JoePa’s persuasion not enough NOTEBOOK

Terrelle Pryor rattled off plenty of names on Wednesday while discussing his decision to attend Ohio State.

Joe Paterno’s was conspicuously absent.

As Pryor spoke glowingly of Ohio State’s Jim Tressel and Michigan’s Rich Rodriguez – and how hard it was to tell the latter that he wouldn’t be coming – the only reference Penn State received was to lead recruiter Tom Bradley.

While Bradley is well known for his recruiting prowess – particularly in WPIAL country – he was fighting something of an uphill battle against Big Ten rivals, who had their head coaches doing as much of the legwork as their assistants.

Paterno’s role in recruiting has diminished in recent years and was limited for the 2008 class that just signed in February. The 81-year-old coach was fighting a cold after the Nittany Lions’ Alamo Bowl win in late December. As a result, Paterno wasn’t able to do much traveling to see recruits in the weeks leading up to signing day.

“That’s one of the things that comes with the territory of getting up in age,” said Cory James, a recruiting analyst for Scout.com. “Joe doesn’t have the ability to go out and be on the road constantly. He still has impact when he does get there, though. He connects with players and families. He has the kind of reliable personality that people trust their sons to. And the sons want to play for him.”

The in-home visit has always been a considerable strength for Paterno, thanks to that knack of impressing players and parents alike.

That much was still apparent in the one in-home visit Paterno was known to have made for this recruiting class as he traveled to Jeannette to talk to Pryor in January. In the aftermath, Penn State reappeared as a contender for Pryor as the quarterback’s father, Craig, was particularly smitten.

According to Pryor, his father’s urging to take a harder look at Penn State is one of the main reasons he didn’t announce for Ohio State on signing day.

Success with succession plans?

Talk of Paterno’s future heats up as the months go on, with people around the country taking notice of how other programs have handled a long-time coach retiring.

In the past year, Florida State and Purdue have both announced succession plans for Bobby Bowden and Joe Tiller. In 2005, Wisconsin and Barry Alvarez pegged defensive coordinator Bret Bielema to take the reigns a year before it happened.

There’s a question as to how much these plans influence recruiting. Pryor was asked directly on Wednesday at his press conference if he would have given stronger consideration to Penn State if Bradley were formally announced as Paterno’s successor.

In front of the cameras, Pryor merely reiterated that it was the “country-looking” setting of Penn State that influenced him most.

But after the press conference was over, Pryor told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “I would’ve had Penn State higher and would’ve considered them more if I knew coach Bradley was going to be the head coach when Joe Paterno retires.”

Remodeling the doghouse

Tyrell Sales joined the ever-growing list of Lions against the law over the weekend when he was arrested for defiant trespass and disorderly conduct outside of a Pittsburgh bar during a St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

The senior linebacker’s status with the team has yet to change, but he could very well join Chris Baker, Chris Bell, Navorro Bowman, Andrew Quarless, Phil Taylor and Knowledge Timmons, all of whom are currently not with the team because of various legal and academic issues.

Paterno: The 400-level course

A new class is being offered at Penn State for the upcoming fall semester, one that you can’t take anywhere else in the world.

Entitled “COMM 497G: Joe Paterno, Communications and The Media,” students of Penn State’s John Curley Center for Sports Journalism will be able to “examine the communications goals, methods and avenues employed by both Paterno and the media,” according to the course overview.

Next week could provide a shining example as Paterno is expected to be made available to reporters for the start of spring practice on Monday. The coach figures to be in rare form, given the rash of suspensions on the roster and his own status with the university.