Former Penn State quarterback disgruntled by Beaver Stadium naming rights deal
Matt McGloin has had an interesting few months. The Penn State Board of Trustees member stepped down from his position on the Lackawanna Country Board of Commissioners to take a coaching job with Bill O’Brien at Boston College, only to change his mind a few days later. Now, the former Nittany Lion quarterback believes he is coming to the support of his other former coach in his opposition to the Beaver Stadium naming rights deal.
This week, Penn State sold the naming rights of the field at Beaver Stadium to West Shore Home for 15 years in exchange for $50 million. That agreement will help the athletic department offset the $750 million renovations that are already underway at Beaver Stadium. However, McGloin, one of the eight dissenting votes by the Board of Trustees on this issue, feels that the deal is erasing the legacy of legendary Penn State head coach Joe Paterno.
McGloin said in a statement to the board, “You’re trying to erase 46 years as a head coach, and what’s happening now may look like a successful move, but I don’t believe it’s a very honorable one.” McGloin urged the board to do what he described as “the right thing” and name the field after Paterno as Alabama has with Saban Field at Bryant Denny Stadium, Florida State has with Bobby Bowden Field at Doak S. Campbell Stadium, along with plenty of others.
In naming those other venues, McGloin failed to mention how differently Paterno’s 46-year tenure at Penn State ended compared to those other coaching legends. Paterno left a complicated legacy, one I’m not interested in re-litigating, which is exactly what would happen every time the words “Paterno field at Beaver Stadium” were uttered by a TV announcer.