Does Jay finally deserve some credit?
PSU QB coach Jay Paterno (above) was the lead recruiter for 3 of Penn State's verbal committments for the Class of 2008. Mike Zordich, Brandon Beachum and Michael Shaw all hail from Ohio and therefore come from the recruiting territory for which Jay is responsible. Ohio used to serve as very fertile recruiting grounds for Penn State, providing PSU with superstar players Curtis Enis, Kijana Carter, Joey J and several others. Yet, during the past 6 years, Penn State's 'success' in Ohio has been mediocre at best and many blame Jay Paterno for Penn State's lack of success.
Last year, Penn State landed LB Andrew Daily. In both 2005 and 2006, Penn State failed to land any prospects from Ohio. In 2004, Penn State was able to secure committments from Gerald Cadogan, Daryll Clark and Jed Hill. Again in 2003, Penn State failed to land any Ohio prospects after landing Vince Gliatta, Donnie Johnson and Robert Price in 2002.
What do all of the above prospects and current players have in common? None of them were offered by Ohio State with the exception of Mike Zordich. Granted, Jay is up against an elite Ohio recruiting machine ran by the tOSU staff and Head Coach Jim Tressell for Ohio's best prospects. It is no easy task to secure a committment from a stud Ohio prospect that has been offered by tOSU. So the question remains, Does Jay finally deserve some credit for his recent recruiting success of Ohio prospects? The answer: Perhaps.
Zordich is a Penn State 'legacy' recruit, yet tOSU was recruiting him very hard. Nonetheless, young Zordich decided to head to Happy Valley to play his collegiate football. Joining him will be his high school teammate, RB Brandon Beachum, a very elite recruit in his own right. Lastly, Trotwood RB Michael Shaw will call Happy Valley his home next year. These are 3 very elite recruits ranked by several recruiting services as 4-star prospects with one of them being offered by tOSU. Hopefully, Jay and PSU will be able to capitalize off this year's success into the future. But forgive me, if I don't believe anything will change in regards to Ohio recruiting under Jay. Something tells me that the stars aligned this year and our success at landing Zordich, Beachum and Shaw had little to do with Jay. Nonetheless, I believe Jay deserves a bit of credit. Afterall, he could've screwed it up and in the case of Michael Shaw he allegedly almost did. So, thanks Jay, for doing your job....this year.
I'll ask one question. Of the recruits Jay has brought in over the past 5 years or so, how many of them have amounted to anything? It was on Jay's watch where the talent level fell of so badly that we were running Tom Williams and Dave Benfatti out there at LB. Of course we don't even have to discuss his QB development. I refuse to give Jay credit for anything other than being an anchor to this program.
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He gets some credit. However, as good as the recruits may end up being, Shaw and Beachum didn't have OSU offers. Zordich did, but of course, his name is Zordich. Beachum was Zordich's teammate.
Jay got a lot of circumstantial help for his Ohio success this year.
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Agree with smokey. Let's see jay go head to head with OSU to get someone other than a legacy before we give him credit.
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IMO, this year and Dailey last, will help get Jay back to even in my eyes. Did a good enough job regardless of lineage to land these kids, but doesn't erase past failures. If you give credit for this year, he must be thumped for Claude, and the others many respond with "Who?"
Nebraska landed DJ Woods (who is reportedly rethinking his commitment), who was being recruited by Jay. To me, this is a litmus test. Ohio kid with an OSU. offer, that chose school out of state. Same with recruitment of Ben Martin last year. Until Jay lands kids like this, it is my opinion that he is not yet doing his job at recruiting. As for my feelings on his prowess at developing QB's, don't ask.
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Uh, NO. Absolutely not. End of discussion.
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is this a blind squirrel kind of thing, just plain luck with (legacy kid), or he's learning from his mistakes? I hope it's a combination of all three.
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I will never give Jay Paterno credit until he admits he isn't a good coach and leaves the program.
http://www.FireJayPa.com
-Ruining quality tallent since '99
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I think I agree with greeny here - he got them here (with some aid and luck but he got them here) - but I don't see these guys as evidence he can recruit with the big boys .. he has a lot more work to do to show that (like getting a non legacy with an OSU offer to come)..
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