Joe Paterno outed by Board of Trustees

Joe Paterno fired.

This sentence is one that I, among with many others, never thought I would hear.

But amidst a sex scandal at Penn State University, head football coach Joe Paterno has been fired.

After the information about a sex scandal at Penn State reached national news, Paterno announced his retirement. At season’s end, Paterno would no longer be coach of a team he has been with since 1950.

The same day Paterno announced his retirement, the Penn State Board of Trustees met to discuss the issue. According to ESPN.com, Paterno received an envelope 15 minutes before the Board made their announcement with a phone number for him to call. After calling the number he was told he had been relieved of his duties.

Paterno created a legacy at Penn State. The legacy he created as head coach for over 46 years was ruined in one moment.

In his tenure at Penn State, Paterno has accumulated the most Division I-A/FBS wins with 409, the most bowl wins with 24, two national championships and three Big Ten championships. With achievements like this, Paterno was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2007.

For most people thinking about coaches in college football, Paterno is at the top of the list.

Now, he has found one of the worst ways out of a job. It can be compared to Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal. No one wants to leave their job because of something as drastic as a situation like this one.

And he wasn’t even the person to cause the problem. He just knew about it but didn’t call the police.

And the “it” was kind of big. So big that it affects at least eight victims. These eight victims have come forward to say that they were sexually abused by former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. Sandusky was at Penn State for 23 years before he retired from coaching.

This scandal was such a huge issue to the Penn State Board of Trustees that the president of the university found himself without a job.

The students of the university were very upset about Paterno’s firing. About 2,000 students took to the streets, overturned a television news van and kicked out windows. According to ESPN.com, the students were out for about three hours.

I would be upset, too. Paterno is a proven legend. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

I wouldn’t charge the streets though. I know there could have been a better way to handle the anger. Taking to the streets only makes the situation worse. Penn State is already in the news for a scandal; riots don’t need to be added to the mix.

As a college student who enjoys football, I hate to see Paterno go. But how much longer was he really going to be coaching? He’s spent 61 years with Penn State. He’s 84 years old. His time was coming to an end anyway. Would students have rioted when he announced his retirement without the scandal? I don’t think so.

Yes, the board played a significant role in his termination, and I think they possibly should have let him have his dignity and should have allowed him to retire at the end of the season. But, on the other hand, he knew important information and didn’t do anything about it. It’s hard to see the positive in all of this.

Paterno may have been a great coach when we saw him on television almost every Saturday during college football season, but when it came to issues like this sex scandal, Paterno didn’t do enough.

Paterno’s out and Penn State has lost a legend.

[WRITER’S NOTE: ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE NOVEMBER 2011 EDITION OF “THE PULSE”]