Revered Coach Passes Away

In 1966, Joe Paterno began his career as head coach of the Penn State, having been an assistant there since 1950. During his rather lengthy tenure, he coached Penn State to 409 victories against 136 losses (and 3 ties). A member of the College Football Hall of Fame, JoePa coached five undefeated teams and holds the record with 409 NCAA Dvision I wins.

However, in late 2011, former Penn State D-Coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arrested on child abuse charges. Paterno was unaware of the actions of Sandusky and received a plethora of criticism, eventually leading to his dismissal at the university after 46 years as head coach.

This is where it gets controversial.

As JoePa was not involved directly with any of the abuse, I feel he should not have been fired, though Sandusky should have been relieved immediately. When I first heard of the situation on Mike and Mike in the Morning, I immediately began to call for the firing of Sandusky, but NOT Paterno, as he did not have anything to do with this. The players at Penn State ADORED JoePa and showed him the utmost respect throughout all of this. They even went as far as to gather outside of his home in support of him.

Regardless, the way Joe Paterno went out, from his firing to his death, was an UTTER DISGRACE to the revered coach. The players and students supported him all the way, but the board of trustees apparently did not.