The Grand Experiment at 50--Lessons for Today

Penn State Alumni Association Lake Erie Chapter --August 6, 2016

It is nice to be here in Erie and I want to say a special thanks to Anthony Lubrano for being here tonight. Since Joe Paterno died a lot of people suddenly got brave and said a lot of things about him that weren’t true because he couldn’t defend himself.

What they did not realize that there are many others who have come forward to defend him and the truth and Anthony has been one of those people so for that we all should thank him and give him a round of applause.

Erie is just lovely this time of the year…..January is another story I am sure. I went out this afternoon to Presque Isle State Park and attended 4:30 mass at St Paul Catholic Church—founded in 1891 to serve the Italian Community of Erie. On my way home I am stopping to load up on Smith’s Hot Dogs as well!

Watching the videos of so many great moments was emotional…and rather than talk about games and individual moments I want to talk more about what was behind all those great moments. Tonight let’s talk about the lessons that can be learned.

First thanks so much for this tonight. The University has not really recognized Joe Paterno’s contributions publicly so this chapter and tonight is really the first time something like this has happened so I thank you for that.

I was asked to come up and specifically reflect on the 50th anniversary of Joe Paterno’s first game as head coach. On September 17, 1966 was the unveiling of the on-field edition of The Grand Experiment--a hard-fought 15-7 win over Maryland that included 3 safeties. The last win was another shootout a 10-7 win over Illinois. Some call it winning ugly….call it what you want but call it what it was –Winning.

But it was about so much more than what happened on the field.

The Grand Experiment—was a challenge, a belief that honor and excellence could be achieved with student-athletes who came to college to compete in the classroom and on the field. The idea was to have young men leave Penn State with more than just a football experience—the goal was for them to get a world-class education.

It was a belief that the journey, the struggle to achievement and excellence was best accomplished by blazing your own path, on the road less taken and that would make us different.

Joe Paterno’s ideals lasted for decades and what was accomplished at Penn State by so many who shared a common set of values is what this story is really about. You see those values became something that was ingrained into every sport at Penn State—it was visionary leadership that propelled Penn State both athletically and academically to a level that transcended our Commonwealth.

The Penn State name and reputation for excellence in everything had a value that was recognized not just here at home, and not just nationally but internationally as well.

The Grand Experiment after 50 Years has created a Golden Legacy that is something to be admired.  

Nike Co-Founder Phil Knight wrote “Simply, he was the Gold Standard by which all other football programs were measured.”

One thing I do know would be that Joe Paterno would be uncomfortable with anyone talking about him or the 50th anniversary. He would tell you that the journey was only possible because of the student-athletes, the coaches, the administration, the medical and strength staff as well as professors, alumni, fans and friends who all bought in to the idea of doing things the right way.

One professor told me what happened when he called the house to ask Joe what they should do about a player in class who was failing.

Joe asked “What would you do if he wasn’t a football player?”

“I’d fail him” the professor answered.

“Then fail him.” Joe answered.

For all the false negative things written and said in the months and years since Joe Paterno died—this unassailable fact remains—like all men he was imperfect but the integrity of the man and the program never wavered.

That is the mark of consistency that was unchanged across the decades.

Through all the investigations of Penn State football—millions of documents including e-mails, memos, files, text messages and depositions not once did anyone uncover academic fraud or major NCAA violations. No documents or correspondence were found that was sent from a coach, to a coach or seen by a coach that showed any knowledge of wrongdoing or attempt to conceal it in any area.

Talk to a player from 1968 or 1978 or even 2008 and you’ll find that they learned the same lessons, they were given the same bedrock values as the foundation for success on the field in the classroom and in life.

As I look around college football today there are places where those lessons are needed now more than ever.

There are coaches pandering to a generation of recruits who have been raised on self-promotion, self-indulgence and selfies over the ideas of selflessness and team first. We’re playing to a recruit’s basest instincts, to the lowest common denominator.

Everything is about what will get the best recruits according to some arbitrary rankings and what will make that 16 or 17 year old happy. What things can we do or say on social media? What do we add to our football facility to show we have the coolest stuff?

How about challenging them to make sacrifices to be part of a team? How about explaining how the world really works?

The Lasch Building was built so that the players would understand that they were coming into a professional environment. There was a method to the madness.

Even the locker room had a purpose. On the floor in the middle of the carpet used to be an “S” to remind our players of the past, to remind them that once there were young men who played with an S for State on the front of their football uniforms.

It was to remind them that the facilities they had, the support they received and the stadium that stood proudly on the hill was built by generations of those who came before them and paved the way.

But there was more to it. The S was right in the middle of the locker room—and NO ONE walked across the S—NO ONE. NO EXCEPTIONS.

The shortest route to your friend across the locker room may have been right across the S but you took the long way. It required more effort—but you did not walk across the S because it represented our history our tradition of excellence dating back to 1887.

If you walked across it you had to do push-ups.

Once a recruit’s grandmother was touring the facility and forgot. She walked right across the S and our players politely informed her that she would have to do push-ups. Let’s just say she was a large woman. She and her husband loved that respect for the past—and her husband—a man of 70+ years of age did the push-ups for his wife.

But that recruit came to Penn State.

Another recruit—a very prominent recruit walked across the S. If I told you this player’s name you would immediately know who he is. Our players told him he had to do the push-ups and he refused, said something to the effect of Screw this place and walked out.

Needless to say he went to another school and got into trouble there after just one year—including violating NCAA rules.

You see that S saved us from possible problems.

There were other standards.

Joe Paterno had standards of personal appearance that we enforced consistently for his entire career. He wanted everyone on that team to have to give something up to be part of that team. He wanted everyone to understand that it was a privilege to play at Penn State.

He wanted them to know that Penn State stood apart—we asked them to do more. He knew that student-athletes who paid a higher price would fight harder to defend that which they paid a higher price to attain.

It was what Thomas Paine wrote:

“Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness that gives everything its value”

What we obtain too cheap we esteem too lightly…….

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I know I am “old-school”. I know I am espousing ideals that some say are outdated but they could not be more wrong. The values of The Grand Experiment are time-tested and enduring and anyone who argues otherwise is short-sighted.

Human nature remains mostly unchanged across the centuries. Part of that human nature is the belief that our current times, and the circumstances we currently face and the particular set of issues we face are somehow unique and unprecedented and have no parallel in history.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Over the years Penn State and Joe Paterno were constantly called out for not following the trends of the time. But trends come and go—class and consistency endures. In fact bucking the trend becomes your brand—it is what makes you stand out.

You need a differential and doing things the blue collar way built a mentally tough team and program that win or lose played hard and with great pride.

It was part of what Joe Paterno always talked about—“at some point in the game you have to make them say ouch.”

It was old school and it came from Joe’s belief in what football was about—he wrote in his notes once “Largest truths of the game: - Conditioning, Spartanism, defense and violence - as distinct from Brutality.”

Conditioning, Spartanism, defense and violence those are the unwavering core of Championship Football. “Old School”.

That “Old School” was what brought players from this area like Charles Rush, Drew Astorino and Brian Milne to Penn State.

“Old School” was our differential and it attracted certain players but it repelled others—and that is a good thing. Penn State was not for everyone.

Now everyone wants to have multiple uniforms—and you know what people say? “Oh they’re like Oregon”. Everyone wants to build flashy football buildings and you know what people say “Oh, their building is like Oregon’s building.”

You are never going to out-Oregon Oregon. You never win by following the trends. You never set yourself apart if you do what everyone else does, if you suppress that which makes you unique. 

Without a differential you become like anyone else.

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The 50 year anniversary of Joe Paterno’s first game is a chance for us to think, to reflect and remember that for a long time we lived in College Football’s Shining city on the hill.

We lived in a place where win or lose we saw a bunch of young men who made us proud on and off the field in victory and defeat.

We lived in a place where when our team traveled to away games or bowl trips—everyone from flight attendants to hotel managers complimented our players’ professional appearance and behavior.

We lived in a place where we were proud when our players and coaches did interviews because they represented our school in a way that spoke volumes about the education they were receiving and spoke volumes about their humility and team first attitude.

We lived in a place where we spoke softly and carried a big stick.

We lived in an exalted place that was the result of decades of hard work and sacrifice. Nothing worthwhile is every easily attained.

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And this all started with humble beginnings.

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In 1966 in his preseason notes—Joe Paterno wrote these notes about the first day of Camp on August 29th:

1. 1. J.T.—Chalk in Lines, hashmarks

2. 2. Any player in before noon get physicals. Defensive and two-way players get preference.

3. 3. Bob—Have equipment men ready to give out shoes, socks and shorts.

J.T. was Coach J T White—think about that—an assistant coach putting the lines down. Bob was Coach Bob Phillips—an assistant coach helping get the equipment ready to go. Now coaches don’t dirty their hands with menial tasks—they all have assistants and interns.

And in a look into his mindset Joe Paterno made sure that any scheduling conflicts in medical appointments went to guys on defense.