MVictors piece: When JoePa was Michigan's #1 choice over Bo
I didn't know this snippet of history till now. Canham tried to hire JoePa, but ended up going with his 2nd choice in Bo Schembechler, when JoePa wanted to wait till after bowl season to make a decision
[Don Canham]: "[Paterno] said, “Don, let me think about it, I’ll call you in three days” — so I went to New York and when I was talking to people, Bo’s name kept coming up. Three days later, Joe called me and said, “Don, I can’t make a decision until after the bowl,” and I told him I couldn’t wait until January to hire a football coach for Michigan. The next week, I hired Schembechler. He’s the one that impressed me the most at that time."
Consider that a dodged bullet
October 31st, 2018 at 12:18 PM ^
Bullet. Dodged.
October 31st, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^
....same way we dodged it for rick "Hookers & Blow" pitino.
October 31st, 2018 at 1:03 PM ^
Someone put a bullet in this thread! JoePa and Michigan should never be mentioned in the same sentence!
October 31st, 2018 at 12:19 PM ^
Thank God that it worked out the way it did. Otherwise we would be the absolute disgrace of college football.
BTW, FUCK ped state and all their delusional joepa loving fans and all the paternos!!!
October 31st, 2018 at 12:21 PM ^
Gross.
October 31st, 2018 at 12:21 PM ^
Wonder if herbstreit had anything to do with that miss also???
October 31st, 2018 at 1:54 PM ^
Where is Gabe???
October 31st, 2018 at 12:33 PM ^
I agree with this. JoePa is now known as a piece of shit for letting it happen. However, that doesn’t mean it would’ve happened at Michigan because who know who his assistants would have been if he had come to Ann Arbor and also whether or not anyone would’ve spoken up then. There was really no bullet dodged there.
October 31st, 2018 at 12:44 PM ^
Also agree. Change the state, school, players, teams, some coaches, results, fans, administrations, etc., and you're obviously going to have vastly different outcomes. That's not to say things would be better or worse, just unequivocally different. Sure, something might happen -god forbid- but to assume something would happen is foolish.
October 31st, 2018 at 12:45 PM ^
I still consider it a dodged bullet because even though we don't know for sure that he would've brought Sandusky with him, we don't know that he wouldn't have brought him.
If you gave me a time machine that allowed me to go back and convince Paterno come to Michigan, I'd still tell you he's not worth the risk, knowing what we know now. Even if bringing him meant Michigan has two extra national title trophies to display, all of it would've been completely undone had the scandal occurred here as well.
The Penn State situation made me realize that scandals like these can happen pretty much anywhere. Before all of this broke out, Paterno was looked upon as a saint, a man who built teams of character and integrity, and a man who was a force for good in the world of college football. Then that all came crashing down in an instant. Michigan fans would be foolish to think something like this could never happen in Ann Arbor, too. Would the cover-up have happened here if Sandusky came? Don't know. I'd like to think it wouldn't, but I couldn't definitively say it wouldn't. So why take the risk?
October 31st, 2018 at 2:24 PM ^
I think the point is that there is no way of knowing it was a dodged bullet. JoePa has had some good records and the entire history would have played out differently.
November 1st, 2018 at 7:58 AM ^
I understand your argument, but you also need to look at the petri dish that is the ecosystem of a college football town.
There's a reason this happened in State College (and East Lansing, and Columbus) and not in Ann Arbor. Football made Penn State a household name, and while it's a big deal in Ann Arbor, it's not like that here.
While the local football beat ties themselves in knots trying to justify the misdeeds of the program, players and school in those towns, in Ann Arbor, we had Jim Carty exposing the "academic scandal" of independent study and the BGS degree, and Rosenberg exposing "Stretch gate."
Think about the difference in blind homerdom of the fans. While we certainly have our share of fans that see no evil, we have a larger than average segment of fans that want to win the right way and hate any whiff of impropriety.
While I'll never say it can't happen here, the likelihood of a Paterno/Sandusky, Nasser/football-basketball rape and crime epidemic, or a Zach Smith situation is far lower here because the environmental conditions that allow misdeeds on that scale really don't exist in Ann Arbor to the degree the do in college towns where the sportsball team is the reason the college matters.
October 31st, 2018 at 12:50 PM ^
That's what I was going to post, but think about it this way. JoePa cared more about his image/ and the images of his friends than about doing the right thing.
Sure, it's unlikely that Sand*** gets hired as JoePa's DC at Michigan, but what if JoePa hired another scumbag (like a wifebeater, cokehead, drunk...)? Would JoePa have kept that scumbag around?
October 31st, 2018 at 12:44 PM ^
The question is: Would Paterno have brought Sandusky to Ann Arbor? Sandusky is a monster, and Joe Pa was unwilling to address his monstrosity in any way. Consequently, if Sandusky had come to Michigan under Paterno, the exact same thing would have happened.
Sandusky was at BU in 1968, and got hired by Paterno (who knew him from his days as a player and a GA at PSU earlier in the 60s) to coach the DL in 1969. It's not unreasonable to think that Paterno would have hired him at Michigan instead. And then, instead of Pennsylvania kids getting molested, it's Ann Arbor kids that I went to school with.
Bullet dodged.
October 31st, 2018 at 12:48 PM ^
The year at BU was the only year Sandusky has ever spent living outside of PA.
He mentions in his book (yes, I've read it) that he was unhappy and homesick that year in Boston. I'm not sure he makes a move to Ann Arbor in this alternate 1969 universe.
October 31st, 2018 at 12:57 PM ^
New state motto:
“Pennsylvania... a kid diddler’s paradise”
October 31st, 2018 at 1:56 PM ^
Isn't the NAMBLA headquarters in pa???
October 31st, 2018 at 12:54 PM ^
As I recall, Paterno communicated it up and the AD and School President knew. So with your logic, you’d have to assume Canham would bury it. I disagree with that.
Clearly we all prefer a man like Bo who’s ethics are unquestioned.
But, another version of this story could have been that Paterno was unlucky not to take the Michigan job. Because if he had, Canham would have fired Sandusky and Paterno’s legacy would be intact. Of course, all of these scenarios are pure speculation.
October 31st, 2018 at 1:53 PM ^
Allegations against Sandusky go back to the 1970s. Paterno finally reported it up the chain after the [EDIT: 2001] incident.
After the 1998 incident, he allowed Sandusky a graceful exit the next year while keeping the reason a secret from the public. Don't fall for the whole the "Joe was just doing his job" party line.
October 31st, 2018 at 2:07 PM ^
Actually, the McQueary sighting was reported by JoePa up the chain in 2001.
It was a separate incident in 1998 where a mother called police and Penn State nation desperately wanted the country to believe that JoePa knew nothing about his defensive coordinator being reported and questioned by the police. And then Sandusky "retires" less than a year later. Nothing suspicious about that.
October 31st, 2018 at 2:13 PM ^
You're right. That makes him look worse still.
October 31st, 2018 at 1:59 PM ^
It scares the hell out of me imagining Sandusky starting a Second Mile Club in Ann Arbor.
Even if Sandusky would have come here for a couple years under JoePa, or even one season, he would have found little boys to "wrestle."
So, yes. JoePa not coming here is a MAJOR bullet dodged.
October 31st, 2018 at 12:49 PM ^
He had a child molester on his staff. He knew the guy was a molester. He did nothing to stop it because it would have tarnished his own name. It's not a reach to think it wouldn't have played out exactly the same anywhere else unless Sandusky had something against having sex with kids outside Pennsylvania. I don't see how this is a reach.
There is still no explanation ( that I have seen anyway) that explains why the DC of 3 national championships never got a HC job. People had to have known what was going on.
October 31st, 2018 at 12:59 PM ^
This is my feeling as well. While we won't likely ever know all that went on at PSU, I don't think it matters exactly how it went down. He knew. He didn't stop it. That's all you need to know to understand that JoePa prioritized his legacy and the program's legacy over the safety of children. Someone with priorities that far out of whack should be persona non grata here, whether it plays out the same way it did in Happy Valley or not.
October 31st, 2018 at 2:07 PM ^
Not only did he not get a HC job, he just suddenly retired at age 55 in 1999, a curious move for a career assistant.
October 31st, 2018 at 1:13 PM ^
He knew there was a pedophile on his staff molesting children, and he not only did nothing about it for 15+ years, but after Sandusky retired, he gave the guy access to the facilities so he could take kids there and molest them.
Yes, the PSU administration was heavily to blame as well. But there's no way to overlook Paterno's role in what happened.
October 31st, 2018 at 1:21 PM ^
I agree with this. I’m not defending Paterno. He was not just week and selfish but he enabled a pedophile.
I was only suggesting that Canham could have easily fired Sandusky and even Paterno under the same circumstances.
October 31st, 2018 at 1:52 PM ^
So one way or the other we are way better off with Bo.
Bullet dodged.
October 31st, 2018 at 2:15 PM ^
Would Canham have known? Paterno didn't report anything until 2001.
October 31st, 2018 at 2:29 PM ^
The guy was still a great COACH.
I feel like making morally responsible decisions is part of being a coach, so no, I don't consider him great.
October 31st, 2018 at 5:06 PM ^
What an idiotic statement. Paterno is a piece of sh1t. He willingly turned a blind eye for a couple decades or more to heinous acts that ruined people lives. Its that simple. His inaction ruined peoples lives. Maybe you should read the entire indictment of Sandusky. It's not easy to get through.
October 31st, 2018 at 12:36 PM ^
Meanwhile, a great sob just went out as Ann Arbor restaurant owners weep at the thought of having lost all that Scott Paterno business
October 31st, 2018 at 1:14 PM ^
On the other hand, they wouldn't have had to give 78% discounts on steaks, so maybe it balances out a little.
October 31st, 2018 at 2:02 PM ^
What they lose in margins is more than counteracted by the enormous increase in volume...
October 31st, 2018 at 12:41 PM ^
We should also appreciate the possibility that Joe's story never falls into disgrace if he comes here. It doesn't take much in the way of positive circumstances to entirely change outcomes.
October 31st, 2018 at 12:51 PM ^
If he had hired Sandusky at Michigan - which is far from unlikely - I dont know why he would have handled the ensuing issues any differently. The incentives would have been exactly the same and so would his personal priorities. Theres nothing in the water in PA that corrupted Paterno.
October 31st, 2018 at 1:00 PM ^
It isn't that Paterno was a wicked person, he just made human mistakes in many of the most high impact moments of his life. These were terrible mistakes. And they compounded. In the end, I'm sure he felt a sense that he had trapped himself in lies.
Which is something I believe a different environment would facilitate differently.
October 31st, 2018 at 2:14 PM ^
You perhaps overestimate the degree of difference in the environment. The things that led to those lies and mistakes would have all been with him in Michigan too. Embarrassment, pride, personal loyalty, fear of the negative consequences of a scandal, lack of empathy with victims. In fact those are the elements that have driven almost every such scandal in collegiate athletics, and they have happened at many different places not called PSU.
The common elements have typically been a powerful and successful senior staffer (often but not always a head coach), a culture in the university prioritizing athletic success (which is pervasive at almost all U.S. institutions outside of commuter/continuing education schools and the select few that don't bother much with athletics) and an Athletics Department that has developed a culture of secrecy and compartmentalization as they try to strike a balance between athletic success and (an appearance of) compliance.
All of those elements are extremely widespread in collegiate athletics. What ultimately decides on whether a major scandal occurs and how it is dealt with is how the person in control of it all handles it. We *know* how Joe Paterno handled it when he was that person in control. Bo had built up a lot of power at Michigan, and there's little doubt that Paterno would have done the same if successful. I for one am glad that we had Bo in charge and not that little Italian fellow from Brooklyn.
October 31st, 2018 at 2:38 PM ^
Michigan canned Moeller for having one too many drinks. You can be sure Paterno would NEVER have been an to still head in sand...
October 31st, 2018 at 12:50 PM ^
Was Sandusky always going to be a part of the JoePa staff or was there already a PSU connection?
JoePa may be an enabler at his core, but it's not like psychopathic child molesters grow on trees.
October 31st, 2018 at 2:22 PM ^
Sandusky is a former PSU player, so he may have always wanted to go there as a coach. Still, Paterno was the one who hired him, that same offseason (1969), out of Boston University. It's conceivable that he'd have interviewed at Michigan.
October 31st, 2018 at 1:00 PM ^
I haven't posted in years and this is my first non-basketball post, but felt the need to jump in. The issue is not whether he would have brought Sandusky here or even whether there would have been some other scumbag on his staff where'd he look the other way. The issue is that this is a man who looked the other way under the most egregious of circumstances that enabled horrific things to happen to children. Whether any scandal at UM would have arisen is not the point. The point is that a man of his character should not be involved with the University of Michigan, let alone in one of its most prominent roles.
October 31st, 2018 at 1:06 PM ^
Unless he'd brought Sandusky with that actually might have saved his ass
October 31st, 2018 at 1:47 PM ^
Wow. Dodged a bullet there.
October 31st, 2018 at 1:49 PM ^
Bo's name was suggested by George Allen.
December 6th, 2018 at 10:21 PM ^
Just saw this, and yes, I heard the same thing a loonnnnnggg time ago about George Allen recommending Bo.
October 31st, 2018 at 3:06 PM ^
Actually Jo Pa likely would have been a successful coach at Michigan and never had to face the moral crisis if he faced at PSU. We possibly would have never known of his human failings.
Maybe wherever Sandusky ended up he gets discovered and arrested earlier without coverup. I think Joe Pa died of guilt and shame. What a mess.
October 31st, 2018 at 3:49 PM ^
If I recall correctly, in one of Bo's books, (co-authored with Mitch Albom, I believe) it was JoePa himself who suggested that Bo would be a good candidate for the position at Michigan.