Al Golden is getting ready for the 2008 season, but it's much more than gameplanning:

Want to know what he's doing at virtually any moment, from Jan. 9 to Aug. 20? It's all there, in black and white, a full 34 pages' worth, in an outline titled, "So You Want To Be A Football Coach!" Right down to interviews with members of the media. There are days that start with 3:30 a.m. wake-up calls. And some that almost never end.

Nothing is left to chance. For him, there's no other way.

"What's the difference between trying to see seven or eight schools a day and running for governor, for God's sake?" he asked. "That's essentially what we're doing.

"We've probably met 1,000 people in a week. Everybody, you name it. We're in high schools saying hello to 50 people. It's not like we're coming in the side door, and leaving like Elvis. We're going there to work."

It's about visibility. And selling. A university. A philosophy. A commitment.

"It comes down to people," Golden said. "It's about trust, cultivating relationships. When we came in, we had so many ties to this area. And we've continued to make inroads. There was a disenchantment [with Temple]. I think high school coaches felt disenfranchised. You have to know your customer. But now we've reached so many people, and they're going back and telling their people, 'Hey, do you know what's going on at Temple?' If a kid's engaged by that, then we can proceed. But first we meet with the principal, guidance counselors and coaches, before we ever get to the prospect. All we needed was the conduit, to drive us from Point A to Point B.

"The difference now is, there's a definite product [to offer]. If the university hadn't changed, we couldn't be doing this. Look at all the things that are taking place here, in terms of infrastructure. That's all it takes. It's a cooperative effort."

I'll hold to my opinion that Golden offers the highest potential of any future PSU coaching candidate out there -- at least among candidates that a normal person would consider realistic at this time.  It would be a risk, but at the end of the day, is it really any more of a risk than Greg Schiano? 

Speaking of realistic, Joe Paterno is working to reassure recruits that Penn State is more than just the guy in charge of the football program.

Paterno said his advice to the recruits is simple: Take a look at the whole school.

"Look at Penn State," he said. "Look at its history. ... Look at the enthusiasm of the program. Look at the academic support. And, you're going to play on a good football team. and you're going to be coached well.

"Don't put me in the equation beyond what it should be."

Paterno said he doesn't think he has lost a recruit with that approach.

"Take a look around at the people who are here and take a look around at the things that have made Penn State special. Because we think we are something special."

In all honesty, this is exactly how the program should be sold right now.  Everytime the "Joe will be gone in two years" meme surfaces, knock it down with the notion that any coach could be gone in two years.  It seems obvious to us, but perhaps it's not so obvious to a high school senior.

Paterno will also be making an appearance as the keynote speaker at a dinner to benefit the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs.

Yes, that title blows my mind, too.

In player news, Brent Carter still isn't sure if he's a running back or safety.

For now, Carter is a tailback. He was recruited out of Pottsgrove as a running back, but was briefly moved to safety, only to return to the offensive backfield midseason last year because of numbers.

He practiced at tailback all spring, but coach Joe Paterno isn't sure if Carter will stay there.

"I'm not quite sure where we're going to play him," Paterno said. "But I think he's a good football player, and I don't want to screw him up. ... So I'm going to keep him at tailback for a while."

On the depth chart, Carter is behind Evan Royster and Stephfon Green.

Like Royster, the 6-foot-2, 211-pound Carter is better as an in-between-the-tackles back. In the regular season finale against Michigan State last November he was pressed into late duty after injuries and gained 23 yards on three carries.

"I prefer tailback," Carter said. "But if [Paterno] wants to move me, I want to do what's best for the team."

You'll recall that Carter appeared late in the Michigan State game in an emergency capacity, and would've been immediately enshrined into the Shelley Hammonds Hall Of Fame if the Penn State offensive coaching staff didn't completely abandon the running game on the final drive.

Finally, this seems like a bad idea:

A Penn State student accused of threatening to put a professor who gave him a B- "in a wheelchair" is now facing misdemeanor charges, according to a press release issued Tuesday.

Apostalo M. Tsirogiannis, listed as a finance major in the Penn State directory, was charged Tuesday with terroristic threats and harassment and arraigned in front of Magisterial District Justice Jonathan Grine, according to the release. Tsirogiannis is free on $10,000 unsecured bail.

Tsirogiannis, who told police he believed he should have received higher than a B-, allegedly threatened violence against visiting professor Lukas Roth if he did not raise Tsirogiannis' grade.

"If I see this on my [eLion] account, I swear to god I am going to [expletive] put you in a wheelchair when I see you," the e-mail reads, according to the press release.

What ever happened to the old-school ransom note style of threatening?  Much more menacing, with the added bonus of it not coming from your personal e-mail account.  Then again, this genius would still screw it up.

Jeff McLane has a story about Pat Devlin's fight to become the starting quarterback.  McLane's quickly becoming one of my favorite Penn State writers.  He also makes reference to the conspiracy theory of the spring -- that the coaches have placed Pat Devlin in a situation where he's always running with the second team, thereby making him look worse than Darryl Clark in front of the fans and media. 

FightOnState.com has published their pre-game "Blitz" program for those of you heading up to the game.  Always a good, concise guide for the action.

Mike at BSD tells us what he'll be looking for during Saturday's game.  What am I looking for?   PLEASE JESUS NOBODY GET HURT.

Rich Scarcella at the Reading Eagle has a "get off my lawn!" moment when discussing PSU's off-field troubles.  Hey, I've been there.

Andrew Wible over at the Collegian says tommorrow isn't about football.  But it is.  Just not real football that counts for something.  Also in today's Collegian, Josh Langenbacher looks at the potential Achilles heel for the defense.  I'll just be hoping that with our defensive line, opposing quarterbacks will only have 2.5 seconds to throw, anyway.  Whoever can stop our pass rush will likely eat up the PSU defense this season.

I didn't write responses for Blue & White Roundtable.  I know this.  Have a great weekend.

Meanwhile, our local Harrisburg Fox affiliate is heavily promoting a study which indicates that women who wear high heels have healthier sex lives.  Is that why the ladies always leave them on in those movies?

A widely circulated video that shows two men in Ohio State jerseys being physically and verbally harassed at a Penn State fraternity party has prompted widespread criticism of Penn State fans.
But the main person in the video was a visiting student from the University of Pittsburgh, said Bill Mahon, vice president for university relations. Mahon also said the two Ohio State fans in the video were visiting members of the same fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha, and had stayed at the fraternity the night before without incident.

That would explain why the Ohio State kids weren't running for their lives. They were guests.

Ol' Secret Service Jones (also known as my younger brother, who has never gone by that name) sent the video to PSU President Graham Spanier, as did many, many other Penn State fans this morning and this afternoon. In fact, so many PSU fans complained to the University president that his office had to develop a form letter to address the flood of incoming angry letters. That's when you know the people are pissed.

As Associate to the President for Administration, I help Dr. Spanier address the important issues that are brought to his attention.

Thank you for sharing your concerns about the behavior of some of our fans. Media accounts following the game indicated that fans were spirited, but overall exhibited better behavior, so I am disappointed to see the youtube video. Our Office of Police Services is investigating it in an attempt to identify those involved. It is extremely unfortunate and embarrassing that some fans engage in behavior that reflects badly on all Penn Staters, the majority of whom are respectful and well-mannered.

A group of students and administrators have been meeting to encourage better behavior from our fans. A number of initiatives are underway--posters have been placed around campus, ads have been placed in the student newspaper and on television promoting good sportsmanship. Prior to the Ohio State game, a message from the Athletic Director was sent to all students via the student newswire concerning appropriate fan behavior. Coach Paterno also addressed the issue when he visited the students camping outside the stadium. Clearly more can be done and we will continue to work on this.

Coordinating these efforts into an effective campaign that garners results does not happen overnight, but we are committed to the effort and to its success.

I will be sure the President sees your note. Thank you for taking the time to write.

Sincerely,

Tom Poole

Thomas G. Poole, Ph.D.
Associate to the President for Administration

Obviously, such behavior is unacceptable in any circumstance. From what I've been told and read elsewhere, it was certainly not representative of what happened closer to the stadium.

Anyway, to those students: You douchebags just trashed the reputation of my University. My father's and brother's University, too. Thanks. Hope you all get caught, because you're not only pussies of the highest order, you're also obviously too fucking stupid to keep such a video off the internet. Congratulations. May you all have to check "YES" on any and all future job applications which ask "Have you ever been convicted or admitted guilt of any crime, felony or misdemeanor?"

For the rest of you, a question. Is there any way to stop this trend at Penn State?

1. We're halfway through the season. Practically the entire national media has declared that the Big Ten is having a down year. Is this cyclical, or is the conference actually becoming less and less relevant? What is your team doing to enhance or destroy the conference's reputation?

2. Illinois is winning football games. Football games! Illinois! How much longer will we have to put up with this crap?

3. I'm a man! I'm 32! For you, fair Big Ten Blogger, where does the line get drawn when, as Sunday Morning QB eloquently states, "second-guessing the split-second decisions of college kids under extreme physical duress"? Hypothetically speaking, would you settle for saying that your underwhelming quarterback "simply isn't performing well and needs to be replaced", or would you call him "a functional retard that is one drool cup shy of riding the short bus to practice"?

4. Finally, a quick two-part question. Which player or players on your team have you been pleasantly surprised with this season, and what is the most important game remaining on your schedule?

FightOnState.com reports that Austin Scott will not be playing tomorrow against Iowa. Draw whatever conclusions you feel are appropriate. Still, it's only right to note that no charges have been filed yet. Even if Unnamed Player is totally innocent of the charges, exactly why the hell was he out drinking at 4:00 a.m. on the Friday before a game after his team lost two consecutive, disappointing conference games?

Some final thoughts before I drive up to the game tomorrow morning. I can't ever remember a Penn State team I liked less than this current one. I really can't. Their actions, from the head coach to the third string punter, have varied between childish, immoral, immature, moronic, and completely uncharacteristic of what we used to expect from Penn State.

Even when the team was struggling to three and four win seasons a few years ago, at least they were obviously trying. This year's team has been a monumental letdown ever since the Outback Bowl ended, and nobody, coaches, captains, or otherwise, was ever able to put an end to it. The only thing missing is a booster slipping cash-stuffed envelopes under players' doors, or maybe a good old fashioned academic cheating scandal.

Penn State fans deserve better. Hell, a lot of guys on that team deserve better. So do their parents and classmates. This season is just one giant turd sandwich after another. But you know, "Success With Honor" and all that.

2007. Not pictured: LeSean McCoy, who wasn't Paterno's kind of citizen.

Saturday 8 a.m. update:  WJAC reporting Austin Scott's locker has been emptied.

Just like you, I'm trying to wade through this mess.  I don't have the answers.  I'm not even sure I'm asking the right questions at this point.  I'm proposing we try to work through this together, not in a Kumbaya sort of way, more like a cadre of backstabbing generals and CIA operatives in an underground bunker with an unlimited supply of alcohol, mind-opening substances, game film, and of course, wearing appropriate conversation hats.

Yeah, drugs.  You gotta have drugs.

What are the chances of Penn State reviving the offense for the remainder of the Big Ten schedule?  Are they capable of it?  Are they only capable of scoring points at home?  Why would things be any different against the rest of the teams on the schedule?  Has this weird game at Illinois suddenly become the most important Penn State game in years?

Is it possible that the players on offense just aren't that talented?  As I've asked before, how many of our offensive players would Michigan trade us for?  Quarless and Shipley?  They're the only two I can think of.

Is it possible that Anthony Morelli isn't the problem here?  So many people expected him to be The Next Kerry Collins, but Collins had four NFL quality linemen, a top 10 pick at tight end, a #1 pick at RB, two NFL fullbacks, and an excellent receiver who is still producing at the pro level.   What does Anthony Morelli have, outside of a propensity to get pissed off at newspaper writers and opposing fans?  Who has legitimate NFL potential on our offense?  Quarless.  Maybe one or two of the linemen, none of whom would've sniffed the 1994 lineup.  I'm not trying to compare 2007 with 1994 -- it's just another way of asking "how talented are we, really?"

How much score can we legitimately heap on Jay Paterno when his father is undermining the game plan that the team prepared for all week?  It's certainly not Jay's fault that Joe took out the red marker and changed the plan on Saturday morning, is it?  It's becoming clear that we're not aiming our arrows high enough.

Another question that we're not asking in the rush to call for a more wide-open attack:  what makes you think our players are prepared to employ a 4 and 5WR set?  Morelli tends to not find open receivers unless he's given ample time, and our offensive line simply can't hold up without help from tight ends and running backs.  You saw the play breakdown on Monday -- 4WR and 5WR sets spelled instant doom for Penn State against a very average Michigan defense.

As a fan, are you willing to sacrifice this season -- meaning, the team ends up 6-6 or 5-7 -- if it means Joe Paterno would finally see the writing on the wall and retire?  I've long maintained that Joe Paterno would come back as long as the team didn't finish 12-0 or 0-12 -- anything else in between wouldn't do the job.  If Penn State lost six games, do you think he'd actually leave?  Is there, as many people suggest, a leadership void on the offensive side of the ball from both players and coaches?

What the hell would you do if you were Tom Bradley, Ron Vanderlinden, Brian Norwood, or Larry Johnson, Sr.?  At what point do they start preparing your resumes, assuming they're interested in moving up the coaching ladder?

This will probably be the last post explicitly referencing the Michigan debacle and it's accompanying fallout, since we're moving on to a combination of fun stuff (music, You Found Me, Big Televen power rankings) and Illinois related items to finish the week.  So if you'd like to address any of the previous 500 questions or just rant incoherently, please take this opportunity to do so.  I'm pretty sure we all need this.

I attended the 2005 Ohio State/Penn State classic, and while I maybe could handle their entire student section chanting "Fuck Ohio!" and "Fuck Lee Corso!", they turned their back on the dotting of the "I"!

At the risk of this being a "get off my lawn!" moment, there has certainly been a disturbing influx of bad behavior from Penn State students, even going back to the 2002 Nebraska game. Not just obnoxious -- I love obnoxious -- but blatantly mean-spirited and shitty.

Rakes of Mallow kept referring to this as a "class" issue, but it's really more a matter of lameness, drunkenness, and stupidity. I sat in the south end zone for that PSU/OSU game, about three sections away from the students. The "Fuck Ohio!" chant was loud, and for the first time in my life, I actually squirmed a bit and was thoroughly embarrassed for the students. Seriously, "Fuck Ohio!"? That's the best we can come up with? I was more disappointed in the lack of creativity than the abject boorishness. Put another way, you'd never even hear that sort of chant at a Philadelphia Eagles game. Think about it. Why do so many announcers fawn over the Cameron Crazies down at Duke? Because they're loud and funny, not loud and shitty.

Aim a little higher, that's all I'm asking.

I realize it was a night game, which means six to eight extra hours for ball-breaking but fun-loving people (the typical Penn State fan) to become ball-breaking assholes (the typical drunk assholes you read horror stories about). Everything's going to be taken up a few notches in that situation. It's always been that way.

Bad news for Notre Dame fans, this year's game is going to be at 6:00 p.m. Worse news for Ohio State fans, that game will be at 8:00 p.m. So I'll be expecting more stories about piss balloons being thrown at the opposing marching bands, whether they're actually true or not. My advice for opposing fans: travel in packs.

(Also, my general hatred for Ohio State aside, the dotting of the "i" is insanely cool if you care even a little about the tradition part of college football. Turning your back on it for the sake of a lame, high school girls' basketballish visual gag is just silly. It's like going to see Fourth Of July fireworks and turning your back on it for 10 minutes.)