Joe Paterno is fired, and only a fool would take over the un-salvageable mess he leaves behind; it is a mess of the highest degree. Check out what the new coach is inheriting.
Scrutiny
All eyes are on Penn State. Every move they make is going to be met with “code red” level press and public attention. All of those eyes will be attached to bodies that have fingers on the triggers, and those fingers will be ready to fire at the first sign of weakness (cheating or scandal).
It would be like running a business with the IRS right behind you auditing every move.
Shoes to Fill
Joe Paterno leaves in scandal, but he also leaves as the winningest coach in the history of college football. Whoever steps in will be stepping into the shoes of a legend.
Further, while many have no sympathy for Joe Paterno, there is also strong portion of fans, like the following, that are not satisfied with the way Joe Paterno was made to leave.
These fans are going to be especially unwelcoming to a new coach. It will take a lot for them to win those fans over, and they are going to have to do so without the same things in place that Joe Paterno had.
See the next two items for that.
Backing
Joe Paterno had an amazing amount of autonomy at Penn State; he essentially called the shots. No one was telling him no. His football program was making money hand over fist, and he was the face of the university.
Conditions are likely to be wildly different for the next coach. The next coach is will undoubtedly get constant reminders from the new university president of the incredible amount of scrutiny they are all under.
Essentially, this job just went from the one that offered its coach an unprecedented amount of freedom, to one that now has an unprecedented amount of supervision.
Who wants to work like that?
Recruiting
This may be the hardest one of all for the next coach to survive—it just got infinitely harder to recruit to Penn State. What 18-year-old boy wants to go to the university that is now synonymous with child molesting?
Apparently, not Noah Spence, who is the No. 1 ranked DE in the country according to rRvals.com.
Conclusion
It is going to take years for Penn State to recover from the standpoint of image, recruiting and competitiveness.
This is not a good position for any coach. It would stall an established coaches career, and it would kill the career of a coach getting his first shot before that career even got started.
