Joe Paterno Told You So

If anything the Rob Bolden saga has been a display of  the unpredictability in sports. One week Bolden is the first true freshman quarterback to start under Joe Paterno, a few weeks later he is sitting on the bench after recovering from a concussion. It’s far from fair, but it is unfortunately how it so often pans out in the sporting world.

On the other side of the picture Matt McGloin is hardly to blame for the drama. Inserted halfway through the Minnesota game McGloin had all the moxie and swagger a young team with no real leader needed. He was far from the best quarterback, but he was getting the job done against less than stellar competition. A few weeks down the road he’s taken down the hated Michigan Wolverines, led the team to a comeback for Joe Paterno’s 400th win and has won the hearts and minds of many Nittany Lion fans. He’s not perfect, but Matt McGloin is fun.

Through all of this Bolden has gotten fed up with being benched, he’s started most of a his career, he’s healthy, and he knows he can beat out McGloin in practice if he was given the chance. By the time the Outback bowl gets here he already knows he wants out. His story wasn’t going to go the route of Kevin Newsome.

Halfway through the bowl game Bolden sees his chance. McGloin is struggling like he has against tough defenses, but he never gets the hook. Bolden’s family is in attendance already impatient with the seemingly indefinite “concussion recovery” plan sees this game as the final straw.How can their son play worse than a quarterback who has thrown 3 interceptions already? In the very least his experience through the first 7 games of the season against tough competition should be enough for him to get the nod. But no, Bolden is subjected to calling in plays and keeping the bench warm. After the game Rob Bolden Sr tells the media what he already knew before the game. His son was going to transfer.

Back in his office Joe Paterno has seen a lot of kids sit across from him and talk about their future. He knows what it’s like to look a young man in the face and tell him what he needs to hear. This was unexpected however. Paterno knows that he has repeatedly said the quarterback position will be open again in the offseason, and after McGloin’s showing in the Outback bowl the door was kicked wide open for the likes of Bolden and redshirt Paul Jones. Work hard enough and the job is yours.

Pat Devlin, knows what it feels like to be talented but beat out by another player, but he also knows the importance of waiting it out. While Devlin never saw meaningful time as Penn State’s quarterback he gave Daryll Clark all he could handle in the offseason and by all accounts became a better player because of it. Devlin’s transfer came at a time when he knew the job wasn’t his, it was a smart decision, done respectably and at the right time in his life. Devlin now sits one win away from a FBS National Championship and a much stronger NFL resume.

Rob Bolden however does not have the benefitof this experience. Given the starting role only a month after getting to campus everything has been easy. He came into a quarterback competition with no real leader and showed skills and poise that inspired the coaching staff to give him a chance. Since his injury a fiery gunslinger has taken his spot and Rob Bolden feels cheated. While it is generally accepted Bolden should have been given a second chance at some point, unfortunately sometimes a season doesn’t go your way. It isn’t about being fair, or nice. It’s about winning, for better or worse Matt McGloin was giving Penn State a chance to do that.

Where Rob Bolden’s logic seems to fail him is in seeing the future. The entire Bolden camp is under the assumption that McGloin will start next season without question. While we may never know the details of what has been said behind closed doors it seems unlikely that in an open competition that McGloin would beat out Bolden and Jones for the starting spot. In a nutshell Bolden would rather transfer, sit out a year, and fight for a starting job at another school, than take on a walk-on and a redshirt for the starting job he already beat them for once.

This is where Joe Paterno wins. Maybe not on the field, but in the book of “I told you so” the Bolden camp is treating this situation like a Pee Wee League team. “If you don’t let my son start, we’re going to take our ball and leave” is what Rob Bolden Sr is essentially saying, almost to the effect that he hopes Joe will call his bluff. Unfortunately for him strong arming an established college football program like it’s run by Little League coaches doesn’t work, and Bolden leaving his freshman year on the grounds of “unfair chance to regain his position mid-season”  is expecting quite a lot of entitlement as a freshman. It would be one thing if Bolden was an established veteran returning from injury, but he isn’t, and that’s how these things workd. And that’s why for better or for worse, Joe denied Bolden his transfer. Not because he needs to keep him, but because he knows Bolden’s departure could lead to a long, difficult road for a young man he has come to know. Fundamentally, this is why Joe Paterno doesn’t start true freshman, and why he may never again.

**Note. Ultimately it may be in the best interest for everyone to release Bolden. It’s “nicer” looking, less drama ect..only time will tell when that occurs.