{"id":3450,"date":"2012-01-11T22:27:06","date_gmt":"2012-01-12T03:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=3450"},"modified":"2012-01-12T09:54:44","modified_gmt":"2012-01-12T14:54:44","slug":"maybe-jmu-should-hire-that-paterno-guy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=3450","title":{"rendered":"Maybe JMU Should Hire That Paterno Guy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>No. Not that Paterno, his son. And not the “lawyer” who tries to coordinate impromptu press conferences via Twitter. We’re talking about Jay Paterno who announced this week that he was leaving the Penn State program<\/a> after 17 years on the coaching staff. Jay was the quarterbacks coach for the Nittany Lions. It was the same position he held at James Madison University prior to joining his father in Happy Valley. Which obviously leads to this, would you want JMU to hire Paterno to coach JMU’s QBs next season? Because we have it on good authority that the move could be in the works. (Ed. note – Not true. Literally nobody on earth is considering this. We’re bored and desperate to talk football.)<\/em><\/p>\n

With Justin Thorpe, Jace Edwards, Billy Cosh, already on the roster, and wonder recruit Ian Fischer on the way, JMU could use an experience QB coach to mold them. Paterno might be just the guy to do it. He was JMU’s QB coach under Rip Scherer in 1994. The Dukes starting QB that year was Mike Cawley. Cawley was the team MVP and threw for more yards than any other QB in JMU’s history. He led an explosive JMU offense that year and guided the team to a 10-3 record. They were awarded the Lambert\/Meadowlands Cup as the top 1-AA team in the East. The Dukes knocked off Troy State in the playoffs before falling to Marshall in OT in the second round. As someone who watched that JMU team closely, I can assure you the offense was like nothing you’ve seen from JMU the past few years. Cawley could sling it. If Paterno could get similar production from any of the QBs on JMU’s roster, next year’s team would be sick.<\/p>\n

This move wouldn’t only benefit JMU, it could be great for Paterno as well. He’d get to step back from the glare of the spotlight, the media scrutiny, and quite frankly from the black cloud that has been hanging over Penn State. Instead he’d get to join an elite FCS level program with a chance to compete for a championship. It might be a great chance for him to focus on football and recharge the batteries. Then he could make a move and start somewhere fresh when the smoke clears in a few years. Seems like a no brainer to me.<\/p>\n