No Penn State coach is ever going to be Joe Paterno.
Matt Campbell could become great— legendary, even— but it’s almost a certainty that no coach will ever win 409 games again, and if Campbell stays at PSU as long as “Joe Pa” did (62 years), he’d be coaching until he’s 98 years old.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t similarities.
One of Paterno’s best players in all of his time in Happy Valley was College Football Hall of Famer Ki-Jana Carter. Carter was fourth on Penn State’s all-time rushing list when he left school after the 1994 season. That year, he finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting (he arguably should have won), helped Penn State to its most recent undefeated season (they arguably should have played for the national title), and went No. 1 in the 1995 NFL Draft.
By the time Carter got to Penn State, Paterno was in his 60s, well older than Campbell, who is still a young coach at 46.
Although Carter wasn’t around for young “Joe Pa,” he feels there are similarities between Penn State’s new coach and its greatest one.
“Coach (Paterno) was tough,” Carter told Nittany Sports Now in an exclusive interview at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago Tuesday, “but also fair, and he cared about the team. And I think that’s the thing. “I’m not at the facility every day. I’m not at practice or meetings, but when you talk to him, he was just talking to me now. He was like, ‘man, I really, really appreciate you coming and talking to the team… You have no idea what that meant. That’s coming from the heart.’”
“I think sincerity in his voice and his demeanor that one thing that comes off. That with Coach (Paterno), it was the same thing.”
Minutes before NSN’s talk with Carter, Campbell addressed reporters in Chicago and emphasized the importance of past greats, such as Carter, to the current program.
“There’s no way we would have any chance to be where we’re at right now without our former players stepping up and coming back and being a part of either a phone conversation or spending their time to come back on campus,” Campbell said, and be a part of our football.” I think we had over 450 former players back during spring ball, and to hear their story, to hear why it’s special to wear that uniform, what it means to represent this community, why our past and our history is special, and for us to be able to teach our current Penn State players, those that came aboard the Penn State football program in the last six months, man, what that standard looks like.”
Matt Millen was one of those alumni who came back over the spring.
Millen was a first-team All-American for Paterno in 1978, when Paterno was still a relatively young coach at 51. In an interview with NSN this past April, Millen said Campbell reminded him “of a younger Paterno.
“He’s got that Joe thing going,” Millen said. “He’s big on the academics. He’s big on, you know, being smart and playing smart, and so I think all those things are good factors, and I think that I think I think (athletic director) Pat Kraft hit a home run when he got this guy.
Overall, Carter understands that Campbell makes his players a priority.
Coach was tough, but he cared about you, and he’s gonna make sure you’re okay,” Carter said. “And he’s gonna tell you something that you might want to hear, but it’s best for you. And I think that’s the same thing with Coach Campbell is that he really cares.”
