Paterno confirms he seeks to return

Penn State Notes

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - After announcing to a few thousand at a Friday pep rally that he was planning to return next season, Joe Paterno let everyone else in on the worst-kept secret at Penn State yesterday.

"I'm planning on coming back, yeah," Paterno said after his Lions smacked Michigan State, 49-18, to claim a Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl berth. (There is still a remote shot at the BCS title game.) "I never planned otherwise. . . . Everybody was making a big deal about that I don't have a contract. I've never even asked for that. I'll sit down in the next couple of weeks with Tim Curley and President [Graham] Spanier and say, 'Hey, what do you think of this and what do you think of that?' "

Spanier said he hadn't even seen the pep rally and wasn't making any decision until after the season.

"I'm not going to comment about that until after the season is over, completely over, and we have a chance to talk about things," he said.

Talks on Paterno's coaching future were tabled in April. Paterno, who turns 82 on Dec. 21, is in the last year of his contract, but both sides have agreed that he wouldn't need to work with a contract. In the past, Paterno has worked with what was essentially a handshake deal.

Paterno probably will have hip replacement surgery this week. He coached from the press box for the seventh straight game.

"I'm sure we'll get it done this week," he said.

Heat miser

Two weeks ago when Iowa dashed the Lions' national championship aspirations in a last-second defeat at windy and cold Iowa City, Paterno was asked about his sideline not having heaters.

He said he thought they could be a distraction. Yesterday, though, Penn State had two large heated benches on its sideline as temperatures dipped into the lower 20s.

"If I was on the sideline you wouldn't have the heaters," said Paterno. "I said, 'But I can't go upstairs in a nice, warm booth and tell you guys you got to freeze your butt off.' "

- Jeff McLane