Penn State Football: 11 Things That Have Changed Since Joe Paterno Took over

The game of college football has changed in many ways since Joe Paterno has been the head coach at Penn State. Surprise, surprise. Paterno is old, right?

Paterno, who said he is feeling great at Big Ten media days last week, rolled out some classic anecdotes from his past, which got us wondering just how many things have changed in the sport since Paterno succeeded Rip Engle in State College.

While there are plenty of things that have changed, we had to cut it off at some point, so here are 11 changes in college football. Feel free to add on your own changes in college football by leaving a comment below.  

Kevin McGuire is the national college football writer for Examiner.com. Follow his college football discussion on Google+ and Twitter. Become a fan of him on Facebook.

1. Penn State Joined the Big Ten

Penn State, one of the last of the independents to align with a conference, joined the Big Ten in 1993. At the time it was thought by many that the Nittany Lions would come in and dominate the conference. but it has rarely turned out that way.

Penn State has laid claim to three Big Ten titles since entering the conference, with an undefeated season in 1994.

The last of the independent powers, Notre Dame, has refused to join a conference in football. BYU is leaving the Mountain West Conference to become an independent in football this season.

2. Nebraska Joins the Big 12 and Big Ten

Nebraska was one of the key programs from the Big 8 that combined with the old Southwest Conference to form the Big 12. After starting out as one of the dominant programs in the conference and making a couple runs at a national championship, the Cornhuskers are leaving the conference and joining the Big Ten.

It has been quite a ride for Nebraska, who will be Penn State's protected crossover rival in Big Ten play. They appear to be a perfect fit in the Big Ten in terms of geography and in the way they play football.

Colorado also joined the Big 12 from the Big 8, and they leave for the expanded and re-branded Pac-12 this season.

3. BCS System Helps Solve, Causes Problems

Penn State knows how it feels to have one of the best regular seasons in college football and not be considered a national championship contender, or winner.

The 1994 Nittany Lions were undefeated and had one of the top offenses in college football history, but a Big Ten contract with the Rose Bowl forced Penn State to go to Pasadena to play the Pac-10 champion Oregon Ducks.

Meanwhile the top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers went to the Orange Bowl to face third-ranked Miami. Penn State finished second in the polls that year.

A couple of years later, Nebraska and Michigan split the national championship, and the BCS system was supposed to fix all of that. For the most part, it has helped get the two most deserving teams in the championship game, but even that is not without its flaws.

Whether it is unbeaten teams still not getting a chance to play for a championship or controversy surrounding money issues and the bowl games, the BCS has been a debating point in college football circles.

4. 885 Coaching Changes

Penn State has had one head coach from 1966 through the start of the 2011 season. Every other FBS program combined has had 885 coaching changes, an average of about six changes per university. The University of Pittsburgh had two changes just since last season, and Ohio State and the University of North Carolina each got in on the coaching carousel late this offseason.

Asked at Big Ten media days what the secret was to establishing such a long tenure in this day and age, Paterno humbly said that he didn't know and that all he did was show up to work each day and do what needed to be done.

5. Television Coverage

When Paterno took over at Penn State, there were only a couple of college football games on television, if any. Today you can sit on the couch each Saturday and watch two or three games on ABC, another two on CBS, one on NBC, one on FOX and up to six or seven games on ESPN and ESPN2. And we have not even touched the local television coverage and extra offerings by the Big Ten Network and the upcoming Pac-12 Network.

As if that was not enough we have pre-game shows and post-game shows, in addition to halftime shows. And everything continues to grow in terms of coverage. With networks exploring their options through digital networks and the Internet, services like streaming coverage are already here through ESPN3 and the new BTN2Go from Big Ten Network.

You can go out to dinner and watch every play on your mobile device. This kind of stuff was unthinkable in 1966.

6. Seven Beaver Stadium Expansions

Opened in 1960 with a seating capacity of 46,284, Penn State's Beaver Stadium has had seven separate expansions over the years to nearly triple the original capacity. In that time, the addition of stadium lights, enhanced scoreboards and sound systems have added a flavor to the game day atmosphere that may not have been imagined when originally opened before Paterno took over.

7. Slight Changes to Penn State Uniform

The overall theme of the Penn State uniform has remained the same, but there have been some subtle changes over the years. The helmets used to have a gray face mask instead of the current blue. Numbers made a brief appearance on the side of the helmet, and the addition of the Nike swoosh to the uniform was met with some hesitation among fans in the early 1990s.

This season Penn State will wear a uniform that has removed the white striping along the sleeves and necklines. Apparently that white stripe was just too much.

8. Rivalries

When Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993, everybody knew it would change the rivalry scene. No longer did Penn State play Pittsburgh every season. Instead they played Ohio State and Michigan State annually.

This year, with the Big Ten splitting in to divisions, the Nittany Lions will play Ohio State, Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue and Illinois every year in division play, along with Nebraska in a protected crossover matchup.

The series between Penn State and Pittsburgh will be resurrected for a two-year stint later in the decade, leaving Temple the only in-state opponent Penn State has played with any regularity since joining the conference.

9. Instant Replay

College football introduced instant replay to the game in 2006, although conferences had the ultimate authority on running it for conference games. The Big Ten actually got the instant replay game started in 2004.

The instant replay asset of the game was welcomed back to the NFL in 1999.

10. Equipment

From the footballs to the pads, the equipment in college football has advanced in many ways since Paterno became the head coach at Penn State. Today's equipment is designed to be lighter, cooler and more flexible than the standard gear players were suiting up in decades ago.

Companies such as Nike, Under Armour and Reebok have tried to adapt to the game's speed and come up with new designs for protective gear. With that research has come new uniform styles and patterns as well. Some companies have been created specifically for a certain piece of equipment as well.

Who would have thought so much detail would be put in to the gear in 1966?

11. Conference Landscpe

In 1966 the conferences in college football included the Big Ten, SEC, WAC, Mid-American Conference and the ACC. It also included the Southwest Conference, Southern Conference, the Athletic Association of Western Universities, the Southern Conference, the Big Eight, the Missouri Valley Conference and the Ivy Group. Each of those conferences have evolved over time, and only a couple of them could not hold up to the level of the FBS programs of today.

The Ivy League and Missouri Valley Conference, as well as the Southern Conference are now FCS conferences. The WAC expanded and split off in to the Mountain West Conference, which has ironically been taking teams from the remaining WAC. The Big Eight merged with the remains of the Southwest Conference to form the Big 12, which has since lost two teams to the Big Ten (added Penn State and Nebraska since Paterno took over).

The Athletic Association of Western Universities added Arizona and Arizona State to become the Pac-10, and the additions of Colorado and Utah have created the Pac-12. In addition to all of the conference changes since 1966, we have also seen new conferences formed, including the Big East, Conference USA and the Sun Belt Conference.

There may be a few changes ahead. Stay tuned. 

Kevin McGuire is the national college football writer for Examiner.com. Follow his college football discussion on Google+ and Twitter. Become a fan of him on Facebook.