Headlinin’: Penn State passes the torch

November 11, 2011   ·   0 Comments

Headlinin’: Penn State passes the torch

Making the morning rounds.

• The sun rose in the East. While Penn State braces for life without Paterno and the ongoing fallout of the Jerry Sandusky child sex scandal, Paterno’s now-former team still has a game to play Saturday against Nebraska, with major implications for the Big Ten championship. To that end, the new boss for the Nittany Lions is, in many practical respects, the same as the old boss: Tom Bradley, who was officially promoted from defensive coordinator to interim head coach Wednesday night, but has been widely considered the de facto head coach for several years now as Paterno’s age and health forced him to take a reduced role in the day-to-day operation of the program. He holds his first press conference today at 11 a.m. ET.

Bradley has spent his entire adult life at Penn State, joining Paterno’s staff in 1979 after two years as a Penn State player. In a profession besieged by seasonal flux every winter, he inherits easily the most stable group of coaches in the country: Including Bradley, six of Paterno’s ten assistants have been at Penn State for at least 15 years, and none have been there for fewer than eight years. Three of the elder statesmen — offensive line coach Dick Anderson, offensive coordinator Galen Hall and linebackers coach Ron Vanderlinden — have been Division I head coaches themselves. Considering Paterno spent much of his final season as a spectator, watching from the press box with no communication to the field, Saturday may be the first somewhat normal day Penn State players have all week. [Harrisburg Patriot-News]

• The scandal dollar. One thing that has changed: Ticket prices for the game. Before the Penn State Board of Trustees announced Paterno’s ouster Wednesday night, the average price of an online ticket to what looked like JoePa’s final game in Beaver Stadium had more than doubled over the average price, according to Chris Matcovich, director of data & communications for the online ticket-tracking site TiqIQ.

At their peak Wednesday, prices neared $300 — the average price for a Nittany Lion home game this season is $203.90 — and so far have remained well above the previous average for the Penn State-Nebraska game even after the plug was pulled. [TiqIQ]

• Dark Knights. In a slightly less publicized house-cleaning, Central Florida parted ways with athletic director Keith Tribble and wide receivers coach David Kelly Wednesday after a notice of NCAA allegations cited both for providing “false and misleading information to the institution and [NCAA] enforcement staff.” The Knights were formally accused of recruiting eleven football and basketball with ties to a Chicago-area “runner,” Ken Caldwell, though only one of that number (a basketball player who was subsequently declared ineligible) ever made it into a UCF uniform. Five of the eleven were football recruits.

According to the NCAA’s report, both Tribble and Kelly knew Caldwell was employed by a professional agent but still allowed him to have “extensive contact” with recruits; Tribble is also accused of providing benefits to Caldwell, offering in-state tuition to Caldwell’s son and trying to arrange a job for the mother of a football recruit. “This is a difficult day for me, as I’m sure it is for all of our fans,” said UCF president David Hitt. “The conduct detailed by the NCAA’s report falls far short of our university’s standards and my own expectations for how our athletics program should operate.” [Orlando Sentinel]

• And while we’re on the subject… The NCAA has hired a 28-year police veteran, Indianapolis Deputy Police Chief William Benjamin, as its new director of enforcement with a focus on football, one of a dozen redefined or newly created positions within the enforcement department. Benjamin, a former San Jose State football player and Marine, will lead a team of football-focused investigators charged with “building knowledge, meaningful contacts and actionable leaders to perform better investigations.” [Associated Press]

Quickly… The National Football Foundation withdraws an award planned for Penn State’s now-former athletic director. … Ryan Broyles‘ knee injury may not hurt his draft prospects that much. … Maryland is going back to the only uniforms that have worked for it this season. … Les Miles hasn’t given his quarterback situation a lot of thought. … And the BCS may abolish the automatic bid.

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Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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