Before Joe Paterno and his Nittany Lions could pull off upsets of Northwestern and Ohio State in the past two weekends, there was a growing number of people that were calling for Paterno's retirement. His critics have been saying that Paterno's old-fashioned ways of running the Penn State program couldn't compete with the money-making conglomerate of today's major college football.

Then that all changed. Paterno delivered probably the greatest coaching of his career with a team that lacks the talent of many of his past teams. He took a group of athletes with the confidence of the geek at the prom and turned them into a cohesive unit that expects to win.

Now those critics are praising Paterno for becoming the winningest coach in Div. I-A football history.

Only minutes after etching his name in the record books as the all-time wins leader in Div. I-A football, Paterno delivered a speech that was right in line with the way he has run his program for 36 years.

While being honored for his achievements, Joe didn't focus on his wins, his record or his national championships — he thanked and praised his team and that's what makes him such a good coach and teacher. There was no better way to repair the damaged confidence of team than professing to over 108,000 people the pride he has in those young men.

It is this kind of dedication to the well being, both athletically and academically, of his players that Paterno has shown for over 50 years.

It is why he was making phone calls the day of the September 11 terrorist attacks to make sure that former players who worked in the World Trade Centers were alive.

It is why talented high school recruits come to play football at Penn State.

Those kids know that what the plain uniforms lack in flamboyance, they make up for in significance. The nameless jerseys and white helmets stand for a devotion to a student-athlete's life, not just his football performance.

Paterno may be chastised for being old-fashioned, but why change your ways if it's the right way to live? Congratulations, Coach Paterno, not for winning 324 games in your career, but for helping to cultivate productive citizens for the past half century.