Report: Bradley Could Replace JoePa

With questions about JoePa’s health abound, many media outlets are already beginning to sepcualte on who might replace the legendary coach at Penn State. The Sporting News’ take…

When the streetlights clicked on in Johnstown, Pa., young Tom Bradley would quit his neighborhood pickup games and dash home. And as a teenager, he knew the 11 p.m. shift change siren at the local mill signaled his curfew was near. These days, Bradley, Penn State’s defensive coordinator, sees his life governed by the rhythms of 81-year-old Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno. And there’s strong speculation that the next significant sounds for Bradley will come at a press conference, where PSU administrators introduce him as the new leader of the program to which he has devoted nearly two-thirds of his life.

Report: Cowher Could Land at Penn State

With Joe Paterno’s health in question, there are several media reports speculating on who may replace the Hall of Famer should be step down at season’s end…

There are three theories on what will happen at Penn State when Joe Paterno finally surrenders to age. 1. A current assistant, probably Tom Bradley, will be elevated. 2. A member of the “Penn State family,” such as former Lions all-America Mike Munchak (now the offensive line coach of the Tennessee Titans), will be named. Former Paterno assistants such as Greg Schiano of Rutgers and Al Golden of Temple also fit in this group. 3. A person with no ties to the program, but a sufficiently “big name” to withstand the pressures of following Paterno, will be named. Bill Cowher long has been the favorite of those who want to go outside, but Lane Kiffin, fired last week by the Oakland Raiders and a onetime assistant at Southern Cal, would also would be a vastly popular choice. – Philadelphia Inquirer

Joe Paterno’s physical health has declined to the point where it could cause him to do something no one expected: retire of his own accord. There is some mystery about the exact condition of Paterno’s right knee, but he is hobbling badly and looked like a man who will be 82 in two months when he made a brief appearance on the field before the game Saturday against Purdue. The injury is said to have occurred three days before the season opener when Paterno was demonstrating a kicking technique. It appears to be getting worse instead of better, not all that surprising for someone his age. Some have speculated he has a ligament injury that will require surgery. A more authoritative source has said the problem is with his hip and that Paterno will require hip-replacement surgery after the season. Paterno was on a golf cart at practice this week, a further indication that he is not getting better. – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The football is going to get kicked off on Saturday night. On Tuesday afternoon, Joe Paterno can’t say where he’s going to be when that ball soars end-over-end through the air. Call it the start of a storyline that may linger throughout the second half of Penn State’s football season. Arthritis pain in his right leg caused Paterno to coach the entire game against Purdue from the Ross-Ade Stadium press box last week, and it might lead him to do the same this week when his sixth-ranked Nittany Lions take on desperate Wisconsin. Although he said his leg was “a little better” Tuesday than it was on Saturday, Paterno said he is reserved to the fact that the pain comes and goes. Which means, he might be coming and going from the sideline. “I’m going to have to live with it for a few weeks, and it might be more than that,” Paterno said during his weekly teleconference on Tuesday. “But hey, that’s why I get that big money.” After the Nittany Lions’ 20-6 win over Purdue, Paterno trumpeted being in the coaches box and what he perceived as the benefits of working with a bird’s-eye view of the action. – Citizens Voice