Joe Paterno's injury last Sunday during one of Penn State's preseason practice sessions had a number of media members questioning his ability to lead the Nittany Lions in 2011 and beyond. At the team's media day on Tuesday, however, Paterno expressed confidence, saying he'll "absolutely" coach the team's Sept. 3 opener against Indiana State from the sideline and expects to be back to full strength soon.
"Physically, I feel great outside of [the pain]," Paterno said. "It hurts. If I told you I could get up here and run around, no, I can't. In about eight or nine days I should be able to do everything without having some guy driving me around telling me what to look at."
After being told initially he suffered a hairline fracture of his pelvis, Paterno revealed Tuesday later tests found he did not, in fact, have a fracture. For that reason, Paterno said his doctor expects him to be "100 percent" within 10 days.
Asked if he ever feels like he's getting too old to be coaching major college football, Paterno acknowledged last Sunday's incident made him wonder a little bit. He doesn't believe it's quite his time yet, however.
"I've got different guys in different things. I tell them what I want to get done on the practice field," Paterno said. "I keep talking to them about personnel. Thank God we've got things like conference calls and all of that kind of stuff. There's no need to get out of it yet. I'm going to see if I can get the job done. Right now, I'm anxious just to get back and get going."