Joe Paterno News Conference Transcript (8/26)

Coach Paterno answers questions from the media


Aug. 26, 2008


When do you expect to make a decision about who is starting (at quarterback) next Saturday?
I wondered when that question would come up. We're going to start with (Daryll) Clark and probably play (Pat) Devlin for sure some. And the other kid that I really think that we've got to give him a shot some time in there is (Paul) Cianciolo.
All three kids have played in practice really well, and all three can get the job done. Clark's had a little more experience. He's had a good spring practice, and a really good pre-season so we're going to go with Clark; start him.
I don't want him looking over the shoulder. I want him to come in and play. It isn't a question if he's going to go here, he doesn't do this, he does that. He's going to go in and play and take over the team and we'll go from there.

You had said earlier you might take a couple of games before you really settle in on a starter. And I was just wondering is there anything different about this year as opposed to maybe the first year you broke in Michael Robinson or the first year you broke in Anthony Morelli?
I think there's more competition this year among the three kids. I can't remember exactly who Robinson (was competing against) when we debated using him. I think Robinson was by far the clear choice, as was Anthony Morelli. So we're more fortunate this year that we have three kids that can play.
They all throw the ball well. They're all smart and they can run the football. (The) kids have a lot of confidence in them. So it's a different situation. But I still don't want to go into the season with the idea you've got a two-quarterback or a three-quarterback system.
I think Clark ought to go in there and have a little fun playing. He's worked hard to get in it, and hopefully we're going to be able to give Devlin a chance to go in there and show what he can do.
The guy I'm most concerned about is whether we're going to be able to give Paul an opportunity to show what he has.





How much did Daryll's experience last year in the Alamo Bowl really help him spring him forward into this season?
I think being No. 2 last year helped him, obviously, and the amount of reps he got in practice. His having to prepare to play with one down. He was (a play away from being) the quarterback.
There were some things that we knew he could do. In fact, during the year I've said this a couple of times - Jay Paterno, came to me, he said maybe we ought to stick Clark in there and change the pace with him. And again, I'm repeating myself. But I always felt that Morelli got more criticism than he deserved. And I wasn't going to pile it on by sticking Clark in there and (have people) saying, "even the coach doesn't like him," something like that.
So I expect that kids that have worked hard, had been a good quarterback, maybe didn't have quite the cast of characters around him that was, you know, that he could do some things easier. So I just went that way.
But, Clark was a second quarterback last year. I think Devlin got maybe one or two snaps in there last year. But they're expecting that. You don't have to be a genius to figure out, Clark was the guy that should have developed into being the guy that would be one. And I think Devlin and Cianciolo; give them credit that they have really fought him.

When did you give the news to Daryll, and what was his reaction?I talked to them yesterday. Because I knew this would come up. I sat down with the three of them after practice yesterday, and I told them what I was going to do, and they seemed fine.

You're saying you don't want Daryll looking over his shoulder. So is this sort of a week to week thing where you'll decide who the starter is, or does Clark have it for the foreseeable future?
Well, we haven't played a game yet. I wish I were clairvoyant where I could tell you exactly what is going to happen. Clark's going to start Saturday. And I told him, and I'll tell him again before he goes on the field and when we meet on Friday - "Hey, just go in there and enjoy it. It's your club right now, go get them."
But also at the same time I'll encourage the other two kids, "Hey, as soon as I get a chance to get you in there and the opportunity comes up, you've got to be ready." It might be the rest of the year, I don't know.


Have you had the chance to develop a second team offensive line, and specifically, behind Gerald (Cadogan) at left tackle? Do you know who you'll have backing up in those key spots?
Well, we do have a depth problem on the offensive line, no question about that. Right now our plans would be, if something happened to Cadogan, we'd move (Dennis) Landolt over there and move (Lou) Eliades up to where Landolt was.
So, we have three tackles who I think are ready to play, and we've been working with some other kids to be a back up at the left tackle. So we would have two deep, and the same way inside.
(Stefen) Wisniewski has played at guard and at center and (Mike) Lucian started games last year and can play either guard, so we've got a two deep possibility if we have to have it. Then we have a couple of other kids that we think will eventually be good enough to play.
We've got some good young players backing them up, but you're never quite sure how they're going to handle some things. Particularly when we don't know as much about a team like Coastal Carolina, and it's an opening game. So you can't really pinpoint what you probably will get regardless of who you're playing in your first game. But we're bringing some new kids along, and before long, we'll have it. But it is a problem, and that's the way we've tried to handle it.

Could you talk about the position changes of Knowledge Timmons and Chaz Powell? Especially Chaz, who seemed to be doing quite well and moving up the depth chart at safety.
I think Chaz has an awful lot of athletic ability, and we're doing a lot of things with (Derrick) Williams on the offensive side of the football. If something happened to Derrick, a lot of the preparation that's gone into the season might be lost if we didn't have somebody close to his talent that we could stick in there. Powell is the closest guy.
We do have five or six kids that can play in the secondary. A couple of them are young, so we thought that we could have the luxury of taking Powell and putting him on offense, because he is an explosive football player.

Timmons was a cornerback before. Now he's playing safety?
He'll probably play at nickel....He's a defensive back, and we had a couple corners coming back. In fact, three corners coming back. We have (Tony) Davis over there; we have Davis and (A.J.) Wallace and (Lydell) Sargeant. And we took the young (Willie) Harriott kid he's not young anymore we took Harriott and moved him over to corner. We thought that Timmons would be better at safety than Harriott would and thought Harriott would be a good corner and so we moved Timmons to safety.

What is there to gain with Penn State playing Coastal Carolina, a team a division lower?
When you go to 12 games and you want to play seven at home; we really have to have seven at home. We were fortunate that Oregon State came in, because there was a lot of pressure to have some "home and homes" with some different people in the east.
We played two for one with Temple. We're going to play Syracuse home and away. So we were trying to find somebody that would come up here one shot. Moose Koegel is the Athletic Director at Coastal Carolina. He played for us. Was captain of our team in '70 or '71. He had been talking to us for a couple of years to try to get a game with us. I think it's turned out well.
Wally Richardson's kid brother (William) is the quarterback down there, and they've got some other Penn State people connected with the operation. So I think it's a good opener for us.
It's an extremely well coached team. They have played very well in their league. I think they won the championship maybe four or five of the last six years that they played in it. And when you look at the tapes of them, they've got some awfully good athletes. And, as I said, they're very, very well coached.
I haven't seen much of Wally's kid brother (on tape) because he didn't play that much last year, but it looks like he's going to start. We had looked at him in high school. We thought he was a good prospect, but not quite as good as somebody else we might have wanted.

Could you talk about the competition during the summer between Lydell Sargeant and A.J. Wallace. Who do you think will step up there and start on Saturday?
Well, they compete. They go out there, and they're three good corners. I'm sure there will be times when we'll use one of them in there as a nickel. Sargeant's a smart kid. If we got in a jam, he'd play inside. But those three kids are good corners. That's a luxury.
When a guy goes down, you start to think about some of the things you're doing on defense. And if you have some people who can do the same thing as the guy in front of him, then you can get over some problems.

You mentioned William Richardson. Does he do anything that reminds you of Wally in the film you've seen?
I watched some of the younger brother on tapes and Wally was working with us at that time. He was an academic advisor. He left here to become the academic advisor at Georgia.
So, we had looked at him. He was a kid that looked like he was a very poised; had good motion. Did some things well. I have not seen enough of him as a college quarterback to tell you. But he was a really good one last year. He got banged up a little bit. And I thought he'd still be their starter, but (William) obviously beat him out.

If you have the three cornerbacks, Sargeant, Wallace, and Davis. At media day you talked and some of the players talked about (Drew) Astorino being such a great athlete, and want to go find a way to get him on the field. If one of those three corners is going to be the nickel, how are you going to find a way to get Astorino on the field?
You guys want to give me a couple of other names on the roster? You got a neighbor or somebody on the roster you want to get in?
Hey, he's (Astorino) a freshman. Give him a chance. He's a fine freshman. He's playing inside. He's not playing a corner. He's one of the inside safeties. There again, we may not be too deep. And if you can have the luxury of having five kids that can play inside and, the luxury of having an inside safety or five that can play outside during a tough season, a long year...
Wallace missed almost 10 days of preseason practice because of a hamstring pull. When you're good, that happens. But we have somebody behind him. Now that doesn't answer your Astorino question, but the same thing can happen inside.
We're just trying to get the most out of the kids we have, and Astorino right now is playing inside. He's a freshman. He's got a lot to learn. The inside position is a lot tougher mentally than the corners because they have to make a lot of different coverage changes. And they have to make some adjustment calls. He's a good kid. I think it's a good spot for him.

In light of the injury to Sean Lee and the departure of the tackles, how important is it to the defense to have all that veteran experience throughout the secondary?
I think it's vital. I'm not as worried about them. If I had to put a "one, two, three" on my question marks (coming into the season), the first one on the defense would be linebackers. There was a time when we lined up (Paul) Posluszny, (Dan) Connor and Lee...we've got a bunch of kids that are really going to be good. But there are a lot of things they're going to have to adjust to.
(Josh) Hull is probably the only kid that's played much, he and (Tyrell) Sales. But, the way the game's played today, it's such a fast level and there's so much going on you'd like to say you're two deep across the board with the three linebackers.
Having kids like (Nate) Stupar, he's going to be really good, and the kid from Louisiana (Michael Mauti). We've got some good young kids. I'm probably going to miss one or two. But they haven't played in a game in front of 110,000 people here.

How has the 85 scholarship limit helped teams compete? How has that closed the gap between the two divisions?
That's probably better answered by somebody that coaches on that level. I don't think there's any question that it's the 85. When I first started to coach at Penn State, the Southeastern Conference had 145, and no limit on the incoming ones.
So, that was why Bobby Dodd took Georgia Tech out of the Southeastern Conference. When he took his kids, he had 145, but he kept them. What (Paul) Bryant did at Alabama, he'd take five quarterbacks, maybe, so he didn't have to play against a couple of them, and then he'd pick out the best ones.
Then he had coaches at Tennessee-Chattanooga, and coaches at different places, and he'd call them up and say, "you've got a quarterback (coming), here you go." So he could take 50, 60 the next year. And Dodd couldn't get it done. The Southwest Conference also was 145.
So, obviously they dominated. We were playing at Penn State with 95. Pitt, Syracuse, Penn State and West Virginia, we were all in there at 95 at that time. So the (change to) 85 was not drastic for us. But I think it opened up a lot of opportunities for some of the schools that were just on the cusp.
South Florida, for instance. South Florida is a fine football team after (only) eight, 10 years. They were (nearly) playing for a national championship. Last year they were No. 2 at one time.
So I think it's made a big difference in the level of competition. If you looked at Appalachian (State) and Michigan, if you studied the tape of it, which we have, I tell you, Appalachian looks like a (strong) football team. And, you know, they played like champions.
I said that to one of the coaches, that they've been champions in that conference for two or three years. So, I think it's had a dramatic effect on them. That's from a different viewpoint than the coach who coaches at that level.

Coach, you mentioned the battle between Clark and Devlin. When you told Daryll, what were his emotions? Because he said since January he really wanted the starting job. So could you describe what his emotions were?
Three guys, sitting around a table, all right? Telling what was going to be the obvious. He (Clark) smiles. I said to the other two kids, "you guys okay with that?" "Yeah, let's go win." That was it. We're talking about a three or four minute meeting.

How close was the competition?
Very close. I think I made that clear. I think we can win with any one of those three kids. It's just right now I think Clark is the guy that should take precedent. And I think he'll do very well.

You said earlier you wanted to give Devlin some playing time for sure. Is that something you want to do from week to week? Does it depend on situation or score?
I haven't got the slightest idea. I just can't seem to get that across. We've got a fluid situation. We've got a nice situation. I haven't looked at anybody yet, except way back, in the last eight, nine days except Coastal Carolina. I'm anxious to see them.
I didn't realize it until early summer when I started to look at some Oregon State pictures what a good football team they were last year. So what's going to happen in this game? What's going to happen? Somebody's going to get bumped. You're going to lose a day here.
So you hope you're in position to make those adjustments. And that's what I was trying to point out when we talked about Harriott and Timmons and Astorino, I think we're very fortunate we have three quarterbacks. I think we can make the adjustment. And handle anything that might happen. But right now, Clark's the quarterback.

How are Jerome Hayes and Jared Odrick doing coming off their serious injuries?
They're both ready to go.

Can you talk about what went into the decision to have Abe Koroma starting ahead of Jared Odrick? Is it going to make a big difference?
He's (Odrick) been hurt a lot. He hadn't had a lot of practice until last week. And Koroma and (Ollie) Ogbu both have really gotten better and better and better. I think that they deserve to start.
The game, the way it's played today, you can't have (just) two defensive lines. You've got to have back up guys. If you want to get after that quarterback, play after play, that is the toughest job.
So we've tried, some of the other kids. I mentioned Hayes, and we've got (Josh) Gaines, and the kid over on the other side (Maurice Evans). Gaines can go both sides, Hayes can move in. We've got a young kid freshman I like very much. It's that kind of a mentality. But, he (Odrick) can play a lot of football.

Are you involved in a lot of those discussions with different positions as far as explaining to potential back ups what their role is in a week like this? Or do they usually follow the assistant position coaches?
Well, most of them. I think they know what's going on. We don't make pretenses with them. "Hey, you've got to do this if you want to beat so and so out." We made a decision last Friday as a staff. I'm in on all of it. "They've got to beat this, if they want to go" and that sort of thing. But when it comes down, if anybody's got a problem with any one of his kids, I'll talk with them.
And I'll get a call from a parent once in a while. "Hey, what's going on with my kid? He's on a demonstration team now." "He's a little behind so and so." And we try to keep them encouraged.
But most of the time it's pretty well known, the pecking order. And if we do have one where it's close, we try not to make a final decision for the whole year. Because some kids are a little slower than the others in developing. So you just try to be flexible.

The 1968 69 teams are coming in here this weekend. How much of a foundation do you attribute to them as far as what they did with the program? Do you get to spend much time with team that's come in like that?
Well, I'm going to try to. They're coming in and having a get together Friday night after the rally (Football Eve). That's late for me. But I'll try to say hello to some of them, and I'll try to see some of them maybe Saturday afterward (the game). I want to stick around.
To answer the first part of your question, there is no question I inherited a lot of (good) people. You know, I think maybe I made this statement again before. I remember asking Darrell Royal. I remember asking Royal why he had gotten out the year he got out, because he left a great football team and they went away winning the Cotton Bowl. I said, "how come you left?" And he said, "Texas was really good to me, and I wanted to leave some meat on the bones." And I think Rip (Engle) wanted to leave some meat on the bones.
Those guys, I'm missing somebody, but they were good football players and they made me a good coach. And in the eyes of people I wasn't that, but they made me a good coach. I mean that sincerely.

Going back to the defensive line, is Devon Still out for the year? Do you think you can get him back in action?
He's out for the year. He's got a broken ankle.

How tough has it been for him having two really serious injuries in two years?
I worry about it. I try to talk to him. He's out there with a big cast on the lower part of his leg. It's tough. It's tough. But you know, you try to just explain that's the way it goes. Sometimes it goes bad for a long time, and then all of a sudden good things will happen to you if you don't lose your focus. I worry about them getting careless in class and that kind of stuff when they're hurt that much. But he seems to be handling it, as well as you could expect. I don't think anybody, when you're that young he's a heck of a prospect. I probably worry more than he does.

Can you talk about Warren Koegel (Coastal Carolina AD, former Penn State player)?
He was a heck of a player. I remember recruiting him. He was from Long Island originally, then they moved up to upstate New York. His kid brother was a heck of a football player, but he decided to play baseball. He was a really good baseball player. I think he played with the Yankees one year. He was a really solid, good football player. In fact, he played and I went to the Hula Bowl. The only time I coached an All Star Game, I took him and Jack Ham to play for us out there. He played against Archie Manning out there.
We had great quarterbacks by the name of (Jim) Plunkett and (Joe) Theismann. And a couple of times when we needed a babysitter, we had three kids, and he and Ham baby sat once or twice. Great guys.
Really a delightful person and smart. He's done a good job down there.

Florida State is off this week, so you could possibly tie Bobby Bowden for the wins record this year. I know you said you don't look at the record, but do you enjoy a friendly competition with Bobby with that in terms of the career wins and all of that?
Bobby's a good friend. Oh, who cares? When they bury me they're going to put on my gravestone, "you were one win ahead of Bobby Bowden?" No. That's good for you guys. You need something to write about, obviously.
No, I really don't know. I couldn't tell you that. And I don't think Bobby would feel any differently than I do.
We've sent spent a lot of time together through the years, Bobby and his wife Ann. We've gone on a lot of trips with the Nike coaches. And Terry, who coached Auburn for a while. Was Terry at Auburn? I get them kind of twisted around a little. But they were both...they're good.
Hey, Bobby Bowden's a great credit to the game, everywhere he's coached. If he comes out with more wins than I do, then we both have it, I'm glad it's him.

Do you have to do anything different in a way to maybe get the team motivated this week because it's not a Michigan or Ohio State? It's Coastal Carolina, does not quite get the blood pumping?
Well, I worry about that, obviously. Because too many people are on to saying what one of the opening questions was. He asked me about playing Coastal Carolina. Yeah, I think you have to respect them. I think what Appalachian did to Michigan last year was an eye opener for everybody. And a couple other games like that last year. They thought it was in the bag for some lame team.
I think it will be all right. Pre-season is a very difficult time for us here because we're in preseason practice up until a week ago Thursday and in summer school. We were taking finals (a week ago) last Friday.
So we had trouble getting the two a days and that in. So we started off this week behind. And you can't work them too hard, otherwise they won't have any legs. I think there are some kids out there that are mature enough to know what they've got to do. And hopefully we'll have some people that can make some plays in the clutch. And I think it will be all right.
But it really is a tough game. We're going to play well. We can't put the ball on the ground, make mistakes in the kicking game. We can't get careless, because they're clever. We get careless on defense, and they'll hurt us.

Andrew Quarless' status had been up in the air. What did he do to make the team? What kind of things will he have to do?
I waited until his grades came in; he did a good job. So right now he'd be probably behind (Mickey) Shuler. He wouldn't be ahead of Shuler. Shuler's had a spring and good pre-season. And the young kid (Andrew Szczerba) is not quite as fast as Quarless. Quarless is a pretty good athlete, so is Shuler. Now Quarless is okay.

Anthony (Scirrotto) said this morning that the secondary wants to make more plays this year, force more turnovers. Was there an emphasis placed on that in the preseason?
I think we always try to emphasize that. I think we were disappointed that we didn't get more turnovers (Last year). We didn't really, last year. We've tried to talk about playing a little faster...getting a better jump on the ball, those kinds of things. But we pretty much do it all the time. Last year, we weren't very good when we had the football as far as turnovers go. I think we turned the ball over more times than anybody we played. And I don't mean each game, but as a total.
I think that is something you're always on their backs (about). But once in a while they just don't get it done. But I think we have to get the turnovers. I don't care, it's still a game of turnovers.