Loyalty to Coaches and Success

Living in Pennsylvania, I’m among the minority—not a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers or Penn State Nittany Lions. In fact, I actively root against both football teams, especially when my teams (the Oakland Raiders, Michigan Wolverines) struggle as they have lately.

But there is a common thread between Penn State and the Steelers that may explain their consistent success over a long period of time: loyalty to their coach(es).

At Penn State, Joe Paterno is Nittany Lions football. The legendary coach has been roaming the sidelines (and, more recently, the press box) as head coach since 1966. To put that into perspective, the first Super Bowl was still months away.

In the decades at Penn State, JoePa has led the Lions to two national championships and five unbeaten seasons. Turning 82 this Sunday, Paterno just signed a three-year contract extension at Penn State. While other coaching positions turn over more than a restless child, Penn State has known just one coach since Lyndon Johnson was President. In fact, when President-elect Obama is sworn in to the White House in January, he’ll become the ninth President to hold office during Paterno’s tenure as head coach.

Ironically, Paterno passed up a 1969 offer to become coach of the Steelers. Who did Pittsburgh hire instead? Chuck Noll.

All Noll did was lead the Steelers to four Super Bowl titles in his 22 years with Pittsburgh. Upon Noll’s retirement, Bill Cowher took over for the Steelers, leading them to a victory in Super Bowl XL before stepping down in January 2007. With the subsequent hiring of Mike Tomlin, the Steelers were on just their third coach since the NFL-AFL merger. To put that into perspectivem the Raiders have had five coaches in the past six years.

Surely, there are other problems to point at, but the success of Penn State and the Steelers deserves some recognition. Maybe they’re onto something. In this era of what-have-you-done for me NOW, a little patience and loyalty goes a long way.

So, instead of always throwing the coach under the bus right away, give him a chance. This means you, Michigan, with you Rich Rodriguez. And you, Al Davis, with whomever you hire next after Tom Cable’s interim run is up.

Success doesn’t come overnight. But ask fans of the Steelers and Penn State if they’re happy with their coach and leadership, and you’re bound to get a resounding yes. Chalk one up for loyalty.

Streaks at Stake for the Wolverines

Michigan hasn’t lost to Penn State in 12 years. But Michigan lost to Toledo just last week, and Penn State hasn’t lost a game all season. Clearly, the streak is in jeopardy.

I can’t remember back to 1996, the last time the Nittany Lions won against the Wolverines. I also can’t remember a Michigan team this bad.

Expectations were low for the inaugural season of the Rich Rodriguez era but the come-from-behind win over Wisconsin coupled with a loss against previously 1-4 MAC squad Toledo has the maize and blue faithful upset.

After watching the Badgers stumble the past two weeks against Ohio State and Penn State, that Big Ten opener may not have been quite as big as we thought. Wisconsin still should’ve won the game, but the result told us more about Wisconsin—they aren’t very good—than it did about Michigan. (They aren’t very good either.)

The Wolverines are likely to see their nine-game winning streak against Penn State snapped on Saturday. Many are even predicting a 30+ point blowout. If that’s the case, they’re likely to see another even more impressive streak end. Michigan has played in 33 straight bowl games. At 2-4, they’re in grave danger of becoming bowl ineligible long before the season finale against rival Ohio State.

The Wolverines have no sure victories left on the schedule. Following Penn State, they will play vs. Michigan State, at Purdue, at Minnesota, vs. Northwestern and at Ohio State. It seems highly unlikely that the Wolverines will pull out a 4-2 mark down the stretch, which would require at least one victory against a team currently unbeaten in Big Ten action.

The easy thing to do is point to new coach Rich Rodriguez and his struggling offense. I say hold on. Check out what I wrote when he was hired. College football is an instant gratification sport, but the Wolverines fans need to bite their tongues this year—tough as that may be.

The difference between Michigan and my other football team, the Oakland Raiders, is that Michigan has a proven coach, and that coach has a plan. Rodriguez simply needs his players to run this system. I expect them to win the Big Ten by 2010 after he’s signed a few recruiting classes. Until then, it’s probably time to say goodbye to those streaks. They were fun while they lasted.