PSU players deny Paterno retirement rumorsPosted on: December 27, 2010 12:06 pmPosted by Tom Fornelli The Outback Bowl will be the final game Urban Meyer coaches for the Florida Gators. If you were to listen to some rumors over the holiday weekend, however, Meyer might not be the only coach spending his last game on the sideline in Tampa on New Year's. According to a report on College Football Talk, sources within the athletic department at Penn State maintain that following the Outback Bowl, Joe Paterno will retire. The apparent reason for it is not performance based, but rather Paterno's health. Whether or not these rumors are true, you can't really be sure. The idea of Paterno retiring isn't exactly crazy considering the man is 84 years old. Still, if he is retiring, nobody has told his players yet, as a few have come forward over the last few days to claim that the rumors are false. "There's been a few things that have been said, but we're around Coach every day," Brett Brackett told the St. Petersburg Times. "There's no truth to these rumors at all. We experience him every day. ... Nobody understands how hands-on he really is, so we really know what Coach does, and when those rumors go around they more anger us than anything because we get to experience him every day." Of course, it's totally possible that this plan has been put in place and nobody has told the players yet. Still, I'm not sure I believe it myself. Paterno has already gone on the record publicly and stated he plans on returning in 2011, and let's be honest, if he wants to, he will. Even if his health is getting worse, the fact of the matter is that even though Paterno is the figurehead at Penn State, his coordinators and assistants have been running things for the last few years. Next year wouldn't be any different.
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