| | By Wayne Drehs
ESPN.com
It's hard to believe that someday, we will look to the home sidelines of Beaver Stadium and he won't be there. The short, stumpy man with thick, tinted glasses, bright white tube socks and all-black gym shoes will be gone. Instead a younger man will stroll the sidelines, undoubtedly feeling the pressure of replacing a college football legend.
Until that day, be it three, five, or maybe even ten years from now, the biggest office in the brand new Penn State football facility will belong to Joe Paterno. As does pretty much everything football in State College. From "Cup of Joe" coffee mugs and JoePa Christmas ornaments to the "Paterno Bean Bag Buddy," the 73-year-old's character has grown into folk-hero proportions.
The myth is only going to get bigger this year, when Paterno, in his 35th year as head coach at Penn State and 51st year on the staff, inches closer and closer to Bear Bryant's record for career victories. As it stands now, Bryant rests at 323, Paterno 317.
Yet for all the excitement, Paterno, whose Nittany Lion teams wear plain white helmets and nameless jerseys to signify his team-oriented approach, is far from anxious.
|  | | Joe Paterno is seven wins away from breaking Bear Bryant's record. |
"If it happens, it happens, but it's not going to be anything I am going to spend any time thinking about," Paterno said. "I've never been a guy that has particularly been goal-oriented in the sense of how many you win. For me to be worried about winning seven when I just want us to improve is a waste of my time."
Following the graduation of NFL draftees Courtney Brown, LaVar Arrington and Brandon Short, Penn State is in a rebuilding year and Paterno cautions that seven wins isn't going to be easy. Still, only three times in Paterno's 34 years as a head coach have the Lions won less than seven. And one of those three seasons was Paterno's first.
"I've always had a theory that assistant coaches win games and head coaches lose games," Paterno said. "So if you want to ask me about how many losing games we've had, I can tell you where I've screwed up. Otherwise, I can't really help you."
Paterno's half-century of success at Penn State is truly unbelievable, especially when considering his lifelong dream was to follow in his father's footsteps and become a lawyer. After playing football and graduating from Brown, he was accepted to Boston University's law school when his old college coach, Rip Engle, offered Paterno a spot on Engle's new staff at Penn State.
Fifty-one years later, Paterno is still there.
To add some perspective, consider the following. Since Paterno's arrival in Happy Valley:
Six of Paterno's Big Ten counterparts (Illinois' Ron Turner, Indiana's Cam Cameron, Iowa's Kirk Ferentz, Michigan State's Bobby Williams, Minnesota's Glen Mason and Northwestern's Randy Walker) have been born.
The two-point conversion was added to college football, taken away and then added again.
Beaver Stadium was moved from the West side to the East side of Penn State's campus.
Ten different men have been president of the United States.
In fact, in just the 34 years Paterno has been the head coach at Penn State, there have been 671 Division I coaching changes. Through that span, Paterno has missed just one game.
"He's a guy everyone has a lot of respect for and as we look back we'll have even more respect for," senior defensive lineman Justin Kurpeikis said. "He's very driven, dedicated and inspiring to young people because of how long he's been able to maintain such a high level of success. He demands your best and demands it the right way."
At an age where many are fishing, golfing and simply enjoying retirement, Paterno shows no signs of slowing down. At practice, he doesn't stand in an elevated perch, barking instructions through a blaring megaphone. Instead, he's on the field, pushing players in the right position, correcting their mistakes, and yelling encouragement face-to-face. This off-season, Paterno signed a five-year contract extension.
And he hints that even that might not be the end.
"It is absolutely phenomenal," Kurpeikis said of his coach during practice. "He is on the field, back and forth, back and forth, getting in his stance, shoving guys into the line, everything else. You just can't believe how much energy this guy has."
Sometimes, though, Paterno's hands-on ways get him into trouble. Senior Kareem McKenzie said one of the funniest times he's had at Penn State was watching Paterno get licked in the middle of a passing play. Paterno was about 50 yards behind the defense, watching the long pattern develop. Next thing he knew, he was running for his life.
"I was watching and thinking to myself, 'Joe, you better get out the way, man, or you're going to be on the ground. You better get out the way," McKenzie said. "He was sprinting, running, trying to get out of the way and he got clipped and knocked down trying to run. It was almost like he ran into it instead of running away from it.
"He thinks he can get out there and run with the dogs a little too much. It gives us a chuckle sometimes."
Former Iowa coach Hayden Fry knows plenty about coaching at an elderly age. Fry, who retired in 1998 at age 69, squared off against Paterno in the first game ever between two Division I-A coaches with more than 200 victories. The two are now close friends.
"He's going to stay around until he wins more games than anyone else and the punch line is that everybody thinks then he's going to retire," said Fry. "But he isn't. He loves what he's doing."
One of Fry's greatest memories of Paterno came in 1997 when his Hawkeyes, a heavy underdog to the 9th-ranked Nittany Lions, scored a last-second touchdown on a halfback pass to win 21-20 on a cold, wet, snowy day in Happy Valley.
After the game, Fry, freezing cold with a wet towel draped over his head, walked across the field to congratulate a soaking-wet Paterno on a well-played game.
"But I couldn't help but think how I had been on that other side of things so many times, when you look like you're going to win and something happens," Fry said. "Those aren't fun times, so I'm thinking, 'What am I going to say to Joe?'"
Fry stuck his right hand out to shake, but before he could say anything, Paterno spoke.
"Hey Hayden," Paterno said. "What the heck are a couple of old farts like us doing out in weather like this? We gotta find a new line of work."
The crack brought a smile to both coaches' faces and is an example of the light-hearted personality Paterno has brought to the college game. As for when that personality might leave, it's anyone's guess.
"I've been lucky to be able to do something I love for so long," Paterno said. "Penn State is a great place. I've worked with great people and it's been a great situation for me personally. I truly love it there. And I'm going to stay as long as I'm healthy and can continue being successful."
Wayne Drehs is a staff writer at ESPN.com. | |
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