Paterno looks forward at media day

Jeff Rice

UNIVERSITY PARK — Joe Paterno is ready to move on. Suspensions, banishments, investigative reports, second-guessing — Penn State’s football coach wants to put it all behind him.

“What’s done is done,” Paterno said Friday at Penn State’s annual football media day.

During a 50-minute session with reporters in Beaver Stadium, Paterno declined to offer the reasons for last week’s dismissals of defensive tackles Chris Baker and Phil Taylor. He addressed the status of three players who were suspended through the spring as well as the conditioning issues of two reserve offensive linemen and once again, refused to tip his hand when asked about who might start at quarterback.

Paterno said he hadn’t seen the July 27 “Outside the Lines” report on ESPN that detailed the recent off-field troubles of his team, but later added that he, his coaches and his players are all “under the gun” and must continue to work to avoid future troubles.

For more from Paterno’s news conference as well as several player notes, see Saturday’s and Sunday’s editions of the CDT.