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Most Big Ten coaches label their jobs with a capital D for destination. When a head coach arrives on a Big Ten campus, he usually isn't looking for his next stop. Big Ten fans take pride in this.

The league has been largely immune from the wandering-eye coaches who leave programs at inopportune times for the next big thing. Even the Big Ten programs that could be classified as stepping stones haven't been left in the lurch very often in recent years. While it's not shocking that a Big Ten coach hasn't jumped to a different college job, it's a bit of a surprise that the NFL hasn't plucked one away.

The last Big Ten coach to voluntarily leave his team at a less-than ideal time was Nick Saban, who ditched Michigan State for LSU on Nov. 30, 1999. Saban had led the Spartans to a 9-2 record, a No. 10 national ranking and berth in the Florida Citrus Bowl. Although then-Michigan State athletic director Clarence Underwood praised Saban for putting the program "back on solid ground," Saban's departure put the school in a tough situation. Less than a week after Saban's departure, Michigan State promoted longtime assistant Bobby Williams to head coach, a decision that didn't turn out well.

After flirting with several bigger-name programs during his time at Northwestern, Gary Barnett finally left to take the Colorado job on Jan. 20, 1999, just weeks before national signing day. Although Northwestern immediately named Barnett's replacement, Randy Walker, the drawn-out saga wasn't much fun, given what Barnett had meant to the school.

But since Saban and Barnett, the Big Ten hasn't had any coaches voluntarily leave at bad times. There have been some midseason firings (Tim Brewster at Minnesota, Williams at Michigan State) and some late firings (Rich Rodriguez at Michigan, Glen Mason at Minnesota), but in those cases the schools, not the coaches, made decisions that put themselves in tough situations.

The most recent instances of coaches leaving Big Ten programs in tough spots involved two men who certainly didn't walk away on their own terms.

After months of scrutiny stemming from the tattoo/memorabilia scandal and his attempted cover-up, Jim Tressel resigned his post as Ohio State's coach on Memorial Day of 2011. Tressel stepped down just three months before the season and with spring practice all wrapped up. Ohio State knew it would be without Tressel for the first five games of the 2011 season, but his resignation under pressure left the program scrambling.

The school named 37-year-old assistant Luke Fickell, who had never been a head coach before, to the top job. After six consecutive seasons of Big Ten titles (won or shared), Ohio State went 6-7 under Fickell last fall, its first losing season since 1988 and its first seven-loss season since 1897. Ouch.

But the ugliest and most untimely departure was yet to come. Five days after former Penn State assistant Jerry Sandusky was arrested on child sex abuse charges, Penn State's board of trustees voted to fire longtime coach Joe Paterno. The date: Nov. 9. Penn State was 8-1 at the time, and 11 days earlier Paterno had recorded his 409th coaching victory, moving him past Eddie Robinson for the most wins in college football history. Hours before the board's decision, Paterno had announced he would retire following the season, his 46th as head coach. Instead, he was informed via telephone that his tenure was over, which triggered a backlash from Penn State students and fans.

The school promoted longtime assistant Tom Bradley to interim head coach. Bradley led the team during a hellish eight weeks that featured, among other things: a 1-3 record that knocked Penn State out of the Big Ten race; snubs by several bowl games who didn't want to deal with a p.r. nightmare; the announcement that Paterno had been diagnosed with lung cancer; a locker-room fight that left starting quarterback Matthew McGloin concussed and unable to play in the bowl; and a seemingly rudderless coaching search that took too long and put Bradley in an awkward situation.

In six months, two iconic Big Ten programs lost incredibly successful coaches under extremely messy circumstances.

A Big Ten coach bolting for an NFL job suddenly doesn't sound so bad.

1. When the Fiesta Bowl invited NCAA president Mark Emmert to attend a panel discussion next week on concussions, Emmert not only accepted, he offered to serve as moderator. Emmert joins NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in being overt in taking head injuries seriously. The panel discussion also provides gravitas to the Fiesta’s resumption of its annual gathering of athletic directors and head football coaches. The former Fiesta Frolic used to be known for a lot of things. Gravitas was never one of them.

2. Typical, isn’t it? Arkansas made the best possible choice in an impossible situation when it hired John L. Smith to serve as caretaker of the Razorbacks for 2012. Smith, a veteran head coach, had spent the last three seasons on Bobby Petrino’s staff in Fayetteville. He knows the players. He knows the staff. The typical part? Weber State, which hired Smith as its head coach in December, becomes just another FCS victim of a big-spending school.

3. The Penn State administration continues to botch its dealings with Joe Paterno, weeks after the legendary coach died. The university contractually owed the Paterno estate $6.7 million, yet tried to negotiate the family into signing a legal release before it would pay the money. To call it ham-handed is an insult to hams everywhere. The university, after embarrassing itself again, paid the money last week.

Penn State will honor the late Joe Paterno in some way this fall. The school also doesn't want to be sued by Paterno's family because of the way it fired the legendary coach in November.

The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News reports Penn State officials offered to rename Beaver Stadium after Paterno in hopes of receiving a full release from the family, which would prevent them from suing the school or publicly criticizing the situation. Penn State's informal proposal following Paterno's death also included an apology for how Paterno was fired (over the phone) and the honoring of his contract with the school, which took place late last week.

But Paterno's family declined the stadium naming offer. Joe Paterno never wanted it when he was alive.

From the Patriot-News:

A source close to the Paterno family says renaming the field would still be "a tremendous and humbling honor," but it "has always been a fan-driven matter. It was never important to Joe."

Paterno was uncomfortable with the statue of him placed outside Beaver Stadium, which depicted him holding is index finger in a No. 1 salute. A source told The Patriot-News, "The idea he'd be out in front of that stadium with a No. 1 finger is crazy. He always showed a closed fist."

Tensions remain between Paterno's family and the university, as confirmed in a statement issued Friday by the family that took issue with claims that it had reached a settlement with the school.

The field/stadium renaming plan remains popular among many Penn State fans. A father and son circulated a petition during the Blue-White festivities this week that called for the field at Beaver Stadium to be named after Paterno. According to The Patriot-News, two of Paterno's sons, Jay and Scott, signed off on the petition, which received close to 60,000 signatures before the Blue-White Game. Paterno's family would agree to the naming if it was done for the fans.

It's clear the ongoing tension makes any tribute to Paterno an especially delicate issue.

What's your take? Send your responses here.

Penn State on Thursday announced it has provided Joe Paterno's estate more than $5.5 million in payments and benefits to settle the late coach's contract. The school says it finalized the remaining payments due to the coach, who was fired in November in the wake of the child sex abuse scandal and died in January.

Despite the large payout, Paterno's family denies that it has settled with Penn State, saying through its lawyer that it declined a request for a full release. Paterno family lawyer Wick Sollers released a statement that notes Penn State made "a straightforward payment of moneys indisputably owed to the Paterno estate. The university had requested that the family agree to a full release in return for the payments under the contract. That request was declined and no release was signed."

From the Associated Press:

A breakdown of the payments provided by the school included: a career bonus of $3 million, an annual bonus of $425,000, the use by Paterno's family of a Beaver Stadium suite for 25 years valued at $1.5 million and $900,000 from television and radio revenue from last season.The deal also pledges payments to the coach's widow, Sue Paterno, of $1,000 a month for life, and gives her on-campus parking and access to university hydrotherapy equipment. ...

Other elements of the package include a final paycheck of $34,000, a death benefit of $51,000, a bowl bonus of $50,000, and $350,000 -- payable over five years -- under a 1986 consulting agreement. The university also agreed to forgive $350,000 in outstanding loans and debt. No explanation was provided regarding Paterno's debts to the school. While the school said in a news release that the total value of the package was "over $5.5 million," added together the various elements are worth about $6.7 million.

Penn State holds its Blue-White Game on Saturday, and some are planning tributes to honor Paterno, including one urging fans to wear black shoes to Beaver Stadium.

STATE COLLEGE, PA. -- In the lobby of the Penn Stater hotel, they stood vigil -- reporters, cameramen, students, alumni, residents and a few tipsy hotel bar patrons. It was Nov. 9, 2011, shortly before 9 p.m., and the throng awaited the decision of the Pennsylvania State University board of trustees. Behind the closed doors of Room 206, the 32 men and women charged with navigating the worst crisis in Penn State's 156-year history were on the verge of a painstaking but seemingly unavoidable verdict.

Near the back of a conference room littered with coffee cups and plates of half-eaten fudge brownies and chocolate-chip cookies, a 79-year-old trustee and philanthropist named Mimi Coppersmith stood up and beseeched her colleagues to reconsider what they were poised to do. "Coach Paterno is revered here in State College," she said.

"We're not going to drink the Kool-Aid," snapped John P. Surma, then the board's vice chairman and the chief executive officer of United States Steel Corp. "This is what we need to do."

Read more on this story from Dan Van Natta Jr.

When Penn State hired former FBI director Louis Freeh to conduct an independent investigation into the Jerry Sandusky scandal, it signaled that this would be a serious review.

That appears to be the case so far, as the Associated Press reports that Freeh and his team have conducted about 200 interviews in the probe. The people interviewed include administrators, football staffers and even trustee members.

According to the story, Freeh and his investigators are asking about who knew what when, chains of command and also about compliance with NCAA rules. Freeh's team is also interacting with ongoing state, federal and NCAA investigations into the Sandusky case.

It sounds like Freeh is doing exactly what he should be doing: turning over every rock in this probe to find out exactly what happened and who is to blame. His report, which trustees hope will be released in the fall, could finally provide some concrete answers. Then again, since he lacks subpoena power and those he is interviewing are not under oath, who knows what level of cooperation Freeh and his team will actually get?

Either way, the release of that report will be highly anticipated.

Speaking of Penn State, ESPN.com special contributor Roy S. Johnson has an interesting column today where he says the school should not rename Beaver Stadium after Joe Paterno. Johnson says both Paterno and Gen. James A. Beaver deserve better than that.

"In the interim, Penn State should honor Paterno, but not by renaming Beaver Stadium. The university should begin by vowing -- and then demonstrating -- that it will build upon the most laudable aspects of his legacy, while using the sordid allegations in the grand jury report and indictment against Sandusky as teachable foundations for programs that address child abuse and poverty."

Check out his full column here.

1. The Penn State Board of Trustees released another explanation Monday of its decision to fire Joe Paterno. After board members said in January that he failed to meet a moral obligation to do more when informed of the child-abuse accusations against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, the board said Monday that Paterno showed a “failure of leadership.” How long before the board issues another explanation in its continuing attempt to deflect responsibility for its failures?

2. Of the 58 seniors in fall sports awarded a $7,500 postgraduate scholarship by the NCAA, only three play FBS football. That means three players out of about 12,000 on FBS rosters had the chops to earn this scholarship. Let’s hope that is less a commentary on the state of FBS academics than it is a compliment to BYU running back Bryan Kariya, Ball State wideout Briggs Orsbon, and Navy guard John Dowd. Make what you will of this: Kariya and Orsbon both have 4.0 GPAs and are married. Dowd, the slacker with the 3.91 GPA, already has won an $18,000 postgraduate grant as a Campbell Award finalist.

3. When I visited Arizona last week, Virginia Tech running backs coach Shane Beamer came through to watch Rich Rodriguez’s Wildcats. Beamer is part of one of my favorite stories regarding coaches making spring visits to other staffs. In spring 2003, as a graduate assistant at Tennessee, Beamer and other Vols coaches visited Texas A&M. Head coach Dennis Franchione welcomed everyone, and then threw Beamer out of the meeting. Why? That fall, the Aggies would play the Hokies, coached by Beamer’s dad Frank.

Earlier today, I wrote about a new statement from the Penn State board trustees explaining — again — why they fired coach Joe Paterno on Nov. 9. I questioned why such a statement was necessary. Apparently, Paterno's family feels the same way.

The Paterno family issued its own statement this afternoon in response to the trustees. Here it is in its entirety:

"The Paterno family is surprised and saddened that the Board of Trustees believes it is necessary and appropriate to explain — for the fourth or fifth time — why they fired Joe Paterno so suddenly and unjustifiably on Nov. 9, 2011.

"The latest statement is yet another attempt by the Board to deflect criticism of their leadership by trying to focus the blame on Joe Paterno. This is not fair to Joe's legacy; it is not consistent with the facts; and it does not serve the best interests of the university. The board's latest statement reaffirms that they did not conduct a thorough investigation of their own and engaged in a rush to judgment.

"At various times, university officials have said that they fired Joe Paterno. At other times they have said they didn't fire him. They have simultaneously accused him of moral and leadership failures, and praised him for the high standards he set for the university.

"The tough questions that have yet to be addressed relate not to Joe Paterno, but to the board. Two months ago, as Joe Paterno was dying, the board conducted a series of media interviews condemning him for 'moral' failures. Now they are trying a different tack and accusing him of 'leadership' failures. The question we would ask is simply this, when will the board step up and acknowledge that the ultimate responsibility for this crisis is theirs? Everyone who cares about Penn State is longing for strong, courageous, honest leadership. Today's statement is anything but that."

This remains a highly-charged debate, with some people feeling that Paterno didn't deserve the treatment he received and others believing that the trustees had little choice but to dismiss him at the time (I fall into the latter camp, by the way). Regardless, it serves very little purpose to extend this controversy with public statements that don't contain any new information. I'm betting most Penn State supporters would simply like to move forward.

The Penn State board of trustees has given its explanation several times in statements and media interviews about why it fired football coach Joe Paterno on Nov. 9.

The board did so again Monday in a public statement made available on the school's website. The statement recounts the reasons why both Paterno and then-president Graham Spanier were dismissed a few days after the Jerry Sandusky scandal broke wide open.

Both were let go for a "failure of leadership," according to the statement. Here's some of what the trustees had to say about Paterno's actions after the coach was informed by assistant Mike McQueary of allegations against Sandusky:

"While Coach Paterno did his legal duty by reporting that information the next day, Sunday, March 3, to his immediate superior, the then Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley, the Board reasonably inferred that he did not call police. We determined that his decision to do his minimum legal duty and not to do more to follow up constituted a failure of leadership by Coach Paterno."

The trustees apologized for having to fire Paterno over the phone that night, but said there was no better way to do it.

"Because Coach Paterno’s home was surrounded by media representatives, photographers and others, we did not believe there was a dignified, private and secure way to send Board representatives to meet with him there. Nor did we believe it would be wise to wait until the next morning, since we believed it was probable that Coach Paterno would hear the news beforehand from other sources, which would be inappropriate."

The trustees also said options are being considered for honoring Paterno on campus, but that no decisions would be made until the internal investigation headed by former FBI director Louis Freh is finished and released to the public.

None of this is really new information, but the trustees have been under fire since early November and apparently feel the need to justify their decisions. This statement is unlikely to change the minds of people who have already chosen a side in this debate.

The effort to rename the field at Beaver Stadium after the late Joe Paterno appears to be gaining steam.

The Patriot-News reports that more than 57,000 people have signed a petition, started by high school student Blake Tobias Jr., to rename the field. He told the paper he also has the support of the descendants of James Adams Beaver, for whom the stadium is named.

Tobias is trying to gather 107,282 signatures -- the same as the number of seats at the stadium.

There have been calls by others to honor Paterno in a grand gesture, including a group that has been working to rename the field for JoePa since 2009.

However, Penn State isn't ready to go there yet. School spokeswoman Lisa Powers said no moves would be made until the independent investigation into the Jerry Sandusky scandal headed by former FBI director Louis Freeh is completed. Penn State obviously doesn't want the bad publicity of renaming something after Paterno and then see something damaging about him come out of that report.

But it's highly likely that some sort of Paterno honor is coming soon.

“At this time, we believe it is appropriate to recognize the legacy and historic contributions Mr. Paterno has made to Penn State University," Powers told the paper. "The board of trustees will seek input from a wide array of university constituencies, in consultation with Coach Paterno’s family and others, on how his legacy will be acknowledged.”

The Big Ten had three head-coaching changes in the offseason, with new leading men stepping in at Ohio State, Illinois and Penn State. We already shared our thoughts on the new staffs at Illinois and Ohio State. We finish off the series by turning to Penn State, which wrapped up its staff recently with the addition of Charlie Fisher as quarterbacks coach.

Here's how the new Penn State staff looks:

Bill O'Brien -- head coach
Stan Hixon -- assistant head coach/wide receivers
Ted Roof -- defensive coordinator
John Butler -- secondary
Charlie Fisher -- quarterbacks
Larry Johnson -- defensive line
Charles London -- running backs
Mac McWhorter -- offensive line
John Strollo -- tight ends
Ron Vanderlinden -- linebackers

So today's Take Two topic is: How did O'Brien fare in putting together his first staff at Penn State?

Take 1: Brian Bennett

We can't evaluate how O'Brien did in a vacuum. He is the first new head coach at Penn State in nearly half a century, taking over a place where assistants hardly ever left under Joe Paterno. O'Brien also got a bit of a late start in assembling his assistants, as he was not hired until early January, and the uncertainty and controversy swirling in State College may not have made this opportunity attractive to all job candidates.

With all that in mind, I think O'Brien did a reasonably good job in putting this staff together. I thought it was a great move to retain Johnson and Vanderlinden, two excellent coaches who didn't deserve to get scapegoated for the Jerry Sandusky mess. They will be able to provide some institutional knowledge about a place that isn't familiar with much change. It would have been nice if O'Brien could have kept Tom Bradley as well, but he brought in a seasoned veteran in Ted Roof, who knows the Big Ten from his time at Minnesota. Roof was pushed out at Auburn and has moved around an awful lot in his career, but he does have a national championship ring and a wealth of experience. Same goes for McWhorter, another greybeard who helped win a BCS title at Texas. I like the mixture of experience (Hixon, Trollo and Fisher have seen it all in their long careers) and up-and-comers like London and Butler, the latter of whom O'Brien was able to lure away from a successful program at South Carolina.

Ultimately, whether this works or not will all depend on O'Brien, who was a surprising choice to replace Joe Paterno and who has never been a head coach before. He has an enormous legacy to follow, as well as some off-the-field challenges. He has a staff full of coaches he knows and has worked with in the past to help guide him through that journey.

Take 2: Adam Rittenberg

It's interesting to see what would have happened with the staff makeup had Penn State hired O'Brien a few weeks earlier. Perhaps we would have seen the same names, perhaps not. But O'Brien had to rush to get coaches in place to help finish off 2012 recruiting while he wrapped up the season with the Patriots. I love his decision to retain both Johnson and Vanderlinden. Johnson has been Penn State's lead recruiter and one of the best in the Big Ten, and both he and Vanerlinden provide continuity for a defense that has been consistently good to great in recent years.

The two most critical hires in my mind are Roof and Fisher. Roof's appointment generated some grumbling around Nittany Nation, as fans were skeptical about a coach who struggled his final season at Auburn before parting ways with Gene Chizik. Although Roof had success in the Big Ten at Minnesota in 2008, he'll be under the microscope. The good thing is he understands his job is to keep Penn State's defensive tradition alive, rather than overhauling what has been a good unit. I like the Fisher hire as he brings a lot of experience to a group that needs a significant upgrade. He'll work with O'Brien more than any other assistant, and they'll collaborate with tutoring the quarterbacks and shaping the offensive vision.

Overall, I think O'Brien did a nice job. My only two concerns here are whether he went with too many familiar names from his previous coaching stops and whether there's enough youth on the staff, which can be beneficial in recruiting. Penn State has no shortage of grizzled vets, but there's not much youth other than London and Butler.

When the Big Ten football coaches gathered in Chicago for a meeting earlier this month, Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald looked over to Iowa's Kirk Ferentz and joked, "Which one of us is the old man now?"

Fitzgerald was struck by the notion that at age 37, heading into his seventh year as the Wildcats' head man, he is now the second-longest-tenured coach in the league. That shows how much change the conference has experienced the past two years -- and illustrates why this spring looms as an important time for many of its teams.

Three schools -- Ohio State, Penn State and Illinois -- hired new permanent head coaches this offseason, following the three that did so last year (Michigan, Indiana and Minnesota). Add in Nebraska, and seven of the 12 Big Ten teams have coaches either in their first or second year of competing in the conference.

"That's unprecedented," said Big Ten associate commissioner Mark Rudner, who has worked for the league since 1979 and currently serves as the football coaches' liaison to the conference. "It's a whole new world."

The Big Ten used to be known as a collection of icons, the league of Woody and Bo and larger-than-life coaches. No school is less familiar with change than Penn State, which will begin a season without Joe Paterno as head coach for the first time since 1966.

All the new personalities lead some to wonder if the Big Ten will maintain its identity and culture. Already, new Ohio State coach Urban Meyer has made waves with some aggressive recruiting tactics, leading Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema to criticize Meyer and caution that the Big Ten does not want to become a northern version of the SEC.

Meyer and Bielema met to hash out their differences in that coaches' meeting earlier this month. Rudner took it as a positive sign that 11 of the 12 coaches attended what was a voluntary gathering just two days after signing day. The only coach who didn't attend, Penn State's Bill O'Brien, was preparing to coach in the Super Bowl.

"Everybody seems willing to throw in with everybody else, so hopefully that will make for a lot smoother transition," Rudner said.

Transition will be the main buzzword thrown around most campuses when spring practice begins in early March.

Meyer will install the offensive system that helped the Florida Gators win two national titles as the Buckeyes begin their quest to regain Big Ten supremacy -- after the 2012 bowl ban expires, of course. Illinois is switching to a full-fledged spread attack under new coach Tim Beckman, himself a former Meyer assistant.

Jerry Kill at Minnesota and Kevin Wilson at Indiana will seek better things after disappointing first seasons, and each has brought in some junior college players to try to fill holes on the roster. Michigan won the Sugar Bowl in Brady Hoke's first year but still wants to move toward more of a pro-style offense, as long as it doesn't restrict the talents of QB Denard Robinson. Nebraska had its share of successes and setbacks in its first season of Big Ten play and now has a better idea of what it takes to compete in the league. The Huskers need to get stronger on defense but will have to do so without departed stars Lavonte David, Alfonzo Dennard and Jared Crick.

Even some of the most stable programs weren't immune to change. Wisconsin, which has gone to back-to-back Rose Bowls, lost most of its offensive staff when coordinator Paul Chryst went to Pitt and took several assistants with him. Purdue coach Danny Hope wasn't satisfied with making the program's first bowl since 2007 and reorganized his defensive staff. And as Big Ten dean Ferentz enters his 14th season at Iowa, he'll do so for the first time without defensive coordinator Norm Parker (who retired) or offensive coordinator Ken O'Keefe (who left for the Miami Dolphins).

"We probably cheated time here a little bit," Ferentz said.

Some veteran staffs stayed intact, such as Northwestern and Michigan State. The Spartans figure to make another run at a Legends Division title if they can adequately replace QB Kirk Cousins, All-American defensive tackle Jerel Worthy and their top three receivers.

"Players just want to have consistency in vision and consistency in expectations," Fitzgerald said. "When you've had a position coach for four straight years, you know what to expect, and there's something to be said for that.

"At the same time, when there's change, there's a newfound sense of urgency. Our big challenge is making sure our guys don't feel like we're Charlie Brown's teacher going, 'Wah-wah-wah-wah,' and start getting bored."

There's nothing boring about the transition at Penn State. Paterno's reign came crashing down in shocking, controversial fashion before he passed away in January. For the first time in decades, the Nittany Lions will have several new assistant coaches, not to mention a new style of offense and leadership under O'Brien. Players can already see the differences in winter conditioning.

"There's a lot of excitement around here right now," linebacker Michael Mauti said. "It's just a whole new way of doing things."

They'll be saying that on a lot of Big Ten campuses this spring.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- They spoke at Joe Paterno's memorial Thursday the way that his teams played and represented Penn State for the last 46 seasons: simply, with little flash and great focus.

They emphasized academics every bit as much as football. They played fierce defense, as his teams always did, defending Paterno's reputation in the wake of the child abuse scandal that caused the university to fire him in November. They remembered Paterno as a teacher more than a coach, a philanthropist with straightforward values, and a man who prized the competitive instinct.

And at the close of the ceremony at the Bryce Jordan Center, right across the parking lot from Beaver Stadium, Jay Paterno, his son and former assistant coach, spoke for nearly half an hour with an emphasis on Paterno as a husband, father and grandfather.

The heavens provided a typical late-season Saturday of weather for the memorial: rain, leaden skies, temperatures in the mid-30s, pretty much a copy of Oct. 29, the day of Paterno's last game as a head coach.

For Ivan Maisel's full column, click here.

1. “A Memorial for Joe” will honor the late Penn State coach Joe Paterno on Thursday, 29 years to the day that former Alabama coach Bear Bryant died only four weeks after his final game. The fact that both coaching icons died so soon after they left coaching has been noted time and again this week. The coincidences continue to pile up. Both Bryant and Paterno won their last victory against Illinois. Paterno’s last loss ever came to Alabama in September.
2. You can’t quibble with the success of Boise State coach Chris Petersen. The Broncos went 50-3 the last four seasons with Kellen Moore at quarterback, and is 73-6 overall. But now comes Petersen’s biggest test. According to PhilSteele.com, Boise State is dead last among FBS schools in returning starters with six. Depth is usually the last thing that mid-majors can count on. Then again, with the Big East on the horizon, we won’t be able to call Boise State a mid-major for much longer.
3. You know that a head coach has made it when he keeps winning even as his assistants depart. With that in mind, keep an eye on Wisconsin next fall. Head coach Bret Bielema is in the process of replacing six of his nine assistant coaches in this offseason. Offensive coordinator Paul Chryst became head coach at Pitt and took three coaches with him. Bielema may be young – he turned 42 this month – but he’s developing a coaching tree. Dave Doeren left his staff last year to become head coach at Northern Illinois.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The university that fired Joe Paterno over the phone in November after 62 seasons of coaching has had to turn around and recast him as an icon upon his death in January. If there is a historical parallel for a relationship this awkward, it escapes me.

The Harrisburg Patriot-News reported Tuesday that the Paterno family had discouraged the Penn State board of trustees as a group -- but not as individuals -- from attending the memorial Thursday at the Bryce Jordan Center. When Gov. Tom Corbett, an ex-officio member of the board, took that to mean he should not attend, the family issued a statement specifically inviting Corbett.

The outpouring of emotion in the Penn State community since Paterno died Sunday morning has been a source of comfort to his family. Jay Paterno, the son who coached with his dad for the last 17 years, greeted mourners who came to the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center for the viewing of Paterno's casket Tuesday.

The outpouring of emotion in the letters section of the local newspapers since Sunday has been almost universal anger directed at the university and the board of trustees for their treatment of Paterno.

Grief takes many forms. The warmth that has enveloped the Paterno family and the anger that has been directed at Old Main, the building that houses the Penn State administration, may be coming from the same place.

For Ivan Maisel's full column, click here.

To hear Maisel and Beano Cook discuss the life and legacy of Joe Paterno on the ESPNU College Football podcast, click here.