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One Leg Up on Sports With Jay Paterno As the College Football Playoffs Kick Off 12-20-24 · OneLegUpAlex Sports

0:00
Speaker 1: Hey, it's Alex Garrett and before we get to our
0:02
Speaker 1: very special guests on the One Leg Up on Sports,
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0:39
Speaker 2: Here's your host, Alex Dearren.
0:43
Speaker 1: Well, this is a true honor the on the kickoff
0:46
Speaker 1: of the college football playoffs. Jay Paterno, Yes, Jay paternal
0:51
Speaker 1: the son of Joe Paterno, joins the One Leg Up Network.
0:54
Speaker 1: How are you?
0:55
Speaker 3: Jay? Doing great? How about you?
0:57
Speaker 1: When I saw this pitch, I immediately jumped because, Hey,
1:00
Speaker 1: I had a very close family friend who went to
1:03
Speaker 1: Penn Sate, who is huge with Penn Sate. We actually
1:05
Speaker 1: went to a couple of games together and just an
1:08
Speaker 1: Infinity for your dad. Just to be honest with you,
1:10
Speaker 1: I loved your dad and loved what he did with
1:13
Speaker 1: Penn State. So welcome to the show.
1:15
Speaker 3: Great to be here. Thanks.
1:17
Speaker 1: I guess, right off the bat, what would you think
1:18
Speaker 1: of a twelve and what do you think of a
1:20
Speaker 1: twelve team playoff? Is this wild or what?
1:23
Speaker 3: Probably a little too much, I mean in terms of
1:26
Speaker 3: when you look at Penn State as the sixth seed
1:29
Speaker 3: having lost the Big Ten championship game, they've got four
1:33
Speaker 3: more games to play if they win it all just
1:36
Speaker 3: to play for national championship and winning that's seventeen games.
1:40
Speaker 3: Probably too much, But you know, I think there'll be
1:42
Speaker 3: adjustments to schedules and things like that.
1:44
Speaker 2: I think as we go, certainly the players.
1:48
Speaker 3: Are going to want to cut the playoff revenue, and
1:51
Speaker 3: you know they should. You're asking me to play three
1:53
Speaker 3: or four more games, they should get that. But it's
1:58
Speaker 3: obviously exciting because down the stretch there were a lot
2:00
Speaker 3: more teams in the conversation, a lot more games that
2:03
Speaker 3: suddenly meant something to get in.
2:05
Speaker 2: Or get out.
2:06
Speaker 3: But I think I think it's good to have. You know,
2:09
Speaker 3: you got home games at Notre Dame and got home
2:11
Speaker 3: games at Penn State home game, at Hio State home
2:13
Speaker 3: game in Texas, and I think then you know, it'll
2:16
Speaker 3: sort itself out in terms of seating, and you know
2:19
Speaker 3: there's gonna be some things people don't like, but you
2:21
Speaker 3: know that's with anything you do.
2:23
Speaker 1: The first time you played and coached with your dad,
2:26
Speaker 1: is that correct? You played and coach under him. What
2:28
Speaker 1: was that experience like as a player and as a coach, Well, it.
2:33
Speaker 2: Was great sometimes.
2:35
Speaker 3: I think the thing that was really good was that
2:37
Speaker 3: we kept it very, very professional. When I walked anytime
2:41
Speaker 3: it was related to work, I would refer Tom as
2:44
Speaker 3: coach or Joe, and then you know, if I was
2:48
Speaker 3: at the house, then it was dad. And when I
2:51
Speaker 3: would do media interviews about him, I would I would
2:53
Speaker 3: reference to miss Joe. You know, even if someone said,
2:55
Speaker 3: well your dad this year, I'd say and I would
2:57
Speaker 3: just answer with Joe or coach or just because I
3:00
Speaker 3: think it's important and that goes for anybody that works
3:03
Speaker 3: with a father or a mom and a business whatever.
3:07
Speaker 3: It was as much to keep on a professional level
3:11
Speaker 3: setting for me, but also for co workers, because you know,
3:14
Speaker 3: if you're sitting in a meeting and there's an argument
3:16
Speaker 3: between two or three and you're trying to pitch a
3:18
Speaker 3: game plan or whatever it may be, and you say,
3:20
Speaker 3: but Dad, this Dad, that dad, this the guy that
3:23
Speaker 3: you know you're having a discussion with the coworkers.
3:25
Speaker 2: Like, oh, yeah, he's playing the dad, you know, the
3:26
Speaker 2: sun card.
3:27
Speaker 3: So it was it was as much to keep it
3:30
Speaker 3: on a professional level, not just for me, but the
3:32
Speaker 3: guys I coach, the guys that work with the whole
3:34
Speaker 3: nine yards.
3:36
Speaker 1: That's that's a good compartmentalization. I guess you would say, Yeah,
3:41
Speaker 1: as a player, did you ever think that this kind
3:44
Speaker 1: of system would happen? Like you're here thirty years ago,
3:47
Speaker 1: buying the national title and whatnot. Did you ever think
3:50
Speaker 1: this would want to come down to a twelve team thing?
3:52
Speaker 1: Or did that not even cross your mind back then?
3:55
Speaker 3: Well? I think if you look at it crossed my
3:57
Speaker 3: mind because in sixty eight, Pence State was left no
4:00
Speaker 3: finished second sixty nine finished eleven, oh a second seventy
4:03
Speaker 3: three finished twelve and oh a second ninety four finished
4:06
Speaker 3: twelve and.
4:07
Speaker 2: Oh and would have killed nebrask It.
4:09
Speaker 3: They played, and that was the best offensive football team
4:11
Speaker 3: maybe the history of college football. When you look at
4:13
Speaker 3: the talent that was on there and how well they produced,
4:16
Speaker 3: So I mean, certainly all along. I mean I remember
4:18
Speaker 3: drawing up things like this in high school about you know,
4:21
Speaker 3: having eight teams. You know, how would you do that?
4:23
Speaker 3: You know, when I was a kid, I would daydream
4:25
Speaker 3: about those things, So it doesn't surprise me. I'm surprised
4:28
Speaker 3: it took this long. But with the conference championship games,
4:33
Speaker 3: they kind of getting away a little bit, whereas in
4:36
Speaker 3: one you know, and I coached at James Masis University
4:39
Speaker 3: when they were still in one double A SOD. I
4:41
Speaker 3: have experienced with the sixteen team playoff and there's no
4:45
Speaker 3: conference championship games at that level, so you go right
4:48
Speaker 3: into the playoffs. And even they they've gone to a
4:51
Speaker 3: twenty four I think it's twenty fourteen bracket now, where
4:55
Speaker 3: there's you know, eight teams get buys and sixteen play
4:59
Speaker 3: to get into the I was sixteen, So so yeah,
5:02
Speaker 3: I thought I thought it would happen.
5:04
Speaker 2: I just didn't think it would take this Long's.
5:06
Speaker 1: With Jay Paterno, And you've also written a book about
5:10
Speaker 1: your experience, and tell us a bit about the book
5:12
Speaker 1: that just was released, I believe.
5:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, the book's called blitzed, and it's what I blitzed,
5:18
Speaker 3: the all out pressure of college football's new era. And
5:22
Speaker 3: really what really what it is is I had written
5:24
Speaker 3: a book four years ago based on things that I
5:29
Speaker 3: had experienced in coaching at this level. But rather than
5:32
Speaker 3: make it a nonfiction and say, well, this coach from
5:36
Speaker 3: this school did this and offered this kid this kind
5:38
Speaker 3: of money, I didn't want to get involved with lawyers.
5:41
Speaker 3: I didn't want to blow my car up, so I says,
5:45
Speaker 3: to protect the innocent, but also to protect some of
5:47
Speaker 3: the guilty. So it became it was a fiction book,
5:51
Speaker 3: and it was called The Hot Seat, and it took
5:53
Speaker 3: you through a year of as the main character, as
5:56
Speaker 3: the head coach at Ohio State, and.
5:58
Speaker 2: He's told you have one year to win or else.
6:00
Speaker 3: So then you after that book was done, people said
6:03
Speaker 3: you ought to write the sequel to it. Now that
6:05
Speaker 3: we're having NIL and all these things that are going on,
6:08
Speaker 3: and I've been consulting in NIL nationally now for three
6:12
Speaker 3: and a half four years, so I've been exposed to
6:15
Speaker 3: a lot of things that are happening all over the country,
6:17
Speaker 3: good and bad, and so I decided, well, let's do
6:21
Speaker 3: a follow up and let's get into the things that
6:23
Speaker 3: are really going on. So this is nonfiction fiction. It's
6:26
Speaker 3: it's a novel, but it's all based on things that
6:28
Speaker 3: are really going on. I think it's really eye opening
6:31
Speaker 3: for fans to see some of these stories, to see
6:35
Speaker 3: some of the challenges that these guys have, And I
6:38
Speaker 3: think it's eye opening for anybody wants to play football
6:41
Speaker 3: at this level or any parents have kids who want
6:43
Speaker 3: to play football at this level. That's really kind of
6:46
Speaker 3: the impetus behind doing this book is it really kind
6:48
Speaker 3: of pull back the curtainnon.
6:51
Speaker 1: Now, the transfer portal if it was around when you played,
6:56
Speaker 1: could you see a lot of your teammates staying for
6:58
Speaker 1: Joe Paterno and it was a loyalty to him that
7:01
Speaker 1: not even the trends for portal can ruin.
7:04
Speaker 3: I think I think it always comes down to how
7:07
Speaker 3: you recruit people. And I think somebody's gonna get the
7:10
Speaker 3: right formula at this level and say they're gonna go
7:13
Speaker 3: recruit the base of their team is gonna be guys
7:16
Speaker 3: they recruit and developed, Like, really, you gotta look like
7:19
Speaker 3: major League Baseball where I'm gonna I'm gonna get guys
7:22
Speaker 3: in this freshman like a farm system, developed them over
7:25
Speaker 3: three and four years, and I'm gonna have a core
7:27
Speaker 3: of my team that is seniors and then I'm gonna
7:29
Speaker 3: go to portal and get you know, pieces here and there.
7:33
Speaker 3: And I think if you look at Oregon, that's kind
7:34
Speaker 3: of what they've done. And Dan Lanning, you know, I
7:37
Speaker 3: spent some I was out the Higher State Oregon game.
7:39
Speaker 3: Got spent a few minutes with him and get a
7:42
Speaker 3: feel for what they're doing out there while I was
7:44
Speaker 3: out there for the weekend.
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Speaker 2: And you know, they seem to be doing that.
7:47
Speaker 3: And you know, so they're a good team to kind
7:49
Speaker 3: of watch as kind of a everybody thinks Phil Knight
7:52
Speaker 3: went out and bottom of a team, that's absolutely not true.
7:54
Speaker 2: Phil Knight's a family friend that's out with him during
7:56
Speaker 2: the game.
7:58
Speaker 3: You know. So it's not a situation based out road
8:00
Speaker 3: check and bought a team. They got the pieces they need,
8:03
Speaker 3: and they've got people behind some of the older guys.
8:05
Speaker 3: They've gotten a portal to develop. So I think that's
8:08
Speaker 3: what's going to have to happen. And if you recruit
8:10
Speaker 3: people with that mindset and you get to a point
8:12
Speaker 3: where you have an older team experience talent with experiences
8:16
Speaker 3: almost always going to be talents talents, it's in experience.
8:20
Speaker 1: Jay I got to say, as someone who has Penn State,
8:22
Speaker 1: you know we are Penn Sate blood, and you must
8:25
Speaker 1: be excited about this opportunity to host a home game,
8:28
Speaker 1: a very special moment for six teams I get to
8:30
Speaker 1: do this, isn't it?
8:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, no question? And it's snowing outside today, SMU. I
8:37
Speaker 3: do a TV show called Ntney Game Week, and SMU's
8:40
Speaker 3: last six games, the coldest that's been was forty four degrees.
8:44
Speaker 3: The average kickoff temperature was sixty five I think it was.
8:48
Speaker 3: It'll be in the twenties at kickoff tomorrow, so it'll
8:51
Speaker 3: be a little bit of a shock.
8:52
Speaker 1: But you know, loving this right now is my friend
8:56
Speaker 1: Joe Bastardi, who knows you.
8:58
Speaker 2: I believe absolutely, And we should have called in for
9:01
Speaker 2: the forecast.
9:02
Speaker 3: Yeah.
9:02
Speaker 1: I work with them in radio, so I'm going to
9:04
Speaker 1: tell them that we talked today and share this with them.
9:07
Speaker 1: Jay I got to say, you're a lationship with Penn State.
9:10
Speaker 1: You're on the board. Maybe people don't under realize that,
9:12
Speaker 1: but you are on the board. Tell us about that experience.
9:15
Speaker 3: Well being the board of trustees it's one of those
9:17
Speaker 3: things that everybody thinks it sounds like a great idea
9:20
Speaker 3: till you get on the board. You know, you whin
9:21
Speaker 3: your board election. You get on, you're like, wow, there's this.
9:24
Speaker 3: It is a very very serious job. You don't get
9:28
Speaker 3: paid for it, obviously, so it's not really a job.
9:29
Speaker 3: And we do get a parking pass. That's our big perk.
9:32
Speaker 3: We get a parking passa anywhere on campus, which, by
9:34
Speaker 3: the way, living here in town, that is a value
9:36
Speaker 3: of great value. But you know, you're dealing with one day,
9:40
Speaker 3: you're dealing with things in your medical system.
9:43
Speaker 2: We've got a medical school enterprise as well as a
9:45
Speaker 2: health enterprise.
9:46
Speaker 3: Then you're dealing with a We do a billion two
9:49
Speaker 3: in research a year at this university, and that's a
9:52
Speaker 3: big number. The overall budget is just under ten billion
9:55
Speaker 3: at Penn State. We've got eighty something thousand students, not
9:59
Speaker 3: just here Versity Park, but across our system as well
10:02
Speaker 3: as on our world campus. And then when you talk
10:05
Speaker 3: about all those things, and then people have about football,
10:08
Speaker 3: football football, Well, football generates about one hundred million dollars
10:11
Speaker 3: in revenue out of ten billions, so it's really not
10:14
Speaker 3: that big a deal in terms of a fiscal standpoint,
10:17
Speaker 3: So you know, getting on the board of trustees it's
10:19
Speaker 3: a very it's a very serious endeavor.
10:23
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And and do you have any you know, not oversight,
10:28
Speaker 1: but do you ever get involved in the football program?
10:30
Speaker 1: Still are you got? Is the Turtle name still attached
10:32
Speaker 1: to the football program?
10:33
Speaker 2: I stay away for a couple of reason.
10:35
Speaker 3: Number one, you know, this job's hard enough without a
10:37
Speaker 3: guy that used to coach stick in his nose, you know,
10:40
Speaker 3: my dad sticking his two cents. And as my dad
10:42
Speaker 3: used to tell boosters, we want your money, but not
10:44
Speaker 3: your two cents, which is how you know.
10:47
Speaker 2: So I feel that way. So, I mean, we we've
10:49
Speaker 2: done some things.
10:50
Speaker 3: We started a collective a couple a couple of years ago,
10:53
Speaker 3: which was the first collective that we had here at
10:55
Speaker 3: Penn State, and then as a trustee, I had to
10:57
Speaker 3: back away.
10:57
Speaker 2: So that's one area we've been involved in a little bit.
11:02
Speaker 3: And at one point that collective had all eighty five
11:04
Speaker 3: scholarship players under contract to do things, as well as
11:07
Speaker 3: athletes in all thirty one sports. But you know, I've
11:09
Speaker 3: tried to stay away and let them do their job.
11:11
Speaker 3: They don't need you know, I had my time. I
11:14
Speaker 3: had a great run. I had a lot of fun,
11:16
Speaker 3: and I enjoy watching the games. I root and even
11:19
Speaker 3: upstairs people go, what do you think. I'm like, I'm
11:21
Speaker 3: not telling you what I think they should do because
11:23
Speaker 3: I know no, no, no, no no, So I keep it.
11:26
Speaker 1: You're hoping they'll do it anyway. You know, you're like
11:28
Speaker 1: rooting for that to happen if you can't say I.
11:30
Speaker 2: Want them to win, you know.
11:32
Speaker 3: But I do do a TV show every week that's
11:34
Speaker 3: we're on twelve thirteen stations across the Northeast. So there's
11:38
Speaker 3: a part of me that stays away also because I
11:40
Speaker 3: have that kind of two hat role.
11:43
Speaker 1: Let me ask you this, Drew Aller and Franklin, I mean,
11:45
Speaker 1: this is a good coach QB combination. Is that and
11:48
Speaker 1: that a reason why they got here?
11:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, no question. And I think Tyler Warren a tight end,
11:54
Speaker 3: no questions. Without him, they probably lose the US.
11:57
Speaker 1: I heard he was a heisman you know he was
12:00
Speaker 1: have been in the run for Heisman. Am I right
12:01
Speaker 1: on that?
12:01
Speaker 3: Yeah? I think he finished seventh, which is that's the
12:04
Speaker 3: highest finish for a tight end in a long time.
12:07
Speaker 2: But I think the highest fins we ever had Ted
12:09
Speaker 2: Kualak back.
12:10
Speaker 3: In sixty sixty eight finished fourth, and Ted Qualack was
12:14
Speaker 3: on the Sports Illustrated as a tight end Sports Illustrated
12:17
Speaker 3: All Century Team from nineteen hundred to nineteen ninety nine,
12:20
Speaker 3: so obviously he's probably the greatest ever played the position here,
12:24
Speaker 3: but Tyler Warren had an unbelievable year. Without him, we
12:28
Speaker 3: lose a couple of games, and al Are has made
12:31
Speaker 3: some great throws in some key drives in those games.
12:34
Speaker 3: And then at Wisconsin, you know Bo Pabula, who just transferred.
12:37
Speaker 3: Sad to see him go, but you know, he came
12:40
Speaker 3: in the second half we were trailing and he really
12:42
Speaker 3: sparked that.
12:43
Speaker 2: So without him, we probably was.
12:44
Speaker 3: But but they've done it. They's done a really good job.
12:46
Speaker 3: And I'm glad Alar's coming back. So I think he'll
12:48
Speaker 3: benefit from another year. You know, I don't think he's
12:52
Speaker 3: a slam dunk first rounder right now, but I think
12:54
Speaker 3: he can play himself into being a really high draft pick. Now.
12:58
Speaker 1: The game against Oregon, it was all up and down.
13:01
Speaker 1: Then the interception happened. But the fact that Oregon's exploded
13:05
Speaker 1: into the Big ten. Did you see that coming? That
13:07
Speaker 1: seemed like a surprise to the Big Ten.
13:08
Speaker 3: Didn't it well because of because of having a relationship
13:12
Speaker 3: with Phil Knight over the years, I've always kind of
13:14
Speaker 3: watched them and kept an eye on what they're doing,
13:16
Speaker 3: and they're pretty innovative how they how they've approaching things.
13:20
Speaker 3: Dan Lanning I think was a great hire for them.
13:23
Speaker 3: I watched them extensively last year and I saw a
13:26
Speaker 3: guy that was building a physical football team up front.
13:29
Speaker 3: I think he was anticipating this and had speed on
13:32
Speaker 3: the outside. And when I came back to the High
13:34
Speaker 3: State Oregon game, I said, this, this team can win
13:37
Speaker 3: the whole thing because they're physical upfront, but they had
13:39
Speaker 3: elite speed on the outside. I mean, you missed a
13:42
Speaker 3: tackle on these guys, they're gone. And so it didn't
13:45
Speaker 3: surprise me. And I think he was was building this team.
13:49
Speaker 3: And when they had a Dylan Gabriel in the offseason,
13:52
Speaker 3: I said, I think that's the team to be, you know,
13:54
Speaker 3: I said, I hate to say it's the Penn stated,
13:56
Speaker 3: I think Oregon is a team to be because I
13:58
Speaker 3: watched Gabriel Texas Oklahoma game a year ago when Texas
14:02
Speaker 3: number three take them down the field and make clutch
14:05
Speaker 3: throw after clutch throw and beat Texas in the Red
14:08
Speaker 3: River Rivalry.
14:09
Speaker 2: So I thought, I thought they'd have a good shot
14:12
Speaker 2: to win this thing this year.
14:13
Speaker 1: Well, we'll have to see what happens.
14:15
Speaker 3: Now.
14:15
Speaker 1: You know another coach that sort of blasts on the
14:17
Speaker 1: scene as Dion Sanders. When coach Prime went to Colorado,
14:21
Speaker 1: do you feel like that changed the coaching's landscape a
14:24
Speaker 1: little bit or what was that reaction for me?
14:27
Speaker 3: You know, it was one of those things. He had
14:28
Speaker 3: done a good job at Jackson think so you know,
14:31
Speaker 3: you know, I think people it's easy to forget that
14:33
Speaker 3: he was there and did a really good job there.
14:36
Speaker 3: So it wasn't his first gig, which is which I
14:38
Speaker 3: think is important. And I think he went in and
14:41
Speaker 3: had massive turnover. I think when you look at what
14:44
Speaker 3: he did from year one of the year two, I
14:45
Speaker 3: think he managed it a little better. I think they coach,
14:49
Speaker 3: you know, they they they looked like they looked like
14:51
Speaker 3: a much better prepared team this year in some key
14:54
Speaker 3: games and they did a year ago. So I think
14:57
Speaker 3: that and some of that is just it. Every I
15:00
Speaker 3: thinks you can, you know, flip a switch and you go.
15:03
Speaker 3: I mean, Indiana this year is a per example of
15:04
Speaker 3: a team that came in just flipped the switch and
15:07
Speaker 3: everything kind of worked out for him. But you know,
15:09
Speaker 3: I think it takes a while, and I think he's
15:10
Speaker 3: you know, he's able to track some really good talent.
15:13
Speaker 3: He's got some some veteran coaches around him who've been
15:16
Speaker 3: in the NFL on that level, So I think I
15:19
Speaker 3: think it's gonna be interesting to see. And I think
15:21
Speaker 3: Belichick's another one. I mean, this is another one where
15:24
Speaker 3: you start to look at and say, you know, the
15:27
Speaker 3: transfer portal gives you free agency every year. The NIL
15:31
Speaker 3: money becomes a way to get free agents with no
15:34
Speaker 3: salary cap. So I think, you know, it's gonna be
15:37
Speaker 3: I think that non experiment's gonna be fun to watch
15:39
Speaker 3: as it goes, and the Belichick one is going to
15:41
Speaker 3: be fascinating to watch as well.
15:43
Speaker 1: So you you work with the NIL aspect, do you
15:45
Speaker 1: think though it's good for the sport?
15:47
Speaker 3: Well, I think here's the thing. I think ni L
15:51
Speaker 3: has become really two different things, what it's supposed to
15:54
Speaker 3: be and what it is, And there's two different types
15:57
Speaker 3: of than I L.
15:57
Speaker 2: And like I said, I've consulted it for a number
15:59
Speaker 2: of years.
16:00
Speaker 3: You know, the original idea would be a guy like
16:03
Speaker 3: Travis Hunter playing it, playing at Colorado and gator Rade
16:07
Speaker 3: or Nike or whatever. Caitlin Clarke at Ile, for example, says,
16:11
Speaker 3: you know what, we think this is an athlete we
16:13
Speaker 3: want to endorsing our product. We think there's a return
16:16
Speaker 3: on investment if this person does this, and we'll get
16:20
Speaker 3: something out of it, and so they do it as
16:22
Speaker 3: a business. The other track of what's happened is with
16:26
Speaker 3: the collective is you have guys that are getting paid,
16:31
Speaker 3: you know, just they're getting contracts to do some promotional
16:34
Speaker 3: stuff here and there, but it's not really based on
16:36
Speaker 3: what the true nil is worth. It's more of a
16:38
Speaker 3: pay to play. So your second team left tackle could
16:41
Speaker 3: make fifty grand to tweet every you know, six or
16:46
Speaker 3: seven times about a charity or something like that. So
16:49
Speaker 3: there's two different tracks on this thing. I think that
16:51
Speaker 3: when it when it gets when we get revenue sharing
16:54
Speaker 3: next year, I think that will settle down then and
16:57
Speaker 3: then they'll go back to more of the true nil.
17:00
Speaker 1: I think of what Ohio State was willing to do,
17:03
Speaker 1: which is basically throw the kitchen sing to keep Marvin
17:05
Speaker 1: Harrison Junior. I mean that's almost like a Soto getting
17:09
Speaker 1: a big contract. I'm sorry to make that comparison, but
17:11
Speaker 1: that's what it feels like. And at what point do
17:15
Speaker 1: they still have that. Is it a kids game sale
17:19
Speaker 1: or a college kids game or is that out the
17:20
Speaker 1: window now.
17:22
Speaker 3: I think what we have now is you have it
17:24
Speaker 3: until they get a process in place where there is
17:27
Speaker 3: revenue sharing and collective bargain. Book. I'm an old school guy.
17:31
Speaker 3: This is not what I want, but I'm also a
17:34
Speaker 3: realistic that this is what this sport needs right now
17:37
Speaker 3: to settle down the jumping every year the Nile. Because
17:40
Speaker 3: you know, so too signed a contract. He can't just
17:42
Speaker 3: next year go and really enjoy my time with the Mets.
17:46
Speaker 3: I'm out. I'm going to go over to the Yang
17:48
Speaker 3: back the Yanks. I mean, so, I think those things
17:51
Speaker 3: have to happen. But until it happens, you have players
17:56
Speaker 3: that are independent contractors that can go wherever they want
17:59
Speaker 3: your year. I think it puts tremendous pressure on kids.
18:02
Speaker 3: And one of the things that that I write about
18:04
Speaker 3: in the book, and I think it's important people to
18:06
Speaker 3: understand it's not all puppies and rainbows.
18:10
Speaker 2: You have kids that are dealing with a lot of
18:13
Speaker 2: mental health.
18:14
Speaker 3: Issues and pressure because well, if I don't jump into
18:17
Speaker 3: poor right away, the school that I may want to
18:20
Speaker 3: go to may grab somebody else. The nil deal that
18:22
Speaker 3: I can get might be go to somebody else.
18:24
Speaker 2: Should I stay? Am I happy here? What can I
18:27
Speaker 2: get here?
18:28
Speaker 3: And then I got to be able to perform at
18:29
Speaker 3: a high level and I've got to handle all.
18:32
Speaker 2: The six and by the way, I got to go
18:34
Speaker 2: to school.
18:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, there's that little element that everybody forgets about,
18:39
Speaker 3: and so those mental health pressures have been very, very real.
18:42
Speaker 3: And also because as you mentioned, it's not a kid's
18:44
Speaker 3: game anymore. When you look at a kid playing at
18:47
Speaker 3: Notre Dame ten years ago, it's a nineteen year old.
18:51
Speaker 3: You're a fan of Notre Dame and you well, you
18:53
Speaker 3: know there's a guy out there giving his best for
18:55
Speaker 3: Syde Irish. Now they professionalize themselves, and because of gambling
19:01
Speaker 3: and prop bets, they're now professional commodities in a lot
19:05
Speaker 3: of people's eyes. So when they don't do well, they
19:08
Speaker 3: come at them on social media. And schools have not
19:10
Speaker 3: prepared kids at all for that mental health aspect, and
19:14
Speaker 3: that comes through in the book.
19:15
Speaker 2: And I think That's one of the lessons in the book.
19:17
Speaker 1: Jay. I got to ask you this. We're in bowl season,
19:19
Speaker 1: and when you say Notre Dame Sam Hartman sat out
19:21
Speaker 1: his bowl game last year, which is a trend. As
19:25
Speaker 1: a coach, as a fan of college football, and I'm
19:27
Speaker 1: sure you know, as the son of Joe Paterno, you
19:30
Speaker 1: both probably would think why are they sitting for this game?
19:33
Speaker 1: It's it sounds pretty stupid to me. But now the
19:35
Speaker 1: thing themselves is a commodie. I think right as you say.
19:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think, you know, I think next year
19:42
Speaker 3: you're going to see players and say I'm not going
19:43
Speaker 3: to play in the playoff finals. We get paid. I mean, look,
19:46
Speaker 3: you know, take you know, you can take if Oregon
19:51
Speaker 3: and Ohio State.
19:52
Speaker 2: If iiO State wins this week and they go to
19:53
Speaker 2: the Rose Bowl, play Orion.
19:55
Speaker 3: Okay next week, If ten minutes before kickoff the Oregon
19:59
Speaker 3: play and High State players say, unless you guys commit
20:02
Speaker 3: to giving us X amount of dollars for playing this game,
20:05
Speaker 3: we're not playing. You know. I mean, I don't know
20:09
Speaker 3: how good Dan Landing is a cornhole, and I don't
20:11
Speaker 3: know how good Ryan Day is a cornall. They made
20:13
Speaker 3: me great They may be top ten in the world
20:15
Speaker 3: for all I know, but no one's going to stick
20:17
Speaker 3: around the Rosebull to watch them play cornall.
20:19
Speaker 2: It's the players and the players.
20:20
Speaker 3: I think really where it turned was during COVID the
20:24
Speaker 3: things that our players had to do on a campus
20:27
Speaker 3: that was empty, they were quarantined, they had to do
20:30
Speaker 3: all these things to make the game. What they realized
20:33
Speaker 3: is why are we doing this, Oh so the university
20:36
Speaker 3: can get their TV check.
20:38
Speaker 2: Well, I was going to ask we get a cut
20:39
Speaker 2: of it.
20:40
Speaker 1: I was going to ask you that. Do you think
20:41
Speaker 1: the NCAA did this themselves where the players after their
20:44
Speaker 1: jerseys gets sold and all that, and they're like, this
20:47
Speaker 1: is I'm mad on the NCAAEA sports. They just said
20:50
Speaker 1: we're done. We're fed up just being used like that.
20:53
Speaker 2: If you will, no, no question.
20:55
Speaker 3: And it was the thing that's happened with the NCAA
20:58
Speaker 3: is they've lost lawsuit after lawawsuit after lawsuit, and they're
21:01
Speaker 3: reacting to events that have overtaken them rather than being proactive.
21:06
Speaker 2: Four years ago, when California passed.
21:08
Speaker 3: The law, the old school coaches and ads would have said, Okay,
21:11
Speaker 3: this is let's just get to a new reality.
21:13
Speaker 2: We got to understand this is going to happen to us.
21:16
Speaker 2: Three years ago, when.
21:17
Speaker 3: We were going through some contract negotiations, I said to
21:19
Speaker 3: other members of the board trust sees and said, revenue
21:22
Speaker 3: sharing's coming. It's going to be roughly twenty million a year.
21:25
Speaker 3: And now three years later it's here and it's twenty
21:28
Speaker 3: two million, and oh, well, the Congress is going to No,
21:31
Speaker 3: we need to take care take things exist.
21:33
Speaker 2: We did bring this upon ourselves in a way.
21:36
Speaker 3: And when you look at the Big Ten, the Big
21:37
Speaker 3: Ten media contract is one point one billion dollars a year.
21:42
Speaker 2: Players look at that and say, well, wait a minute.
21:45
Speaker 3: The head coaches are making you know, you've had coach
21:47
Speaker 3: making twenty three twenty four thousand dollars a day and
21:50
Speaker 3: the players are saying, I get like some walking around money.
21:54
Speaker 3: So yeah, it's a system that they're learning from the adults.
21:58
Speaker 3: The adults because of agents, because of contracts, because of
22:02
Speaker 3: what all these people are making. This away a man.
22:04
Speaker 3: I did a guest lecture at a at a class
22:07
Speaker 3: and there were members at the school I was at.
22:11
Speaker 3: There were members of the current team in that class.
22:14
Speaker 3: It was sports, and I was talking about the salary
22:16
Speaker 3: and then one guy said, hey, how come the head
22:19
Speaker 3: coach makes all that money, because you know, compared to us,
22:21
Speaker 3: he doesn't do anything. And I said, well, that's the system,
22:24
Speaker 3: michieand you got to bring that up with them.
22:28
Speaker 1: Well, I got to ask you a couple more things,
22:30
Speaker 1: because Penn State's had a revitalization in the last few years.
22:35
Speaker 1: What's behind that revitalization if you will.
22:39
Speaker 3: Well, I think, you know, I think that it's a
22:41
Speaker 3: matter of this. This is a place where you have
22:45
Speaker 3: things that you've always had things in place to be
22:46
Speaker 3: successful here. And I think you know, the reality is
22:51
Speaker 3: the Big Ten right now it's top heavy, so it's
22:54
Speaker 3: a higher state. It's Michigan, it's Penn State. Now the
22:57
Speaker 3: Oregon's in they're kind of in that group. Whereas the
23:00
Speaker 3: first ten years we were in the Big Ten. From
23:03
Speaker 3: ninety three through two thousand and two, two thousand and three,
23:06
Speaker 3: eight eight of the eleven schools won the Big Ten
23:09
Speaker 3: in that stretch. If you look at up till this year,
23:12
Speaker 3: the last ten years or so, it's been a higho
23:14
Speaker 3: state Michigan Penn State one once. I think Michigan State
23:18
Speaker 3: won once. So it's become a much more concentrated top
23:22
Speaker 3: heavy league, and Penn State is right, they have me
23:25
Speaker 3: able to catch a higher state like we'd like to.
23:28
Speaker 3: Michigan's kind of had our number a little bit, but
23:31
Speaker 3: we're right there in that next tier of schools trying
23:34
Speaker 3: to make that jump in and I think getting the
23:37
Speaker 3: Big Ten championship game this year was a big step forward.
23:40
Speaker 3: I also think we do owe Michigan some thanks on
23:42
Speaker 3: that one because the highest state did beats, but we'll
23:44
Speaker 3: take it.
23:45
Speaker 1: I also think CBS, you know, getting that contract is
23:49
Speaker 1: huge exposure for Penn State, right, I mean there is
23:52
Speaker 1: that too.
23:53
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, And when you look at it, the Big
23:55
Speaker 3: Ten now has a noon game on foxt's National, a
23:58
Speaker 3: noon game on CBS it's national.
24:00
Speaker 2: Excuse me, a three.
24:01
Speaker 3: Thirty game, and you have a seven thirty game on
24:03
Speaker 3: NBC that's national. So you have a showcase for recruits
24:07
Speaker 3: around the country to see. Plus, now with nil money,
24:11
Speaker 3: recruiting can be much more national because back then, if
24:15
Speaker 3: we went and recruited to the kids from Texas or California, whatever,
24:18
Speaker 3: and the kid didn't have a lot of money, getting
24:19
Speaker 3: back and forth was an issue. Now that's not an
24:21
Speaker 3: issue because they can make money. They can they can
24:24
Speaker 3: make enough money for their parents to come to every
24:26
Speaker 3: game if they wanted.
24:27
Speaker 1: So, I think the kids that were recruited by your
24:29
Speaker 1: father that were local, Like, how many local kids did
24:32
Speaker 1: you guys get?
24:33
Speaker 3: Oh, you know, I couldn't tell you the number off
24:35
Speaker 3: the top of my head. But you know, his whole
24:38
Speaker 3: thing was, let's start from where we are, and let's
24:41
Speaker 3: draw a circle two to three hundred miles around us.
24:45
Speaker 2: And with that circle, you were in DC.
24:48
Speaker 3: You were in Maryland, you were in Jersey, you were
24:50
Speaker 3: in all Pennsylvania, Philly and Pittsburgh. You were in eastern
24:53
Speaker 3: Ohio and those places. He said, you know, we can
24:55
Speaker 3: find enough players as a base there, and we have
24:59
Speaker 3: a advantage in that they can get to us easily.
25:02
Speaker 3: We can get to them easily, so then we would
25:05
Speaker 3: go beyond that. Even you know, it was a golden
25:07
Speaker 3: through Florida. He said, well, you know, by the time
25:09
Speaker 3: you get to Florida, you passed over the entire state
25:12
Speaker 3: of Virginia. And the number of players have come out
25:14
Speaker 3: of Virginia's really North Carolina. We had great players from
25:17
Speaker 3: South Carolina over the years, and then we cherry picked
25:20
Speaker 3: kids from Florida. You know, I signed when I was
25:22
Speaker 3: coaching there signed a couple kids out of Seattle. You
25:25
Speaker 3: picked those guys that have a connection or something. We
25:28
Speaker 3: had Kippen California, whose family was all from Pittsburgh originally,
25:33
Speaker 3: and so they had this They had relatives here, so
25:35
Speaker 3: you'd find those places. But those kids had to pay
25:37
Speaker 3: their own way back and forth. Now let's change with.
25:39
Speaker 1: An eye on all right, I want to talk about
25:42
Speaker 1: this moment where your dad was pretty much tackled on
25:45
Speaker 1: the sideline and yet was still coaching from the booth.
25:47
Speaker 1: From your perspective, what was that moment like where he
25:51
Speaker 1: not only came back from that injury but was still coaching.
25:54
Speaker 1: Were you amazed? Were you like, well, that's just my dad,
25:56
Speaker 1: Like what was your thought on that?
25:57
Speaker 2: Well, you know you told me that at Wisconsin.
26:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, well yeah, you know, broke.
26:02
Speaker 3: His leg, needed an ACL and immediately got up and
26:07
Speaker 3: stood for about two minutes or minute and a half.
26:09
Speaker 2: So I'm up in the mooth.
26:10
Speaker 3: I go, well he's okay, and so you know, I'm
26:14
Speaker 3: still we're coaching the game whatever, And next thing I know,
26:16
Speaker 3: he's in a cart because he can't stand anymore. So,
26:19
Speaker 3: I mean, that sucker was just not made of the
26:21
Speaker 3: same stuff the rest of us were made of. I mean,
26:23
Speaker 3: he just you know, and he said, you know, when
26:25
Speaker 3: I get the surgery, I'll come back earlier. And they think,
26:27
Speaker 3: you know, And he had a hip replacement. He was
26:29
Speaker 3: up running around within a couple of days. He's just
26:32
Speaker 3: he was not human in that regard in terms of toughness.
26:37
Speaker 3: You know, we played out Northwestern in two thousand and
26:40
Speaker 3: five and we had come off a couple of tough years.
26:44
Speaker 3: And right before the game, he is in the bathroom
26:46
Speaker 3: sick as a dog, throwing up whatever. And you know,
26:50
Speaker 3: our team dogs like, coach, you got to stay in here,
26:52
Speaker 3: you can't go out. And because the heck, I'm not
26:54
Speaker 3: this game's too big, comes out in front of the team,
26:57
Speaker 3: gives him this rousing kind of like, let's go out
26:59
Speaker 3: and get this done, but stands a sideline. There is
27:02
Speaker 3: no way you would tell that he was as sick
27:04
Speaker 3: as he was. Halftime, he comes back and he hit
27:07
Speaker 3: it from TV.
27:07
Speaker 2: He didn't want them to know. And that's just the
27:09
Speaker 2: way he was.
27:10
Speaker 1: Another tough character. We just lost here in New York.
27:14
Speaker 1: Lou Carnaseca, I have to say both the eighties featured
27:17
Speaker 1: Joe Pie and Luke Carna Seca. Were they friends at all?
27:20
Speaker 1: Did they know each other at all?
27:21
Speaker 3: Yeah?
27:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, he knew him, even PJ. Carlssimo.
27:25
Speaker 3: He knew Pj's dad from you because as you go
27:28
Speaker 3: way back, they used to go up to they used
27:32
Speaker 3: to do all these uh sports camps up in the Catskills.
27:36
Speaker 3: So my dad would go up there at times, and
27:37
Speaker 3: and and Carnaseca I think was at those things. Carlos
27:40
Speaker 3: Simo was at those things you go to, even to
27:43
Speaker 3: guys like Bill Parcells was the was that the Bobby
27:47
Speaker 3: Knight Sure, and these guys would all get together at
27:49
Speaker 3: these camps and they would, you know, they would kibbutz,
27:52
Speaker 3: you know, and talk about, hey, what do you think that?
27:55
Speaker 3: How do you handle this? And they created these lasting
27:57
Speaker 3: friendships out of her. So yeah, and my dad, you know,
28:01
Speaker 3: my dad grew up going to games to Master Square
28:03
Speaker 3: Garden way wait he said, the old garden. Not they knew,
28:06
Speaker 3: you know.
28:07
Speaker 2: And you know he saw Jerry West play there when
28:09
Speaker 2: Jerry West West Virginia.
28:10
Speaker 3: They came in there and played. But you know, he
28:13
Speaker 3: and my dad played basketball Brown for two years. So
28:16
Speaker 3: he had a real good He loved basketball and had
28:18
Speaker 3: a real good base you know, base in that. In fact,
28:21
Speaker 3: since you are in New Yorker, you know the name
28:23
Speaker 3: Weave you Bank?
28:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, of course he Bank was the.
28:26
Speaker 3: Running back coach of Brown University. My dad was there,
28:28
Speaker 3: and he was the basketball coach of Brown. He's my
28:30
Speaker 3: dad's basketball coach, so so certainly a lot of basketball
28:35
Speaker 3: ties there.
28:36
Speaker 1: I don't know this name, Madison Eisen, but I told
28:38
Speaker 1: her I'm interviewing you because she's a big Penn State.
28:40
Speaker 1: She goes there, she's she's all over the athletics. So
28:43
Speaker 1: I just want to give her shout out there as
28:44
Speaker 1: we're talking, and she was excited that I'm talking to
28:47
Speaker 1: you about all of this. Jay. Obviously we talked about
28:50
Speaker 1: your dad, but I want to talk about you as well.
28:53
Speaker 1: Did you have your own college experience that wasn't under
28:56
Speaker 1: the shadow of your dad? I mean, how did you
28:58
Speaker 1: diversify yourself from Joe Pipe if that makes sense.
29:03
Speaker 3: It wasn't easy, I mean I mean it was it
29:06
Speaker 3: was probably and I probably wasn't mature enough to handle
29:08
Speaker 3: as well as I could have, you know, And I
29:11
Speaker 3: say that without any hesitation because I at time when
29:14
Speaker 3: I wrote a book about my dad. Back in twenty fourteen,
29:18
Speaker 3: I talked about when I was in college and that
29:19
Speaker 3: I was immature and didn't do things and that's always
29:22
Speaker 3: the way I should and so you know I was,
29:25
Speaker 3: But I mean I never introduced myself as Jake Paterno.
29:28
Speaker 3: I mean, I actually went out on two dates and
29:35
Speaker 3: by the third date, someone said to her, you know
29:37
Speaker 3: who that guy is.
29:38
Speaker 2: It's like, no, it's jays No, It's Jake Paterno. And
29:41
Speaker 2: it just never came up.
29:42
Speaker 1: You know.
29:42
Speaker 3: It's not quite like the Seinfeld episode where I couldn't
29:45
Speaker 3: remember someone's name, you know, the infamous Molva episode.
29:49
Speaker 1: Of oh yes, yeah.
29:51
Speaker 3: But I mean it was one of those things. And
29:53
Speaker 3: then you know, and when I grew up in State college,
29:56
Speaker 3: everybody knew, so it wasn't I wasn't a novelty act
30:00
Speaker 3: to some people, whereas you know, I think my first
30:03
Speaker 3: or second my first year in college, my mom's kay,
30:06
Speaker 3: once you come over the house for you know, for
30:08
Speaker 3: you for your birthday. You know, my birthday was in
30:10
Speaker 3: the fall, so I don't lived in college two months
30:12
Speaker 3: or three months at that time. And I invited a
30:14
Speaker 3: girl that I was semi interested in to come to
30:17
Speaker 3: dinner you know, it's just dinner at my house, you know,
30:20
Speaker 3: right right. And she then told me that like her
30:23
Speaker 3: whole sorority was in her room picking out outfits because
30:26
Speaker 3: you know, you're going to Joe Patona's house for dinner.
30:29
Speaker 3: And that was like, you know, and I was like, really,
30:32
Speaker 3: you know, like that's the thing, and She's like, not
30:34
Speaker 3: for me, but for them, it was you know. I mean,
30:35
Speaker 3: so you know, but you know, it beats a reality
30:39
Speaker 3: and there was benefits to it, there were drawbacks to it,
30:42
Speaker 3: and anything else in life, you get delta hand, you
30:45
Speaker 3: get good cards, you get bad cards, and just deal
30:47
Speaker 3: with the positive and negatives.
30:49
Speaker 1: And now you're a successful writer and you're you're still
30:52
Speaker 1: out there in the college football world. One last thing
30:54
Speaker 1: I admire a Penn say it is the white out game.
30:56
Speaker 1: I mean, who came up with that idea was? Because
30:59
Speaker 1: it's a brilliant idea.
31:00
Speaker 3: Well, if you go back to two thousand and four,
31:03
Speaker 3: we played Purdue and a guy named Guido Delia was
31:07
Speaker 3: really kind of running a lot. He was a guy
31:10
Speaker 3: that had done some things for us so that football
31:12
Speaker 3: show and said, Hey, I think I can probably help
31:14
Speaker 3: you guys out with some you know, evaluating, recruiting, that
31:17
Speaker 3: kind of stuff. So after a number of conversations, he
31:20
Speaker 3: just kind of morphed into this role where he was
31:22
Speaker 3: doing some things like that. So we did all a
31:25
Speaker 3: student section white out against Purdue when they were really
31:27
Speaker 3: really good and we took them to the ropes and
31:30
Speaker 3: we weren't a great team that year. Well, the next
31:32
Speaker 3: year we did it for Ohio State and we won
31:35
Speaker 3: and it took off because we had come back and
31:38
Speaker 3: had a great year and we beat Ohio State and
31:41
Speaker 3: everybody in the country saw that moment. So then we
31:45
Speaker 3: were sitting around talking and Guida Delia said to me,
31:47
Speaker 3: you know, I think we got to do something we
31:50
Speaker 3: hated here about Michigan was the Big House. So I said,
31:53
Speaker 3: you know we're talking, said what's bigger than the Big House?
31:55
Speaker 3: And he said, well, the White House. So Guido said,
31:59
Speaker 3: let's do a whole stateadium whiteout. At that point, we
32:02
Speaker 3: couldn't get it. He didn't want to do it. In
32:03
Speaker 3: two thousand and six, he wanted to do it. We
32:06
Speaker 3: continued to do student section whiteouts in two thousand and six,
32:09
Speaker 3: but what do you decided was we were playing Notre
32:11
Speaker 3: Dame in weeks two or three in two thousand and seven,
32:15
Speaker 3: and he said, that's when we do the all stadium whiteout.
32:19
Speaker 3: So they sent in the ticket. When they sent out
32:21
Speaker 3: the season tickets, everyone had a card it said you
32:23
Speaker 3: were invited to the White House. Everyone wear white for
32:26
Speaker 3: Notre Dame. Now, the good thing is we went out
32:29
Speaker 3: and we won the game. It was an incredible experience.
32:32
Speaker 3: It became the talk of college football, and it just
32:35
Speaker 3: got bigger and bigger and bigger every year to where
32:38
Speaker 3: now it's a bucket listing for college football fans, and
32:42
Speaker 3: it's it's taken on a life of its own. It was,
32:45
Speaker 3: but it really has become kind of a signature. Monk.
32:47
Speaker 3: We don't have that necessarily High State Michigan game on
32:50
Speaker 3: our schedule every year, that rivalry game, but we do
32:53
Speaker 3: the white out and people make it. That's appointment television.
32:56
Speaker 1: All right, Well, I got to make it now in
32:57
Speaker 1: one of the next few years, I'll keep a post
32:59
Speaker 1: on that.
33:00
Speaker 3: Uh.
33:01
Speaker 1: Jay, got to ask you, the most inspirational football player
33:04
Speaker 1: you know, whether Penn State or that you even that
33:06
Speaker 1: you coached, or that you saw play, I mean from
33:09
Speaker 1: your eyes.
33:11
Speaker 2: You know, I'm a guy that grew up with with
33:13
Speaker 2: heroes that I idolized.
33:14
Speaker 3: And you know, Roger Stalbach, who played at Navy was
33:17
Speaker 3: a guy that I idolized. Frank o'harris clearly was and
33:23
Speaker 3: we lost him way too soon. Played at Penn State.
33:26
Speaker 3: Was a great family friend, a very very loyal human
33:29
Speaker 3: being in Penn Stater. But you know it's my wife
33:33
Speaker 3: grew up in Pittsburgh and that was her childhood idol.
33:35
Speaker 3: Like when she was eight, she was getting frank O.
33:37
Speaker 3: Harris jersey and everything, and one things she said about
33:41
Speaker 3: him which really struck home. After he died, he said,
33:44
Speaker 3: you know, how fortunate in um quoting her, how fortunate
33:47
Speaker 3: I was to have a childhood idol and then get
33:51
Speaker 3: to know that childhood idol as an adult and understand
33:54
Speaker 3: that it's great. A football player and a person. As
33:57
Speaker 3: I thought he might be, he was even better. And
34:00
Speaker 3: those are the kind of people I've been fortunate to
34:02
Speaker 3: be around in my life. I mentioned it so all
34:05
Speaker 3: night before. I mean, he didn't play football, but there's
34:07
Speaker 3: a guy you know that you look at and say,
34:09
Speaker 3: does things that you idolize. But I mean guys like
34:13
Speaker 3: that that played the game. You know, we recruited Walter
34:16
Speaker 3: Payton's son and had the time, had a chance to
34:19
Speaker 3: spend a lot of time when we're recruiting, Jared Payton
34:22
Speaker 3: got a chance to spend some time with Walter Payton.
34:24
Speaker 3: And you know, on one of the we did a
34:26
Speaker 3: home visit and Jared Payton and I are sitting on
34:29
Speaker 3: the couch in his house and there's Joe Paternal and
34:32
Speaker 3: Walter Peyton just talking football and we're just sitting going,
34:36
Speaker 3: I don't mean, you know, yeah, I want Jared to
34:38
Speaker 3: come to pen say we didn't get them, but this alone,
34:42
Speaker 3: it's been worth the last several months of recruiting. I mean,
34:44
Speaker 3: so you know, and the game has produced some really
34:47
Speaker 3: outstanding human beings, It really has. And you know that.
34:52
Speaker 3: I mean those are three off people just off the
34:54
Speaker 3: top of my head, but there's so many more.
34:56
Speaker 1: Would you say your dad and you had a role
34:58
Speaker 1: in shaping the line of those kids that you both
35:01
Speaker 1: coached over those years or what?
35:03
Speaker 2: Oh, there's no question.
35:04
Speaker 3: If you're not trying to shape people's lives in college
35:08
Speaker 3: as a coach, then you're in.
35:09
Speaker 2: You don't belong here because that's really what the job's about.
35:12
Speaker 3: You're an educator first, you know, Yeah, you want to
35:15
Speaker 3: win games, the pressures on to do that, but at
35:18
Speaker 3: the end of the day, you have a responsibility to
35:21
Speaker 3: to make these people better people than when they got
35:24
Speaker 3: when they left them, when they came to your place.
35:25
Speaker 3: So yeah, I mean, you know it's uh. And the
35:28
Speaker 3: thing is you don't necessarily know it in real time.
35:31
Speaker 3: You know, you'll hear back from a coach or a
35:33
Speaker 3: guy that guy that you coached. I coached Matt Ruhle
35:37
Speaker 3: when he was at Penn State, for example, and several
35:40
Speaker 3: years after he was out of her he wrote me
35:43
Speaker 3: a really nice letter and said, you know, you told
35:45
Speaker 3: me this one time, like like, man, I don't I
35:48
Speaker 3: barely remember saying that, Like you know. So so those
35:51
Speaker 3: kind of things that feedback teach you that even some
35:54
Speaker 3: of these, you know, there's teachable moments where you.
35:58
Speaker 1: Sit down and you make you make a six with
36:00
Speaker 1: six with you and then it's six the athlete.
36:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, but there's also drive by teachable moments that you
36:05
Speaker 3: say something that you react to based on your core
36:08
Speaker 3: values that are in eight to you, but to someone
36:11
Speaker 3: else like wow, I've never thought of it that way,
36:14
Speaker 3: and they'll throw it back two you years later you're like, wow,
36:16
Speaker 3: you know I barely remember saying that. But those are
36:19
Speaker 3: the important things, and that's why the example matters. And
36:22
Speaker 3: I think that's one of the things that's tough in
36:23
Speaker 3: college coaching now, is with agents involved in the money
36:27
Speaker 3: that's involved in the things, players are learning from what
36:30
Speaker 3: coaches and administrators are doing, and I think that's kind
36:33
Speaker 3: of why we're at.
36:34
Speaker 2: Where we're at.
36:35
Speaker 1: Well, there you go, Jay. One last thing you mentioned,
36:38
Speaker 1: the whiteout game was Notre Dame versus Penn State the
36:40
Speaker 1: very first one. Could we see that in the football
36:44
Speaker 1: final here, the college football playoff final or what? Is
36:46
Speaker 1: that a possibility?
36:47
Speaker 3: You think, Well, I think it's possible. I mean, you know,
36:50
Speaker 3: you know, once you get to the into a playoff,
36:53
Speaker 3: anything can happen. You got you gotta stay healthy, you
36:55
Speaker 3: gotta be lucky. You know. Georgia loses their quarterback, that's
36:58
Speaker 3: going to be an issue for them down the stretch.
37:00
Speaker 3: But at least they have a buye so they have
37:02
Speaker 3: a chance to get spend some time getting this guy
37:04
Speaker 3: ready to go. But I mean, some of so much
37:06
Speaker 3: of as the luck of injuries, the ball bounce in
37:08
Speaker 3: a certain way. But certainly Notre Dame has played well
37:12
Speaker 3: enough on defense all year. They run the ball, they
37:14
Speaker 3: do some of the things you need to do to win.
37:15
Speaker 3: They get turnover, they create they create an enormous amount
37:20
Speaker 3: of turnovers in that secondary alca As I mentioned Al Golden,
37:23
Speaker 3: I played with him in college. He's done a great
37:26
Speaker 3: job with their defense. I think Penn State has enough.
37:29
Speaker 3: You know, a guy like Tyler Warren, it can be
37:32
Speaker 3: a guy that really creates a lot of matchup problems
37:35
Speaker 3: for teams when you get ready to playoffs. I think defensively,
37:39
Speaker 3: Penn State's really good. So yeah, that's it's possible to
37:41
Speaker 3: see these teams meeting up in the playoff and it'd
37:43
Speaker 3: be a lot of fun.
37:45
Speaker 1: All right, Well, your book blitz the all out pressure
37:48
Speaker 1: of college football's new era. As long as there's a
37:51
Speaker 1: Paterno in this era, I'm feeling confident that we can
37:54
Speaker 1: keep going.
37:54
Speaker 3: You know. Yeah, I think you know, And I've tried
37:58
Speaker 3: to from from a contulting XAMP point and is on
38:00
Speaker 3: the board of trusting the Penn State trying and to
38:02
Speaker 3: get people to kind of remember, you know, make sure
38:05
Speaker 3: we that it's time for the universities and the players
38:10
Speaker 3: to sit down together and start to figure out where
38:13
Speaker 3: we where what is equitable for everybody here?
38:16
Speaker 1: Jay Paterno, would you mind coming back as as we go?
38:19
Speaker 1: No problem, no problem, thanks for joining. I want to
38:22
Speaker 1: dedicate this episode to Uncle Larry, who was in my
38:25
Speaker 1: old apartment. He brought me to a couple of pensake
38:28
Speaker 1: games with my dad, so it's dedicated to him and
38:29
Speaker 1: my dad today.
38:30
Speaker 2: All right, here's the here's the hats off to Uncle Larry.
38:33
Speaker 1: All right, Jay, thank you so much.
38:35
Speaker 3: Ranks take care.