more I just don't think I can start to build a relationship in two weeks. [snip] I'll call the Penn State coaches tonight or tomorrow and tell them thanks but no thanks."

Last week it was reported that Gaston was offered a scholarship by Penn State, after Larry Johnson, Sr. took a trip out to the Windy City for a visit with the recruit. But as anyone with half a brain would guess, it seemed like a long shot from the beginning with Gaston.

In his interview yesterday with Rivals.com, Gaston said it was pretty much down to Purdue, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Boston College, and Notre Dame. That could mean when all is said and done, Gaston might be lining up against the Nittany Lions in the next few seasons.

Ok, but what about Penn State?
It's tough not to feel like this year's recruiting class is a bust; but keep in mind, Penn State has still assembled what is universally regarded as a top-eight haul in 2010. Gaston was a flash in the pan for Penn State. When Johnson went out to Chicago, it was just a Hail Mary-style pitch, seeing if Gaston could be snatched up to beef up the class. It didn't work, but that's perfectly okay.

Be sure to check out this week's Wednesday Recruitin' for more on this year's recruiting class, and what we can expect over the next eight days leading up to National Letter of Intent Signing Day.

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