Joe Paterno is out as head football coach at Penn State, effective immediately. The Penn State Board of Trustees decided that effective immediately Paterno is no longer the coach and university president Graham Spanier is out as well, also effective immediately. The 84-year-old Paterno had planned to retire at the end of the season, but instead he will be replaced right away in the middle of the child sex-abuse scandal surrounding former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. Penn State plays its final home game of the season Saturday against Nebraska. Assistant coach Tom Bradley will take over as interim head coach.
Paterno had been head coach at Penn State since 1966 and is the all-time Division One leader in victories with 409. He has a record 37 bowl game appearances, including a record 24 wins. Paterno was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006. Sandusky is accused of preying on at least eight young boys from the late 1990s until 2009. Authorities say Paterno fulfilled his obligation to report what he knew about an instance of alleged abuse in 2002. However, Athletic Director Timothy Curley and Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz stand accused of perjury and failing to report Sandusky to police. Curley and Schultz both have resigned their positions.
