But the 83-year-old coach poured cold water on that idea Tuesday, saying, "I don't look at it that way.
"Overall, I think we are getting better," Paterno said at his weekly teleconference. "But I don't look at it as we are going to do this so we are better next year. I don't think that's fair to the kids that are here that are going to leave.
"There are eight [seniors] who will be leaving us. They have worked hard. They are entitled to have the best season they possibly can have, and we are not that far off. We're worrying about this year game-by-game. We'll worry about next year as soon as this season is over."
In addition to having eight seniors on the two-deep depth chart on offense and defense, the Lions also play a senior kicker in Collin Wagner. The youth of the roster is top-heavy; Paterno said he has 59 freshmen and sophomores.
Certainly the inexperience has had an impact, particularly early in the season when Penn State lost to a pair of ranked teams - Alabama and Iowa - on the road, each by a score of 24-3.
There also have been injuries. Paterno said there are "five or six first-stringers, or [players who] would have been first-stringers" out for the season.
Wide receiver Curtis Drake (broken leg), a West Catholic graduate, and tight end Andrew Szczerba (back) have not played a single snap all season. Neither has backup tailback Brandon Beachum (knee), a special-teams standout.
Three starters - offensive tackle Lou Eliades (knee vs. Temple), safety Nick Sukay (pectoral vs. Illinois) and tight end Gary Gilliam (knee vs. Iowa) - suffered season-ending injuries after the schedule started.
As for Penn State's quarterback situation, freshman Rob Bolden won the starting job in preseason despite never having gone through spring practice. After Bolden was injured, he was replaced by Matt McGloin, who sparked Penn State on its recent three-game winning streak.
