Blue White Illustrated

of the era, the defensive ends were similar to outside linebackers. Among the players on that 1958 freshman team were center-linebacker Bill Saul and end Bob Mitinger, who, as I wrote earlier, were among the first wave of linebackers to make an impact in the pros. Another good one was center-linebacker Jay Huffman, who became a three-year starter in his sophomore year and was the Most Valuable Player in the first Liberty Bowl in 1959. Jay later played with the Quantico Marines. That freshman team was loaded with other talent, too, including quarterback Galen Hall, who was the Most Valuable Player in the 1961 Gator Bowl, and halfback Roger Kochman, a first-team All-American in 1962. Here's an ex- ample of how much talent we had. In the NFL draft of 1959, when 360 play- ers were selected, only one Penn Stater was taken, fullback-linebacker Maury Schleicher as the 50th overall choice. Four years later, when the draft was limited to 280 players, seven Nittany Lions were picked, with Saul, Mitinger, Kochman and defensive tackle Chuck Sieminski among the first 47 selec- tions. … Our freshmen played three games in 1958 and we easily won all of them. ... Joe was coaching high school in upstate New York when I coached the freshmen in 1959, but the player I remember most from that team was the end Dave Robinson, who became an All-Pro line- backer with the Packers. Dave had the talent to play any position on offense or defense. As I look back, I believe Dave was probably the best all-around football player I saw during my 17 years at Penn State. ... THE FIRST LIBERTY BOWL The varsity had an outstanding year in '59, the best since Rip had become the head coach in 1950, and near the end of the regular season had a shot at the national championship, but lost to Syracuse 20-18 when both teams were unde- feated. Syracuse went on to win the national championship, and Penn State beat Alabama 7-0 in the first Liberty Bowl, when there were just seven post- season bowl games, and finished with a 9-2 record. ... Anyway, as I mentioned, one of the linebackers I personally coached, Jay Huffman, won the Liberty Bowl's Most Valuable Player Award. I believe this had an important impact on my career, because shortly afterward, I was asked to become a regular linebacker full- time assistant football coach at Penn State, starting January 1, 1960, with basically the same duties I had before, and a starting salary of $5,000 a year. I think that Jay making MVP clinched the job for me. Beside my title of linebacker coach, my new academic title was assistant professor. Back then, Penn State coach- es were considered faculty members in the College of Physical Education. Thus, we were given academic appoint- ments. What we taught was football, although some of the coaches taught other courses in the department. The head coach was a full professor and the rest of us were assistant professors. When Joe Paterno was named associate coach in 1965, he also earned an aca- demic promotion as associate professor. I know this may all sound like blas- phemy to many academics in other disciplines, but, frankly, this system enabled us to keep track of our players in the classroom because we were on the same level as their other professors. My new assignment gave me enough money for my wife, 18-month-old son, and I to leave our apartment on College Avenue. And with $1,500 borrowed from my parents for a down payment, we built a new house in Circleville, two miles from campus. A bunch of the freshman football players moved us into our new house in May 1960 before the school year ended, and I can vividly remember Andy Stynchula, our senior tackle, who was drafted in the third round by the Redskins, run- ning the heavy wax machine over our brand-new hardwood floors. IN BED WITH THE WRONG WOMAN Andy must have become more familiar with the house than me, because a year or so later he and his wife, Teresa, visited us on a Penn State game weekend. By then, he was starting for the Washing- ton Redskins, but they weren't playing that weekend. The four of us were in the kitchen talking on Friday night, when Teresa said she was tired and was going to bed. Nancy, Andy and I continued to talk for a while until I said, "I'm going to leave you two. I've got a game tomorrow, and I've got to get some sleep." And I went to bed. I'm sound asleep when I feel somebody shaking me. I wake up and it's Andy. I looked up and see my wife standing by the door. I said, "What's wrong?" Andy said, "You're in bed with Teresa." I turned over to my right, and there's Teresa's head right next to mine. Thank goodness, both my wife and Andy were laughing. What happened was my wife had given Andy and Teresa the master bedroom. Either I didn't know that or had forgotten it, but when I went to bed I got undressed in the dark and got into bed and went to sleep without ever realizing there was a woman al- ready in the bed. Word got around pretty quickly about me being in the bed with the wrong woman and no one was really surprised. They just figured it was another typical day – or night – in the life of crazy Bad Rad. EARLY YEARS COACHING LINEBACKERS Over the next few years, I began refining my line- backing techniques and drills. I was also learning a lot from the other assis- tant coaches. I was now on their level, an accepted and respected junior col- league and full-time assistant, but I was still their student in many ways and they continued to teach me a lot – not just about defense, but much more about football – on the field and off it. ... I mention all this about the staff be- cause without those other coaches, I don't think Linebacker U would have evolved the way it did. The linebackers who first established Penn State's rep- utation didn't have just one mentor but many. From the time they were recruited and became freshmen until they graduated and went into the pros they were taught and influenced by every coach on the staff, and those coaches deserve as much credit for creating Linebacker U as I do. ... During the 10 years that I was Penn State's linebackers coach, there was a significant change in the rules that transformed college football forever. It occurred in early 1965 when the NCAA finally permitted unlimited substitu-

• Cover