Joe Paterno's 42nd season as the Penn State football coach is one bowl game from over. He is not retiring. This much is true.
We don't know when Paterno will, or if he'll ever, retire. He recently said he'd like to coach three, four or maybe five more years if he remains in good health. But he has said something like that before, more than three, four or five years ago.
Paterno's current contract expires after next season, raising the obvious question as to when he will sign a new deal with the university if he wants to work beyond his current agreement.
"I haven't even thought of it," Paterno said at yesterday's Alamo Bowl media day at Lasch Football Building. "I suppose it's up to them how they want to handle it. It's probably up to them whether they let me coach two, three, four, five more years. I don't know."
There were a lot of "I don't knows" or "I don't have the slightest ideas" mouthed by Paterno in response to questions about his and Penn State's coaching future yesterday. The possibility of appointing a successor? Like Florida State recently did when it signed Bobby Bowden to a one-year deal with options for more while naming offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher coach-in-waiting?
"What's Florida State doing?" Paterno said.
What Penn State should start thinking about doing, coach.
Bowden, 78, doesn't know if one morning he'll feel like staying in bed. Paterno, who turns 81 one week from today, certainly has proven his longevity and will leave when he wants, but now he's up against time, something he can't control.
Penn State doesn't necessarily need to have a copycat plan, but it could have the same framework. Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley is certainly a viable option. The longtime assistant has built the Nittany Lions' defense into one of the nation's best-perceived units and works tirelessly on the recruiting trail identifying with young athletes.
Sign Paterno to a one-year deal. He says he decides to return year-by-year anyway. Name Bradley the next coach, and stop worrying about any rumors that say he'll bolt somewhere else.
In today's college coaching carousel climate, the wise thing would be to start sketching future options. Michigan, the winningest program in college football history, is still without a leader.
"What's Michigan going through? Didn't they hire a coach?" Paterno said.
Arkansas just dragged an NFL coach away from the pros in the middle of the night, a day after Bobby Petrino stood on the sideline in Atlanta Falcons' gear when his team played the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football.
Some coaches are always coming and going, lying and being dishonest.
Wouldn't it make sense to decide if the Penn State job will accept outside applicants when Paterno is done? Or is the position Bradley's if he wants it?
Should other coaches with a hint of interest about taking over for Paterno begin to think about Happy Valley? Because other coaches do plot their future, if offseason coaching changes have proven nothing else.
Thing is, Paterno doesn't know what the future holds for Penn State except that he still wants to coach.
"Hopefully, I'm not going to be a crotchety old man, and you know, not handle it. When it's time to go, go, right? Period. I just feel so good right now. I hate to put a timeframe on when I'm going to get out of here," Paterno said.
"I think when I start to get the feel, I'll sit down with the right people and say, 'Hey, I think we ought to start talking about my getting out here and a successor.' But right now that hasn't even come up."
Right now, it should. There will be a coach after Joe Paterno, as strange as that sounds. Someone out there might want to know if the job will be open.
