Former Baltimore Colts Pro Bowl running back Lydell Mitchell competed for Joe Paterno from 1969-1971. In 1971, Mitchell led the nation in points with 174 en route to a first-team All-America selection. Mitchell still holds the school record for most single-season touchdowns with 29 scores in 1971.
1) What were your first impressions of Joe Paterno? How was the man who recruited you different from the image/idea you previously had of him?
"I didn't really have an impression. I didn't know what to think because when I first heard from Penn State, Rip Engle was still the coach. They had sent me a letter when I was in 9th grade in high school only because a friend of mine his sister worked up in State College and I was all caught up in the Rip Engle thing. Then all the sudden in 1966, Joe Paterno becomes the head coach at Penn State, so the legend had not been formed yet. My impression of him was he was a very straightforward guy. He got along real well with parents. That's really how he sold himself. He would come in to your home and talk to your parents and tell them that their son would be safe and we'll take good care of them and make sure they get an education. That's what impressed me more than anything about him, talking about the educational side as opposed to the football side. That is the part I probably remember more than anything about him when I first got involved with coach Paterno."
2) What is your favorite JoePa story?
"Mine would probably be when I was a sophomore we were practicing for the Orange Bowl and at that time I played what was called wingback -- I ran the ball but could also play wide receiver. Going into the Orange Bowl, they gave me one single play to run and I was so mad. I was really upset. But he also put in this pass play for me and I wouldn't run it. Every time they would call it I'd just jog out there turn around. So the timing on everything was never there. One day I turned around and he was right behind me and he said "you know, you're going to be a pretty good player one day, but I'll advise you that you should run this pass pattern because I put this in purposely for you and you're going to score a touchdown with it during the Orange Bowl." What happened was that I caught the ball, made the guy miss me and I scored the winning touchdown in the Orange Bowl. So he had predicted it and was right. He got me to finally start practicing the play and running it when I was ticked off at him for not giving me any running plays. That's probably the most memorable moment that I had. We had a conflict, but we survived it."
3) What separates Paterno from other football coaches?
"He's very intense but at the same time very honest. He pushed us, and we worked hard. He was straight with you. The better players usually played, there wasn't any politics involved in it. He was pretty much a sincere guy. I always said what you see with Joe is what you get. Because he was an honest person, he gave you a decent shake. He gave you an opportunity and if you took advantage of the opportunity, you got a chance to play. That's probably what I remember more about him than anything. He was a very intense guy. At practice he would be fired up and there were no shenanigans going on in practice. We had to go at it, he drove us and pushed us to the brink to hang in there and be in good shape. He brought it all out of you."
4) Critique his style -- coaching and fashion. What wardrobe advice would you give your former coach?
"Very vanilla, if I can borrow that phrase as far as fashion goes. Sometimes you wonder if he does that on purpose, but that is his style. He is very conservative. Even outside of football he dresses very conservatively. Obviously, you see what he wears on the sidelines. He rolls up the pants a little bit, he's got on those white sox and black shoes and that big old tie. I think the team took on the same demeanor as the coach. I always thought that great teams usually take on the same personality of a great coach and that is really what we did. We were very conservative. We weren't flamboyant. We kind of picked up his philosophy when it came to those type of things."
5) What impact has Paterno had on your life?
" He's had quite a bit of an impact. A lot of things he used to share with us remain: his philosophy on life, being truthful. If you believe in something, you stand by it. You go to war. If you're wrong to be able to stand up like a man and say, "I was wrong and I accept my responsibility and let's move on." Those are a few of things that I picked up on, but there are so many. Just his overall philosophy, I think that's how I live my life these last 30 years after being around Joe. Often when tough times come along, I think back to my collegiate days when I was around him. How are you going to respond to things when things get tough? What do you do? Do you panic? How am I going to react to a certain situation? I go all the way back there and recall some of the things he told us and how we reacted and what we did. Consequently, it works. You sit back when you're a young kid and say, 'aw man, this old guy doesn't know what he's talking about.' Yet when you move away from it and you're able to reflect after many, many years you say, 'hey, he knew what he was talking about, he really prepared us for the future. He got us ready for real life.' Basically, that's really what it is all about because most players won't have an opportunity to move on and play professionally. Therefore, you have to prepare for life after football. It is going to end sooner or later. He prepared us real well for that."
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