Is Joe Pa coaching his final games in '08?

Joe Paterno has been an icon at Penn State and for college football for quite some time. He became head coach at Penn State in 1966.

My first memories of Joe Paterno were in the early to mid 1970s. I began attending Iowa football games in 1974. Iowa and Penn State were playing one another back then.

With Joe Paterno under contact only through the end of this season, it's pretty easy to speculate that one of his assistants could be taking over on the sidelines quite soon.

Reports out of Pennsylvania speculate that Joe Paterno and Penn State will look inside the Nittany Lion program for his replacement.

So, could former Florida Gator head coach and current Penn State offensive coordinator Galen Hall be a top candidate in the near future? I have heard many college football fans mention current Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, who has been a loyal Joe Pa assistant for more years.

Galen Hall coached at Florida from mid-1984 to mid-1989. There were problems associated with the SEC program back in the 1980s. But, Hall is coaching currently at Penn State, so past issues shouldn't be relevant today? Hall was 40-18-1 for the Florida Gators as head coach. His best season, they went 9-1-1, but were ineligible for post season play and conference honors.

Ironically, UCLA hired former college head coach Rick Neuheisel, who has been coaching in the NFL as an assistant after run-ins with the NCAA, while a head coach in the Pac Ten.

It will be an interesting season, but conventional wisdom seems to indicate that Purdue's Joe Tiller may not be the only head coach in the Big Ten finishing his career as a football coach after the 2008 season. Stay tuned.

peace