By Taylor McGillis, Staff Writer
The legendary Joe Paterno was fired as the coach of Penn State in the middle of his 62 years with the program and 44 as head coach. Paterno was relieved of his duties by the Penn State Board of Trustees on Nov. 9 a day after he had announced his retirement for the end of the season.
Paterno’s firing came four days after the arrest of former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who was arrested on 40 counts of sexual abuse of young boys. Although Paterno is not being accused of any legal wrongdoings, he has been scrutinized over the role he played in the Sandusky scandal, which led to many people calling for his job. The front page of one Pennsylvania newspaper, the Patriot-News, read “There are obligations we all have to uphold the law. There are then the obligations we have to do what is right.”
The firing of Paterno outraged thousands of Penn State students to the extent of rioting on the streets of State College minutes after the press conference that announced the firing of Paterno as well as the president of the university. Most Penn State students felt that Paterno should not have been fired because he did what he was supposed to do by telling his superiors about the information he had received. “People on the outside probably think we’re just a bunch of crazy kids acting stupid,” junior Andrew Ezzart (Penn State) said. “But for us, it’s so much more than that. We definitely don’t like the way they handled the situation. Everybody thinks they made Joe a scapegoat and this was all pinned on him.” As chants of the coach’s name echoed in the streets a few angry students tipped over a news van and knocked over a light pole.
Paterno’s firing came three days before the Nittany Lions, who were ranked No. 12 and 8-1 at the time, were scheduled to face No. 19 Nebraska at home on senior day. Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley accepted the position as interim head coach, and for the first time since 1966 someone other than Paterno was the head coach of Penn State. The Nittany Lions lost 17-14.
Even with 409 wins as a head coach, Paterno’s legacy will now lie within the eyes of the beholder, as this sexual abuse scandal continues to rip apart the Penn State University community.
