Penn State Football: Greg Schiano Right to Stay Away from PSU Vacancy

Since Joe Paterno was fired from Penn State, there hasn't been a lack of names being thrown out to replace him. On Nov. 17, Ben Kercheval of NBC Sports reported Rutgers' coach Greg Schiano as saying that he's not interested in the job. Mike Poorman and Ben Jones of Statecollege.com have recently reported that, despite recent visits from Penn State officials, Schiano remains uninterested.

For Schiano's sake, I hope he was telling the truth.

Like many people, I have thought about Penn State a lot since the original Grand Jury Testimony was released and Paterno was fired. Through all of this time, I haven't been able to escape one question: What does Penn State have going for it to attract elite athletes?

This scandal did one thing: It brought a lot of negative attention to the university. Now, that's not  necessarily fair to the people still at Penn State or anyone new coming in, but that doesn't matter. What's fair and what's not fair is irrelevant when compared to what's real. 

So, if you're an elite recruit being recruited by Penn State, you're also being recruited by other big-name schools, both in the Midwest/East and all throughout the country. The only kids that Penn State would have a distinct advantage on are kids from Pennsylvania. That's nice, but it's not going to sustain them as a power. 

Whoever the new coach ends up being is going to have a hard time recruiting for a few years. This is not a scandal that's going to get off of anyone's mind anytime soon. Believe me, I know. These images and this controversy hasn't left my mind since hearing about it. I know that I am no different than anyone else. 

So, if you're Schiano, what does Penn State bring? Why not stay at Rutgers to build your stock? Why not go to another place that isn't surrounded with scandal?

It's hard to imagine a hot name like Schiano going to Penn State. These thoughts aren't unique to me in any way. If I can see recruiting problems ahead, someone who works in that business certainly can. 

Penn State's best chance is to land a young coach or a coordinator from somewhere. An established name like Schiano will see the problems there, and stay away. 

This may not be fair to the people at Penn State or to the new coach. They had nothing to do with the scandal that ended up getting Paterno fired. But the perception is going to end up keeping too many big-name players away. As a result, big-name coaches will be staying away for a long time.

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