Recruits Are Polite Enough Not To Ask Joe Paterno If He's Gonna, You Know, Die Soon

Spry pimp Joe Paterno fielded questions about the Penn State program the morning after it gave Urban Meyer his going-away present in the Outback Bowl. Specifically, questions about his future, despite repeated insistence that he won't retire.

"I don't get the question. They may ask the assistant coaches, I don't know, but I just tell them: 'Hey, what you're looking at is what you're going to get.' The program is going to be here," Paterno said.

Then, he brought the whole Mike Haywood hiring/alleged choking/firing into the mix.

"Nobody can predict what [will happen]. Would you have predicted what happened at Pitt?" he added. "There's no guarantee on anything, but I intend to be here, and I intend to work hard at recruiting."

Read more in ESPN's obituarily headlined, " Joe Paterno, 84, confident as recruiter."