For all those fans who theorize that there is no succession plan in place when Joe Paterno (finally) steps aside because the Hall of Fame head coach wants his son, Jay, to take over, but that is not going to fly with the Penn State administration , you may want to re-think the theory.

The day following the Nittany Lions’ 24-17 win over Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl, Paterno said very clearly that even though he believes that Jay Paterno will be a good college head coach somewhere, he did not think it would be in Happy Valley as his replacement. Jay is currently the quarterbacks coach on his father’s staff.

“To be honest, he's got the ability to be a head coach, but I don't think Penn State is the right fit for him right now,” JoePa said.

“I don't talk to him much about it. It's up to Jay (what he wants to do). I try to be a father off the field and on the field try to treat him like any other assistant.”

-- NEIL GEOGHEGAN