Meyer’s first recruiting class was a huge success. He was able to change the minds of some big-time recruits and the minute he arrived in Columbus, players that weren’t even considering Ohio State, were all of the sudden seeing scarlet and grey. His determination, pride, knowledge, work ethic, and hustle might be unmatched by any other coach in college football. It caused other coaches in the Big Ten to question Meyer’s tactics, even going as far as using the word “illegal.” Without even coaching a game yet, Urban Meyer has flexed his muscles, raised the stakes in the Big Ten, and the conference has already started to take notice. After a down year a season ago, the Buckeyes are back.

Urban Meyer joined ESPN 850 WKNR in Cleveland with the Hooligans to talk about how he celebrated the success of his first recruiting class, on making sure things are done the right way at Ohio State, on evaluating players beyond the football field, if he learned anything from taking a year off, if he was mad at the comments made by Bret Bielema and Mark Dantonio, what he has to do to close the gap between the SEC and the Big Ten, and the biggest difference between coaching at Ohio State and Florida.

What he did on Saturday night to celebrate the success of his first recruiting class:

“Saturday night? Saturday night? Oh I went to my man’s concert. (Host: that’s what I thought. You were in Margaritaville right?) Yeah I’m a huge Jimmy Buffet fan. That’s good. You’ve got some spies out huh?”

Whether or not it is true that he has taken locker room privileges away:

“There’s some stuff within the team and certain things, I’m not going to get into specifics, that’s between us and unfortunately in today’s day and age everything you do all of the sudden hits the media or blogs or something else but we have a strong belief that it’s a privilege to be a member of the Ohio State football team, walk into these great facilities to do certain things and if you don’t do things the right way then that privilege will be taken away from you and I’m not just talking about locker room. I’m talking about scholarships, I’m talking about jersey, gear, certain numbers people want to wear, it’s a John Wooden approach to a program and that is an incentive based program. Everything we do is incentive based. Everything. I could go on for probably two hours about there’s everything you do as a football player at Ohio State you get treated a certain way if you do things the right way. If not certain things will be taken from you.”

On evaluating players beyond the football field and the idea every position is up for grabs:

“That’s a great question because if you want to dig into the inside of what we’re all about. Our football program, it is about all those things you just said. It’s not about your vertical jump or you can throw the ball really well but you act like a jerk off-the-field, all those things go into a formula that we’re going to make decisions on players. We have for example a magnet of each player in our staff room and we’re going to give them a 1-10 rating. The strength coach is, the trainer is, the position coach is, the coordinators, and the head coach. All I’m looking for is every day, every week, every month, you have to get a little better. The minute we hit an athlete that’s not getting any better than I have to evaluate why. Is it because of resistance? Is it because he doesn’t want to be here? Is it because of some social issue? You just hit it right square on the head that everything is being evaluated. I mean everything. We’re putting them in enough situations that it’s easy to evaluate and the easiest way is putting them in a situation where you either win or you lose. There’s no grey area. Well I tried hard. Yeah but you lost. So that’s currently what we’re doing right now.”

If he learned from taking the year off:

“Incredible self-evaluation. Incredible evaluation of other people, programs, ways of doing things, and I felt like there were certain things that we could’ve done a lot better. We’re currently doing it. It’s something I learned on the road, but we just don’t have enough time with all the things. I had a notebook everywhere I went. I was working for a great company, ESPN, but I was also working for myself to try to make myself better. Hopefully I have.”

How he plans on adjusting his style knowing there is a bowl ban for Ohio State:

“I really don’t know. I’m actually going to do some research. There’s a program, USC, that’s done a good job. They’re dealing with a really severe bowl ban of three years.  Thought that staff has done a good job so at the appropriate time I might reach out there but I don’t know that answer. We haven’t spent much time on it. At some point I will. I can tell you this, it won’t be any different how we manage the game because we have a really clear plan to win and that’s how I manage the game. We’re going to go one game at a time and our objective is to win every game we play. I think your question about do you play a younger player versus an older player? Do you get them experience getting ready for hopefully a run in the following year, those are all questions I can’t answer yet but that stimulates thought.”

If he was mad about the comments Bret Bielema and Mark Dantonio made about him this offseason:

“Not a strong enough word. No. Really not a strong enough word at all especially my name associated with those two terms that were used, first of all it’s not true and then to use that in the media, no, mad is not a strong enough word.”

What they have to do to close the gap between the Big Ten and the SEC:

“I think we have to recruit better. I think the whole Big Ten, that’s our challenge and Jim Delaney is our commissioner and we’ve had a conversation about that. We’ve got to go get some top recruiting classes. There’s some great players in this league, great players in this league but we can get greater. I think that’s a great challenge for all of us in this conference that we can better and I think we will. Our rival is doing a really good job recruiting and there’s some other schools doing a great job and I just think as a whole we can do that. Are you kidding me some of the stadiums in this conference, traditions in this conference, the coaches, it’s all here. We just have to enhance our products.”

On the biggest difference between coaching at Florida and Ohio State:

“I think it’s very similar. I think the biggest difference is the fact that this is my home. When I say the great state of Ohio I know it and I’ve lived it. When I meet with the high school coaches I’ve known some of these guys for 20 years. I started my career as a head coach at Bowling Green, played college football here, I played high school football here, so really I think they’re very similar because the fan base is so intense. The intensity, the expectation level is really out of control. However my biggest thing is the fact that I was born and raised in the state of Ohio, that’s the biggest difference for me.”

Listen to Urban Meyer on ESPN 850 WKNR here

Jefferson sheds light on the fact that the Tigers had some packages put in the gameplan that would have spread Alabama’s defense out more, but that LSU just never went to those schemes. He says he only had the option to audible during certain situations, but if he could have changed the plays more, he would have.

Jordan Jefferson joined WCNN in Atlanta with The Rude Awakening to discuss what happened in the title game, second-guessing the play-calling, just doing what the coaches were asking, why he couldn’t change the plays on the field, halftime adjustments, the transition to the NFL, using Cam Newton’s story as inspiration and setting the record straight about problems off the field.

Could you ever have envisioned the national championship game playing out like that?:

“I definitely didn’t expect for it to play like that. Alabama was a little bit more prepared than us. There was a lot of things that we should’ve did different to catch a rhythm on offense. To win a type of game like that, you’ve got to win all three phases — offense, defense and special teams –and we just didn’t get over that hump to winning those phases. We kind of fell short in that game.”

What did they do differently after you had success against them during the regular season?:

“It’s being better prepared and having the right calls for certain situations. At times we put ourselves in the hole as far as putting ourselves in second- and third-and-long. Being in that type of third-and-long situation against an Alabama team and a defense like that, you’re going to fall short every time.”

Do you second guess yourself on doing things differently?:

“I think we should’ve spread them out a little bit more, put the ball in different passing areas, use our talent on the receiving side. We had that in as far as play-calling, we just didn’t get to it. It’s a learning situation for us, a learning situation for the LSU football team and I definitely expect to see us back in the championship next year.”

Is that something you realize during the game but you can’t really do anything because you’re not calling the plays?:

“Yeah it definitely always comes to mind and it comes to mind to our receivers and tight ends. We have great guys in those areas and sometimes we just wonder why we don’t use those guys. But we’re not the one calling the plays. We still have to go out and execute what the coaches and coordinators are calling. We can’t complain as players, but sometimes we do question that.”

Could you change those plays and audible on the field?:

“Only in certain plays and certain formations, not all the time. … If it was any way where I can change it, I probably would’ve changed some of them.”

Did you ever question the coaching staff as to why you guys weren’t trying something different because what you were doing wasn’t working?:

“Yeah, when we came in at halftime we discussed what we needed to do different as far as moving the ball and getting in a rhythm. … You have to have certain plays for these certain types of defenses they were running. We talked about making the adjustment and the adjustment that we made wasn’t the adjustment that we needed to make to get the momentum and the rhythm going.”

What things are you working on as you transition toward the NFL?:

“Just being more consistent with my footwork and my fundamentals as a passer. That’s really the main things I’m working on. I have a great arm and great footwork, I’m just making sure that it all stays consistent throughout any situation in the game.”

Do you look at Cam Newton and see what he ran in college and the success he had as an NFL rookie?:

“I definitely feel the same way. A lot of people out there don’t think I can throw the ball. In many instances throughout my career, I definitely proved that, especially playing Alabama all those years and playing Arkansas when they was No. 3 at home, I threw the ball 29 times for 250 yards. I’ve proved that a lot of times throughout my career, but the system that I’m in kind of keeps me away from throwing the ball like that consistently. I came from a Pro Style offense in high school where we threw the ball very often. Coming to LSU, they noticed my athletic ability so me running the ball was always an option in the offense. Now that I’m in an NFL system to where I’m throwing the ball a lot, I’ll definitely be improving my throwing ability.”

Part of the scouting process will be having to answer questions about some things off the field. How tough will that be for you?:

“It’s not difficult at all because there’s a lot of answers for a lot of questions that people don’t know. There’s a lot toward that situation and plenty of answers I can give you to show that I was not involved in that situation. That situation was a whole scam for this guy. He was trying to get money, trying to do whatever he can to sabotage what I had going on.”

Listen to Jordan Jefferson on WCNN in Atlanta here

Kiffin was given a huge boost when star quarterback, Matt Barkley, decided to return for his senior. The bowl bans are a thing of the past and Kiffin looks to have a title contender in Southern Cal this season.

Lane Kiffin joined ESPN Radio Los Angeles with Mason and Ireland to talk about how many of the players he signed this year are expected to play early in their college careers, how tough it has been for him to deal with reduced scholarships, how tough it is to be a head coach now compared to being the main guy recruiting like he used to be, and how much Matt Barkley coming back for his senior season helped in recruiting this year.

How many of the players he signed this year are going to be expected to play early in their college careers:

“I think nowadays, especially at a place like this, where you lose a couple of guys early to the draft every year it’s going to open up some spots for guys to come in and play. We’ve kind of always been fortunate to have a good system here of getting our freshmen ready where our guys have been able to step up and play. Hopefully a couple of these guys will do that this year too.”

How tough it has been for him to deal with reduced scholarships:

“We always have a very thorough process over the years of evaluating the players but more than ever we can’t really take any risks on guys where maybe before we did because we have to make sure our guys are doing a phenomenal job in our program and succeed on and off the field.”

How tough it is recruiting as a head coach compared to as an assistant and how different his role is now:

“I don’t get as many opportunities to go. They only allow you to go one time as a head coach. You can’t go in the spring so it makes it more difficult to develop relationships and get yourself on the ground. I think when you get on the ground in the city, the school area, the home area where the kid is at, you can figure a lot out. Unfortunately now I can’t really do that until the end here when we do the home visits over the last couple of weeks. It’s why you have to have a really good staff like we do here.”

How much of a boost USC got in recruiting with Matt Barkley staying for his senior season:

“I think it did a little bit. Maybe not as much as we hoped but I think it did with a guy like Nelson Aguilar and Darius Rogers being receivers. They could go anywhere they wanted but coming here knowing they have a chance to be around Matt for a year.”

Listen to Lane Kiffin on ESPN Radio LA here

Now Weeden is 28 years old and coming off a great season at Oklahoma State where the Cowboys found themselves in the national championship argument before a loss to Iowa State sent them to the Fiesta Bowl where they would beat Stanford.  By most accounts, Weeden was one of the winners at the Senior Bowl week last week, perhaps solidifying himself as a second-round pick — again.

Brandon Weeden joined WCNN in Atlanta with The Rude Awakening to discuss the Senior Bowl experience, what areas of his game people have been critical about, playing baseball first before pursuing a college football career, why he made that decision, why he doesn’t have a bad taste in his mouth over his final college season, the argument that Oklahoma State should have been in the title game, and his 2012 NFL Draft prospects.

On having a successful week of practice leading up to this past Saturday’s Senior Bowl:

“I had three good days. That’s kind of what I heard coming in, that the practices are more crucial than the game. … I think my first three days went good, throwing the ball well, had command of the offense. Of course there’s mistakes — it’s all new to me — but for the most part I thought [it went] pretty good.”

In what areas of your game have people been critical?:

“It might be playing in the spread offense and not being under center. That was one thing coming in, but I think that’s one thing I’ve handled extremely well, going under center and taking a five-step drop, a seven-step drop.”

What was the experience like playing minor league baseball?:

“It was a great experience. I played for five years and ended up at High A. I played in Adelanto, Calif., my last year. I don’t know if you guys have ever heard of it, but the wind blows about 40 out to dead center and the ball just flies out of there. It’s not really a place you want to be if you’re a pitcher. … I always knew that if I didn’t make it to the big leagues, I wanted to go back to college and pursue the dream and play college football. That’s what I did and it looks like I made the right decision.”

Was it a situation where baseball was your first love as a kid and that’s why you went there first?:

“Baseball was kind of my thing growing up as a kid. I started playing when I was three and fortunately I was bigger and a little bit better than everybody growing up. There was an area there where I was not very good and everybody was better than me and I kind of growth-spurted again. I knew my senior year that I’d have an opportunity. Obviously being taken in the second round and being the Yankees first pick was an outstanding opportunity. It’s hard being an 18-year-old and turning down that much money and have the opportunity to pitch for your favorite baseball team and still have school be paid for in your contract. The opportunity was just too good and I think I made the right decision.”

Did the way this past college football season ended leave a bad taste in your mouth?:

“No, we won a conference championship, went on to win a BCS bowl game and a lot of firsts at Oklahoma State and a season that a lot of people will remember. I think everybody was extremely excited about the way things turned out and I think there’s a lot of people that wear orange proudly.”

But what about the argument that you guys should have been in the title game?:

“Yeah, I mean, I think there’s a lot of people that believe that and people that just kind of believe in the system and you’ve got to just let it work. That’s kind of the way you’ve got to handle it. There’s the BCS in place and that’s the way we approached it. Whether you like it, love it or hate it, it’s in place and you’ve got to play by it. We had a great year. We came up 0.009 percentage points from playing in that game and it was unfortunate, but we enjoyed the Fiesta Bowl.”

Is there a particular NFL team that you’d like to play for?:

“I’ll be honest, I’m not just saying it because it’s the politically correct answer, I really didn’t grow up having a team. I followed football and followed players. But in my position right now, whoever wants to give me an opportunity to play and give me a shot to be on their roster, I’m all about it.”

Are your people giving you a range of where you’re expected to be drafted?:

“Not really. It’s a little bit early in the process. … There’s still some work to be done, interviews to be made and all the stuff to kind of handle and get a grasp.”

Listen to Brandon Weeden on WCNN in Atlanta here

After it was widely speculated that Chip Kelly was going to be the Bucs next head coach the tables turned when he rejected the offer. Tampa had to go in another direction and Greg Schiano was their man. He may not have head coaching experience when it comes to the NFL, but Schiano believes he is ready for this new challenge.

Greg Schiano joined WDAE in Tampa with Steve Duemig to discuss his goal of making the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a physical, run-first football team, entertaining the idea of being an NFL head coach after the end of the season with Rutgers, if it was only going to be an NFL job that took him away from Rutgers, the new Buccaneer way and his methods for player evaluation.

You want to make the Buccaneer way to be running the football and being a physical football team?

“I do. I believe in having a physical offensive football team. It makes your entire team physical, but I don’t want that to be confused. We are going to take shots down the field. We are going to make big plays. I think in this league or any league, it’s awfully hard to dink and dunk and 12 and 14 play drives. I think we have some people that can do that and that’s going to be things that we work on very hard and you know what if miss the shots? We’ll line up and play great defense. We’ll line up and punt the football and get the ball back to our offense and let them do it again.”

When you walked off the field with Rutgers last season did you entertain any thoughts that you would be coaching in the NFL and coaching with the Bucs?

“No. I knew that there were some jobs coming open. Every year the last couple of years I’ve had inquiries and things. Nothing very serious, but some things change and I just would have never thought this is where I’d be, but I knew as we went through the process it felt right, where there’s been other years were I have been involved in jobs and it got where it started to be a possible reality. I just didn’t feel it. It did not feel – I almost literally felt nauseous that it wasn’t right. This time every step of the way I felt like it was right. The meeting with the Glazer’s. The meeting with Mark Dominik. Their core values, what they believe in, their desire to be the best. All those things I think just made me know that this was the time and this was the place.”

Was it going to be an NFL job if you left Rutgers?

“I never even thought about leaving Rutgers. What I do is listen. If people have an interest I listen. The reason I do that is to make sure that this is what I still want to be doing. That is be at Rutgers. After a bunch of offers at year 7 or 6 at Rutgers I built a house. I moved and usually coaches don’t like to move when they are the same school because you gotta do that where you’re not at the same school, but I built a house a half mile off campus, so I could be closer to our players and my family could be closer to me and I thought…I always approach things like this: You go there and set roots like you are going to be there forever and then if something comes up that makes you feel like you shouldn’t be well then you get ready to move. You don’t cheat your family that way. You don’t cheat yourself that way. You lay roots. I am excited about getting my family down here as soon as we can and making Tampa our home.”

What is the Buccaneer way in your mind?

“Well as I said I’m not an expert on what’s been here. I know having coached against the Buccaneers twice a year when I was with the Bears and seeing some of the great players. When you are talking about alumni you are talking about some of the best guy that have ever played their position in the history of the NFL. I think in college or the NFL you build on that tradition. You build on those alumni yet we are going to have what the Buccaneer way is now and that is trust. That is belief. That is accountability. The things that I think are the core values of any successful organization. You need to be able to count on each other and you need to able to hold each other accountable and you need to be able to believe in each other.”

Does everyone have a clean slate on this team or do you have to take a long and hard look here?

“Well I think of the things is you look at – you look at tape and listen to Mark Dominik on every player in our organization and you look at tape because I think you have to start to formulate what skill levels they have. Then we go to work and if they are still here then we go out on the field and we start to learn. We start to see what they can do. How can they fit in to what we want to do? I think in the game of pro football there is a couple of different styles and certain guys are suited for better styles. All those variables are going to have to be played out, but I certainly don’t have any preconceived notions on guys and now it’s time to get to work and find out what’s best for the Buccaneers.”

Listen to Greg Schiano on 620 WDAE in Tampa here

Schiano has been hired as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, reuniting with his former offensive guard at the professional level. While some college head coaches transitioning to the next level have struggled, Zuttah says Schiano may be just what the Bucs need at this point, as he will give every player a chance but won’t cut corners in building a winner.

Jeremy Zuttah joined WDAE in Tampa to discuss his reaction to the hiring of Greg Schiano, what his teammates can look forward to in their new coach, if he thinks the state of the Big East had anything to do with the decision, what Schiano was able to accomplish at Rutgers, what happened to the Bucs this year, and what he’d say to fans that are shocked by the hiring.

What was your initial reaction to your team hiring your former coach Greg Schiano?:

“It was a little surprising. It just kind of came out of nowhere for a lot of people, I think, but I think it’s a great hire. Coach Schiano is a great man and a great coach and we look forward to seeing what he can do in the NFL.”

What do your teammates have to look forward to in their new head coach?:

“He’s a great coach. You know he’s a tough coach, but you can tell by the way he does things that he cares about everybody. He cares about, most importantly, doing everything the right way. That’s going to be big for a lot of the players and that’s what he’s going to harp on. … He’s just a guy that, most importantly, believes in building things the right way. Just the way he did things at Rutgers, he could’ve done things the quick way or the easy way to get to wins, but I think he built something that’s going to last after he’s gone.”

Do you think his decision came partially because of the current state of the Big East?:

“I don’t know. It’s tough to say. I can’t speak for him. … For a lot of people just associated with the program, I think people were kind of disappointed with the bowl tie-ins and what’s up for grabs and what’s going to happen — certain unknowns. … But I don’t know how that affected his decision one way or another.”

On Schiano going 56-28 in his last six years after taking over a program that was in a pretty bad way:

“It wasn’t bad, it didn’t get any worse than the situation he was going into.”

Some would say he’s coming into a bad situation in Tampa. What happened this year?:

“I think we’re a young, talented team. There’s a lot of talent, a lot of people coming back that have done some good things in the league. If you’ve done them before, you can do them again. I think there’s a strong core returning and just a guy here and a guy there and we can be close to competing at the highest level in the league.”

What would you say to Tampa Bay fans as to why they should respect this pick as head coach what would it be?:

“I think he’s just what the team needs right now. He believes in doing things the right way. It doesn’t really matter who you are or what you’ve done, he wants you to do things a certain way and I think that will be conducive to results for the way things were last year. It’s no disrespect to anybody who was there last year, especially not to Coach Morris, but he might just be what the team needs right now.”

Listen to Jeremy Zuttah on WDAE in Tampa here

Bradley, who took over in the interim when Paterno was relieved of his duties, speaks fondly of the Penn State coach in the following interview, recalling recruiting road trips and the charitable acts that people rarely noticed. In time, I believe Paterno will be remembered most for those such things and not the end of his career.

Tom Bradley joined 970 ESPN in Pittsburgh with Joe Bendel to discuss his feelings on the passing of Paterno, what made people gravitate toward him, his intelligence, his memories of recruiting on the road with Paterno, his accomplishments, how hard the firing was on Paterno and the coach’s reputation going forward.

What were your thoughts and emotions when you heard the news?:

“I had a chance Saturday night to reflect because I thought I’d gotten word from some people who knew what was going on that things were going bad. Sunday I got the news and you’re never ready for that news. … He meant so much to so many people, not only the players and the coaches, but the people that got to know him from the events he was involved with, the charitable events, the fundraising they did for the university.”

Did you got some personal time with him?:

“No, Saturday, you started to get calls and started to get texts from people that were in the inner circle. … I knew at that time that the family had really gathered around coach. That’s a private time for the family.”

What is it that made you and many others to gravitate toward him?:

“I think the thing that he could do is make you believe in yourself that you were actually better than what you were. He made all of us understand that we really had a chance to be better. He wanted us to be better. He was always speaking about being the best you could be.”

What about that side of him where he seemed to have a vast knowledge of just about everything?:

“One of the things he did, he never forgot anything, especially when you screwed up. … The one thing he could do, he knew how to motivate players. Everybody’s motivated a little bit differently. He knew the one’s you could kick in the rear end. … He could really evaluate talent just from watching and being around it. He knew how to put a team together.”

On his memories recruiting with Paterno:

“He recruited Pittsburgh and very few people know that. When he first became an assistant coach, this was his area. I used to really enjoy it. A lot of people don’t like going out with the boss … but I really enjoyed it because the stories he’d tell me. We’d argue all the time about which was the fastest way. … He’d tell you all about this player, that player and I’d give him the business. … We had some great moments in the car together just talking. It never failed, there’s always something he said about you and you just wonder, ‘How did he figure that out?’ But he did, he just had a way of doing it. He was a coach, a mentor, a teacher, a friend.”

What was it like when he would go into a school or a living room out recruiting?:

“When you went to a school, Coach would make you get out of the car and make sure they were in class. … He always tried to figure out the best way we could get into the building and do what we had to do without disrupting because he felt that was disrespectful to the teachers. … It was always your job to get him out of there, figure out some excuse and look like the bad guy. … I think the thing that always amazed me was he never forgot where people lived or what their parents names were. He’d even remember the dog’s name sometimes.”

Can you speak to his mantra of succeeding with honor?:

“Coach would never let you know that he had all the answers. What he would do is he had a unique way of letting you know that there were ways you could become better. … He always expected you to go to class and do the right things and he always tried to show you the way things should be done and if you got out of whack, Coach knew how to pull back in pretty quickly. A lot of people might not know if you wanted to talk to Joe personally, it wasn’t always at his office, it was always at his kitchen table at his house.”

Was there any accomplishment or moment he relished more than any other?:

“No, I don’t think he gloated over anything, any one thing. I did get out of him one time who he thought the best player he ever coached was. He did tell me, but I’m not letting that out.”

How tough was the firing on him?:

“When I did talk to Coach after this went down, he was kind of mad at me. And I knew he would be. … I knew he was going to yell at me because I wasn’t taking care of the team and wasn’t doing what I was supposed to do and ‘You know what you’re supposed to do, just do it.’ That’s the way he was. If you weren’t focused on what you were supposed to be doing, that bothered him, like, ‘Why are you worried about me?’ I know he’s up in heaven looking down saying, ‘Why are they making this fuss? Don’t they have better things to do?’ That’s just the way he always was.”

On Paterno’s reputation now and going forward:

“I’m not going to get into all that. I know there were some people that didn’t like Coach Paterno, but I’ve often said I’d take all of his enemies if I could take all of his friends, too. I don’t know what’s going to transpire with all these different things, I just know that he was a great man even if he didn’t coach football. … There’s so many things he did that nobody will ever know about, charitable, kindness acts that just will never come up because that’s the way he wanted it. … He was one of the guys that you were blessed to be around.”

Listen to Tom Bradley on ESPN 970 in Pittsburgh here

Bowden joined 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia with Mike Missanelli to talk about the passing of Joe Paterno, his long race with Paterno for the most wins ever, the legacy of Paterno as both a coach and a man, and to clarify his previous comments about Paterno and how he initially handled the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal.

On the passing of Joe Paterno:

“My wife told me he had passed away. I was saddened to hear that.  When all of this stuff came up – all of it at one time – I was wondering how in the world he can handle it.  It seems like everything hit him at one time.  I sure hate it.  I mean a guy that had the most illustrious career of any college coach that I know of – there have been some great ones – but none of them had a career like he had.  I tried to keep up with him.  I couldn’t keep up with him.  But, gosh, I just can’t believe he’s gone now.”

On his race with Paterno for the most wins ever:

“I wanted one more year. I was trying to keep up with Joe a little bit. We never discussed the race. To me I was in a race. Joe won more games than Bear Bryant. I came along and won more games than Joe. Joe came along and won more games than me. I was competitive with it. Joe never mentioned it. I don’t even think he cared. Now I know he must have, but he would never say anything.”

On Paterno as a coach and man:

“He had the image of the perfect coach. Joe was one of those guys if there were 50 coaches in a room, and they’re debating something – some of them feel this way, some feel that way, some feel this way – Joe could end that by making a statement because everyone believed in what Joe said. Usually when he spoke that was the end of the question. That’s the impact he had on other coaches. Even on me. Here I am 62 years old (speaking about 20 years ago) and I’m looking up to him. That’s the way I felt about him.”

On Paterno’s legacy:

“Of course Joe not only coached football, he tried to make a man out of you. And tried to teach you values. I think that’s the thing they’ll remember. Now let’s take people that do not know him. All they know is what they’ve heard on the television or on the radio or in the newspapers, yes, they will take the bad part and remember him by that. But that’s not the majority.”

On his previous comments regarding Paterno and how he handled the Sandusky situation:

“Well I can take away from it. I was not quoted correctly on that. I wouldn’t have made a statement like that, as much as I knew Joe. I was making a speech up in South Georgia. Somebody had asked me what did I think about Joe? And I said I feel kind of like what Joe said when Joe said “I wish I would have done more.” So they put in the paper that Bobby said Joe should have done more. Well I wrote Joe a letter and told him that’s not what I said.”

Listen here to Bowden with Mike Missanelli on 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia

Al Golden played three years at Penn State (1989-91) under Joe Paterno. Golden was a two-year starter at tight end for Penn State. Golden, the head football coach at the University of Miami, reacts to the rise and fall of a college football legend, a man who he had tremendous respect for.

Al Golden joined WDAE in Tampa with Dan Sileo to discuss his emotions when he found out that Joe Paterno had passed away, all the negative press surrounding Joe Paterno involving the Jerry Sandusky allegations, Joe Paterno not being able to handle the Jerry Sandusky allegations and Penn State contacting him regarding their head coaching position.

How tough is the passing of Joe Paterno?

“Well all I can say to you is I couldn’t even speak about it yesterday. I started getting requests about 10 p.m. on Friday night. I guess it was Saturday night excuse me. They continued all day yesterday. I couldn’t respond. I could not respond. I could not go on-air as I am now. I was asked to go on television shows. I just couldn’t do it. I was basically up all night. It was one of those deals where the guy has meant so much to all of us and what a tragedy the way it ended. In the end I believe he died of grief. I believe he died of a broken heart for how it ended.”

It had to kill you with all the things said about Joe Paterno involving the Jerry Sandusky allegations?

“Well it did because for a half century we would have all loved to live the life that he lived and the impact he had on not just football players, but the Penn State community, the common wealth of Pennsylvania, the game of football, the NCAA. He was a beacon for such a long time in how to do things right and how to teach core values through football and how to win without compromising your values in the community and the class room. Again, in the end that is always going to be a part of the legacy not how it ended, but it is not going to tarnish his spirit and what lives in each and every one of us that are now fathers, husbands, educators, mentors, leaders and even coaches.”

I’m not sure if Joe Paterno was made to handle something as big as the Jerry Sandusky allegations?

“Yeah I just think all of us associated with Coach Paterno in the program and the university, all we are asking for is just due process here in terms of what really transpired. I think in his passing we are going to find good again in terms of what really transpired and we are going to learn from it and all of us. I don’t think there is an administrator out there and I’m talking every high school and every college I don’t think there is an administrator or a coach, a guidance counselor, that hasn’t learned from this in terms of what a widespread problem this actually is and how to go about these things. Again I can’t even imagine what he went through the last couple of weeks. I saw him on December 29th and I thought he looked strong and my wife and I and my kids went over to his house and saw him and saw Sue Paterno. I just expressed to him that his legacy lives in us and we are not going to let him down.”

Did Penn State ever contact you to take the head coaching job there?

“Again this is not the time Dan [Sileo] for me. I came on to talk about Coach Paterno and his legacy. Penn State has a new head coach and is going in a different direction than Coach Paterno and his staff. I’m excited about what we are doing down here at your university, at the University of Miami with our recruiting and obviously what we are building. Again I think this is a day for Coach Paterno and to share stories about how he has impacted all of our lives and again our hearts go out to the families of the victims. This phone call is not about that. I don’t know what went down with that, but there’s going to be a day in court on that and due process with that, but certainly we want to make sure we also honor coach for what he has done for us over the last half century.”

Listen to Al Golden on 620 WDAE in Tampa here

Instead, the former Oklahoma State receiver said he’s just looking ahead and seeing what he needs to do to improve on the field — and consequently improve his draft stock. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t become a standout receiver at the next level. What do you think?

Justin Blackmon joined 790 The Zone in Atlanta with Arch and Bell to discuss his decision to leave school early, the Fiesta Bowl, playing for Mike Gundy, what the combine will be like, what quarterbacks he’d like to play for, the training leading up to the draft, why he’s not looking back on his career, if the deaths within the Oklahoma State family affected the team in the loss to Iowa State and how his team would’ve matched up with LSU or Alabama.

How tough was the decision to leave Oklahoma State?:

“It’s very tough. I’ve enjoyed my time here; Oklahoma State’s been real good to me. But I just feel like it’s time for me to see what’s in store for me at the next level.”

Did you feel like you were in a zone during the Fiesta Bowl where you could do anything you wanted?:

“I wouldn’t say that. I was in a zone and I was really locked in, just happened to be really locked in that game and everything seemed to be working my way.”

How intense is Mike Gundy as a coach?:

“He’s a great head coach. He’s a player’s coach. He’s going to sit there and back you like you’re one of his own kids. He’ll take care of you, he’s a player’s coach and I’ve enjoyed playing for him.”

What will you do now leading up to the draft in terms of workouts and combines?:

“I think I will be [doing all of the stuff at the combine]. As it gets closer, I’ll know for sure. I’ve just been enjoying the time working out. I’ve started working out and am trying to stay focused and get in the best shape I can before the combine.”

If you could pick an ideal team to be drafted by, who would it be?:

“Any team that would [draft] me. Obviously a team that had a quarterback and somebody that could kind of balance out the offense.”

Is there a quarterback out there that you see and really want to play with?:

“There’s a lot of guys. Like you said, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers. If Peyton comes back, you’ve got him there. There’s a lot of great quarterbacks that I wouldn’t mind being out there and playing with.”

What other kind of training will you be doing?:

“Just a lot of things, working on explosiveness, route-running, coming in and out of breaks, quickness, changing directions. There’s a lot of things I feel like I can work on and try to get better at in this short time.”

Do you go back through your college career and critique yourself?:

“No, I mean, I kind of put all that in the past. To me, it’s ground zero and how can I get better? It’s not looking at my numbers. I’m not going to be satisfied. I try to forget about it, the good and the bad, and just try to improve every day.”

Did the outside factor of the deaths of the women’s basketball coaches play a role in the loss to Iowa State?:

“It affected us. That’s something hard to try and forget about and try to go out there. You can’t go out there and play that game without having it in the back of your head. It was a weird day for us, a very quiet day, nobody was really that vocal. But we don’t use that as an excuse. They came out and played and ended up finishing the game.”

How do you think you guys would have done against LSU or Alabama?:

“I think we would’ve matched up well playing against either. It would have been nice to see our receiving corps against the DBs of LSU or even the Alabama DBs. It would’ve been nice to just see how we would’ve matched up against them.”

Listen to Justin Blackmon on 790 The Zone in Atlanta here