Penn State Football Minus Joe Paterno?

Recently while walking around campus, and having a job in a local hair salon, I have been hearing many complaints about the Nittany Lions' coaching staff.

From accusations that the staff as a whole doesn't guide the team in the right direction most of the time, to hostile proclamations that the head coach, Joe Paterno, should finally "throw in the towel" and retire.

Turning 83 in December, Joe Paterno has been coaching the Nittany Lions for about 43 staggering years. Can it really be time for Joe to give up coaching?

Intrigued by this statement, I began to ask around campus what people thought about the issue. The responses were surprising.

Out of 10 students that I've talked to on campus, all but three said that the poor performance last Saturday against the Hawkeyes was the fault of the coaching staff.

"I think Joe may be getting too old to successfully coach the Lions. He's a legend. He should just retire and go out on top," says John C.

"I love JoePa, but there comes a time when you have to hang it up. I think it's getting to be that time. Last year when he got injured, I thought that would be it! I admire his 'keep on truckin' attitude, but I think that he should retire," says an anonymous student.

Others say that it's not fair for the team to have such a "fragile" coach. They say that even though it was the first real challenge of the season, Joe Paterno should have shown more guidance and called better plays to gain the win.

Not all students feel this way...

"I was really shocked that we lost to Iowa again. I thought that with all the drive and determination that we had going into the game that we would come out on top. I guess it was the coaches that were making all the bad calls, but I don't think that Joe should retire because of it," says Sarah T.

Jabari H. exclaimed, "We played a bad game, that's all. At least we are ahead of Iowa in the coach's poll!"

Derrick says, "I couldn't believe that we lost (to the Hawkeyes). It really hit below the belt taking that loss. We can only hope that the team can shake this off and bring home a win this weekend against Illinois."

In my opinion, everyone has their off days. I agree that the play calling could have been better during the Iowa game but I don't blame the loss on Joe. It was a team loss, and even though it reflects the coach, there's only so much you can do from the sidelines.

Yes, Joe is up there in age, but if he can continue to do what he loves then why mock him? Like I said before, one game is one game. If the problem persists then maybe we should look more closely into the issue.

Leave comments and take the poll above to let people know how YOU feel about Joe Paterno continuing to coach the Nittany Lions.