CHICAGO -- While program after college football program is sullied by allegations of cheating and other improprieties, Penn State has done things the so-called “right way” for decades.

How have the Nittany Lions been able to remain one of the best programs in the country for the past half-century with nary an NCAA problem?

Legendary coach Joe Paterno has an answer, and it’s far less academic than one might expect.

“Luck,” the 45-year head coach said Thursday during Big Ten media days in Chicago.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno talks to reporters Thursday in Chicago.

Paul Beaty | AP Photo

Is it really that tough to not cheat, and still win? Apparently so.

Although it seems NCAA violations have proliferated in recent years, Paterno said problems always have occurred because of the competitiveness of the industry. The problems just haven’t always been so accessible to the public.

Ever the raconteur, Paterno spun a story to make his point.

“The old days, when I first started to coach, I lived four blocks off the campus,” he said. “We don’t have a big house. We’ve been there for a long time. … I used to get a telephone call from one of the campus cops, who would say, ‘Hey, coach, you better come up here and get a hold of Mike. Too much to drink, making a lot of noise.

“I’d go up at 2 in the morning, grab Mike, put him in bed, get him up at 5 in the morning, run his rear-end off for a week. You guys (the media) never heard about it.

“Socrates, 400 years BC, said, ‘The kids are terrible, tyrants. They don’t pay attention.’ That’s 2,500 years ago, OK?”

OK.

Paterno also said having less media scrutiny helps to make things more stable for Penn State under his guidance.

“Well, you know, we don't have as many of you guys (journalists) around as some of these other guys,” he said. “That helps. We're in that little town up there in State College.”

Now, Paterno is entering the final year of his contract.

He was asked about it.

"Is this the last year of my contract?” he quipped. “I didn't know I have a contract."

Eighty-four years old. Sharp as a tack.

Tragic heroes: Othello and Tressel?

Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio was the last coach to speak Thursday to the assembled media at McCormick Place, but offered one of the day’s most surprising quotes.

Dantonio, who was on former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel’s staff with the Buckeyes and has known Tressel since the early 1980s, had this to say about the ousted coach:

“He’s done a lot of good for college football. Every person he’s come in contact with as a player and a coach, he’s made a positive impact on their lives.

“To me, it’s tragic. He becomes a tragic hero in my respect, in my view. Usually tragic heroes have the ability to rise above it all in the end, and that’s what I’ll look for in the end.”

“Tragic hero” are strong words for a coach who was forced to resign for consistently lying to his superiors and the NCAA. It will be interesting to see if he is asked to follow-up on the remarks during Friday’s interview sessions.

Dan Persa is healthy

Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa said his surgically repaired Achilles’ tendon is 100 percent, and that he is ready for the season.

His coach exercised a little more restraint, but affirmed the healthy diagnosis for the reigning first-team all-Big Ten selection at quarterback.

“He’s going to come back to football not in the shape (he was) the last time he played,” sixth-year Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “He’s going to come back, but it’s going to be a little bit different because his body is going to operate a little bit different.

“He’s 100 percent healed from the standpoint of the injury; now it’s about adding the strength, getting the conditioning level up.”

Persa, a senior, set a league record last year for completion percentage (73.5) before his season ended Nov. 13 against Iowa because of the Achilles injury.

Northwestern was 7-3 with him, 0-3 without him.

Delaney delivers compliance lecture

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney took advantage of having his league’s 12 football coaches in one place to give them something of a lecture Thursday.

The subject? Follow the rules, kids.

“I wanted to call them together (Thursday) and speak to them candidly and from the heart, explain to them that in many ways the game is as healthy as it's ever been," said Delany, who has dealt with NCAA violations at Michigan last season and now Ohio State this year.

"But also, in my view, we have as a conference been hurt by the two institutions that have been involved in NCAA allegations and findings, and that I wanted to let them know that I expected them to lead their programs in a way that wouldn't put us in that circumstance again.

"I felt very comfortable with a very candid reaction. I think everybody understands where we're going and why we're going in that direction."

QB drops on Bret Bielema's desk

As a Division I football coach, Wisconsin’s Bret Bielema gets a lot of mail.

There was one piece in particular that caught his eye this offseason.

"I came in (my office) in the middle of spring," Bielema said. "I had a fax on my desk. We get a lot of that, where kids want to talk to us about transfer opportunities. Russell Wilson jumped right in my head right away. I remember watching him on some games the past couple seasons."

Wilson, a heralded senior transfer from North Carolina State who can play this season because he earned his undergraduate degree, is expected to be one of the Big Ten’s best quarterbacks this year.

If he earns the starting gig, that is.

Bielema stressed Wilson “has an opportunity” to be the starter, but hasn’t yet earned the position.

“I haven't seen Russell Wilson complete one snap competitively in practice,” Bielema said. “I think I might know what will happen, but until it happens, that's where we're at."

QB platoon at Purdue

Purdue coach Danny Hope said he plans to use a two-quarterback system with senior Robert Marve and sophomore Rob Henry.

Kyle Meinke covers Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2588, by email at kylemeinke@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @kmeinke.