Written by BTN.com staffThe Penn State Board of Trustees announced Wednesday night that football coach Joe Paterno and president Graham Spanier have been terminated in the wake of the recent scandal at Penn State. Read PSU.edu’s release. Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley will serve as the interim coach. Paterno, 84 and in his 46th season as the head coach, announced earlier in the day that he was going to retire following the season. Penn State plays Nebraska on Saturday at Beaver Stadium, which is senior day and would have been Paterno’s final home game. Read the AP story.
On BTN Wednesday night, Dave Revsine, along with analysts Gerry DiNardo and Chris Martin, hosted a 90-minute special on the Penn State scandal. Watch all of our video clips from the show. Also, watch Revsine’s interviews with former Penn State players. BTN.com senior writer Tom Dienhart posted a column on the scandal, as well. You can catch up on all the latest Penn State news with our AP story archive and by following BTN.com’s Paterno coverage.
Penn State players, past and present, tweet about JoePa:
Wake me up…this is a nightmare!—
Nathan Stupar (@thenastynate34) November 10, 2011
I know that something had to b done and it was going to start from the top just saying it could have been handle better..—
Derrick Williams (@DWheelz12) November 10, 2011
Can't even shake my own head coach's hand wen I run out into beaver stadium for the last time…yall dk how much this man has done—
Devon Still (@Dev_Still71) November 10, 2011
It's messed up they are doing this to a man who is a big reason Penn State is what it is today.—
Derek Moye (@dmoye6) November 10, 2011
Wow. I would not be where I am today if it was not for Coach Paterno.—
Matt McGloin (@MacQB11) November 10, 2011
I can't believe this—
Jared Odrick (@JaredOdrick98) November 10, 2011
So hurt right now…… Omg—
Daryll Clark (@CaptainClark17) November 10, 2011
Joe paterno fired WOW this is a dream right—
Robbie Gould (@RobbieGould09) November 10, 2011
WOW!!—
AQ Shipley (@aqshipley) November 10, 2011
In my own opinion, all of us who follow College football are in a state of shock to hear that Joe Paterno, Former Head Coach of PSU, got fired. I think that I speak for everyone from Coach to Player to Official to fans everywhere; to wish him all the best in life down the road.
And how can any of these guys support him? He was notified of this in 2002, and the last incident occurred in 2009!! Sandusky was on the campus last week. This is just sick, and Paterno buried his head in the sand while his buddy was raping little kids. And you’re supporting him? Amazing.
What has happened to Coach Paterno is unbelievable and sad. i am no longer a Penn State football fan.
I am absolutely stunned that what I hear from most students and ex-players is their anger at “what was done” to Coach Joe and their unconditional support of him. What they should all be saying is that they expected more from their coach, more from a man they loved and respected, than to just hand the problem off to his AD and then wash his hands of the situation. This man, as reported in the grand jury testimony, was informed that his long time friend and assistant coach was seen raping a child in the locker room and his only response was to inform his AD and wash his hands of the situation, hoping it would go away quietly, and the despicable response from the AD was to tell Sandusky he could no longer bring children on campus, in essence telling him “we don’t care what you do, just don’t do it here”.All of the adults in this failed their moral responsibility, all of them, Paterno, Curley, Schultz, Spanier, McQuery, and anyone else who knew of this and did nothing, they instead chose to try and protect their own and their school’s reputation over the safety of the children. Shame on every single one of them, there are no excuses for this, none. Forget about the number of wins and the money donated to the university, in the one moment of his life that demanded his action, when the situation called for him to show his courage, his honor, his integrity, and his leadership, he failed miserably, and by doing nothing more than passing the buck, countless more children who depended on adults to do the right thing, were horribly scarred for life. This is a tragedy, but it was an avoidable one, and shame on all the people who allowed and enabled it and shame on all the people who still do not understand who the real victims are here.
Nebraska fan here. This whole mess saddens me as a fan of college football, and considering the recent problems with riots and protests, it would serve the greater good to have this Saturday’s game postponed or cancelled completely.