Penn State Head Coach Fired After 46 Years Amid Scandal
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November 10, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
Penn State fired head coach Joe Paterno and president Graham Spanier yesterday evening in response to an alleged abuse scandal.
Penn State decided it had to cut ties with historic head coach Joe Paterno, and president Grahm Spanier, after a former assistant coach was arrested for allegedly abusing eight boys.
Jerry Sandusky, arrested at the weekend, worked under Paterno for 30 years, from 1969 till 1999, and for a time was viewed by some to be Paterno’s heir apparent.
Senior Vice President Gary Schultz, and Athletic Director Tim Curley also appeared in court, and stepped down from their positions for failure to report the suspected child abuse by the former coach Sandusky. Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly, however, said that Paterno was not a target of investigation because he had fulfilled his legal requirement of reporting to school officials when he was told by a graduate assistant that they had witnessed Sandusky assaulting a 10-year-old boy in the showers.
In firing Paterno, Penn State has made it clear that they believe he should have done more, and in a press conference expressed their “sorrow and anger” about the “tragedy”. The school also maintained that it would “take swift, decisive action” in dealing with the scandal.
Earlier on Wednesday, Paterno had announced that he would retire at the end of the season, but the university’s board vice chairman, John Surma, decided that it was in the best interest of the school that Paterno leave immediately, stating: “The university is much larger than its athletic teams” and that it was in the “best interest of the university to have a change in leadership to deal with the difficult issues.”
Paterno had been a figurehead at the university since 1950 when he joined the college football programme. After spending 15 years as an assistant, he was promoted to head coach in 1966, and his 46 years as a head coach, 409 wins, and 24 bowl appearances are the most in NCAA Division I college football history. Under Paterno’s watch, Penn State won two national championships and had five undefeated seasons.
Paterno has not lost the support of many students. Upon hearing the news that their head coach had been fired, thousands took to the streets to voice their displeasure at the board’s decision.
Displeasure spilled into violence when groups overturned a television’s satellite truck and tore down lamp posts before being confronted by riot police. Students felt it was right to support their coach, with one telling ESPN: “Everybody thinks they made Joe a scapegoat and this was all pinned on him.”
Students will remember the legacy that Paterno left on the football field, whist others will view those as tainted records by a man that failed to report a crime.
By Matthew Giles
[Image courtesy of allenmock]