GO JOE PA!!

Considering it took him a number of years to get over his pride and let his assistants run the show? No, I don't think "smart" is the word.

 

I wouldn't say the assistants RUN the show, but Paterno has given them more slack the last 2-3 years. His overall approach has changed out of necessity. He's taken a personal approach in recruiting where he'll sit down and hand write a personal letter over sending something of a form letter that he simply stamps with his signature. He's openly telling recruits he can not promise them he'll be there by the time they are seniors.
It cuts against the current grain, but his honesty is his best policy at this point. It lets these kids know that he is still involved and 100% into his job.
In the 90's kids were lining up to play for Paterno, now he has to go out and persue them. He's adjusting in more ways than one.

 

Well, they are 9-1.

 

With him no longer involved, yes. I'm still failing to see why he deserves credit for that.

 

It wasn't the assistants, it was loyalty to upperclassmen.

Shitty upperclassmen.

 

Yep, Jo Pa shows up on Saturday and stands on the sideline. He doesn't do anything. The towel boy, waterboy and cheerleaders deserve all the credit. Clean towels, exceptional H2O and good pussy will turn any team into a winner.
While I think your OPINION is way off, your entitled to it.
Point is, Paterno hasn't changed all that much. He's never been a control freak in the way your suggesting or he wouldn't have had the retention he's had the luxury of having on his coaching staff over the years. Few coaches could boast that low of a turnover.
Penn State began struggling with the changing times and Paterno (admittedly a little late) decided it was time to update his game. Problem is, he's viewed as being on the verge of retirement year in and year out and that has hurt recruiting. Add to that the fact they have changed thier offensive approach and you have a 3-4 year slump. While getting with the times in terms of scheme, he's had to become innovative in his recruiting tactics.
Recruiting improved 10-fold last year and guys are starting to grasp the offense, although I still don't think he has the right QB. Robinson is an awesome athlete, but only an average passer in accuracy and decision making.
It will be interesting next year, that will be the real test...proving staying power.

 

I obviously have no first hand experience, so I can't speak to that, but I don't imagine that you do either. What I do know is that I read articles and heard comments from multiple college football analysts on various networks about how there was a great deal of frustration in Happy Valley about how Paterno was stubbornly refusing to change with the times, and then how he finally just gave up two years ago and let his coordinators start running things. Maybe those reports were wrong, but I doubt it.

 

If you've seen a PSU game lately, you'd have seen Paterno on the sidelines getting in the OC's face (vs. Wisconsin) and telling him "don't run that damn play again" if I read his lips correctly...then again, I ain't no lip reading analyst.
I have no first hand information, no, but I do follow PSU football and Jo-Pa pretty closely. The reports your refering to are inflated compared to what I've seen in games and what Paterno himself has said in recent interviews with Bob Costas and others that I have seen during the course of the last two years. I've read some of the same things your refering to and have written most off as media fluff out of the anti-Paterno corner...which most have decided to shut the fuck up of late.
You gotta ask yourself, why the hell would he give all the control to his assistants and even bother to continue coaching. He's still coaching because he feels he can and he still wants to. Sure, they've changed some things, but Joe is just as involved as he ever has been.

 

Good point. He pretty much admitted as much in yesterdays USA Today.

 

That's easy. It's pride and relevance. If he turns things over to his assistants and actually starts winning, then he doesn't have to go out as the embarrassment he was several years ago. And I imagine that like a lot of people who have done one job for decades, he fears irrelevance when he retires. Look, there's no question that Paterno was an excellent college coach at one time, but I think it's pretty obvious based on the team's records and the way things have appeared to shake out on the coaching staff that Paterno doesn't have anywhere near in the input that he used to, and that Penn State is much better off for it.