Penn State Said to Be Planning Paterno’s Exit Amid Scandal

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PSU blog Black Shoe Diaries has a statement from Joe announcing his retirement. This is the big SBN blog for PSU so despite the lack of a link I doubt it's fake.

http://www.blackshoediaries.com/2011/11/9/2549356/joe-paterno-announces-retirement-from-penn-state

The full release from Joe Paterno himself:

"STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Nov. 9, 2011 -- I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case. I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief. I have come to work every day for the last 61 years with one clear goal in mind: To serve the best interests of this university and the young men who have been entrusted to my care.

I have the same goal today. That's why I have decided to announce my retirement effective at the end of this season. At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can. This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.

My goals now are to keep my commitments to my players and staff and finish the season with dignity and determination. And then I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to help this University."
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With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.
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That line just pisses me off even more. He still doesn't believe he did anything wrong or could have done anything.
 

Are they really going to allow him to retire at the end of the year? Coach four more games? Still think he needs to be gone by Saturday.
 

"That's why I have decided to announce my retirement effective at the end of this season..."

You know, when my contract is up, and retire just like a regular guy with no smudges on my personal record.

Unacceptable.
 

This whole thing is just sickening and mind-boggling. I don't see how they can let Joe Pa set foot in that stadium ever again.
 


I would guess that the whole coaching staff will be gone, whether he leaves today or after the season. Is there any possibility that Penn State could decline their bowl game? Whether or not Paterno is around to coach in it, their bowl game is just another opportunity for people to talk about the scandal, and Paterno isn't the only one of the coaches who is tainted by this.

There are going to be a lot of heads rolling, and I doubt it will stop at just the coaches.
 


GophersInIowa said:
Even if you look at this solely from a football standpoint, it makes no sense for him or McQueary to continue through the rest of the season. As long as they are around, they will be a huge distraction and that's not fair to the players. Paterno doesn't actually coach anymore, he's more of a figure. But that's now tainted.

Obviously, what happened to the children is way more important than the football side. Just trying to understand how keeping either one of them around helps in any way.
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This is all really inexcusable and just shows that keeping a figurehead around doesn't really help anyone. If everyone's in charge, no one's in charge.
 

Unless Penn State really tanks, it looks like they will in the Leaders Division. Not good for the Big Ten. That means not just the three remaining Big Ten games, but the inaugural Big Ten championship game. Their schedule looks tough, with Nebraska at home, and Ohio State and Wisconsin on the road. Plus, this really has to have the players and coaches really distracted. I am hoping that Penn State does not win the division, it's best for everyone that they do not. If I'm on a bowl committee, I really don't want Penn State playing in my bowl. The ticket sales and TV ratings would suffer badly. I don't think they would mind if Penn state declined a bid, just move everyone up one spot.

This really could be an SMU-level scandal. No death penalty, to be sure, but it is going to be hard to recover from. One difference is that the SMU scandal brought down the SWC. The Big Ten will survive this.
 



More victims coming forward… just sick…it is really hard to wrap your mind around. If even half of what is being printed is true, can you imagine the law suits? It seems to me these victims will need more than prayers and justice.
 

RodentRampage said:
I would guess that the whole coaching staff will be gone, whether he leaves today or after the season. Is there any possibility that Penn State could decline their bowl game? Whether or not Paterno is around to coach in it, their bowl game is just another opportunity for people to talk about the scandal, and Paterno isn't the only one of the coaches who is tainted by this.

There are going to be a lot of heads rolling, and I doubt it will stop at just the coaches.
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RodentRampage said:
Unless Penn State really tanks, it looks like they will in the Leaders Division. Not good for the Big Ten. That means not just the three remaining Big Ten games, but the inaugural Big Ten championship game. Their schedule looks tough, with Nebraska at home, and Ohio State and Wisconsin on the road. Plus, this really has to have the players and coaches really distracted. I am hoping that Penn State does not win the division, it's best for everyone that they do not. If I'm on a bowl committee, I really don't want Penn State playing in my bowl. The ticket sales and TV ratings would suffer badly. I don't think they would mind if Penn state declined a bid, just move everyone up one spot.

This really could be an SMU-level scandal. No death penalty, to be sure, but it is going to be hard to recover from. One difference is that the SMU scandal brought down the SWC. The Big Ten will survive this.
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It will be interesting to see what happens over the next 24-48 hours. I think that it's all planned out in Phases as a necessary PR maneuver.

This is Phase 1, "Paterno Makes the Call to Retire".
Phase 2 will be "PSU Asks Paterno to Step Down Immediately".
Phase 3 will be "PSU Does Not Play in Championship Game as B1G Investigates".
Phase 4 will be "PSU Declines Bowl Game as Coaching Staff Let Go".

I guess we'll see.
 

I agree and/or can see Phases #2 and #4 happening (#2 likely will happen for sure), but I can't see #3 occurring.

What happened at Penn State was morally reprehensible, but as far we know no B1G or NCAA rules were broken. As uncomfortable as it will be for the B1G if Penn State makes the championship game, if they earn it on the field these last 3 games (by winning 2) they'll be playing in the championship game. As others have said, I'm guessing Jim Delany is hoping & praying that Ohio State or Wisconsin wins the Leaders Division. ... more likely Wisconsin because at least the Badgers have been free of scandal in the last year.
 

From the Penn State Scout board:

If for one minute you believe that Joe Paterno would let something like this go, sweep it under the rug, if he KNEW.....then you do not know him and 62+ years of ethical and moral actions. LOOK at HIS past behavior when things happen...............there is no hiding of anything.

I often wonder how we ever would have won at Saratoga, Gettysburg, Omaha Beach, Iwo Jima, or The Bulge.......some of you would pump your chest when all goes well and say look at me, but when it gets tough, you'd break ranks and run the other damn way.

AGAIN Penn Staters..................HOLD YOUR GROUND.

You either believe or don't believe in SUCCESS WITH HONOR. Its a philosophy........no one can destroy it or get rid of it unless WE allow them to.
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You can't say that because Paterno did good things that all of his actions are good. The poster said there was no hiding of anything. But how would anyone know that? Then he goes on to raving about the Civil War and WWII. Paterno is old, but not that old. It's absolutely absurd to try to invoke the Civil War and WWII to defend Paterno.

And honor. What honor? Where is the honor in not only passing the buck by merely telling the administration, but by still retaining the coach? There are posters who are claiming that it is an outrage that Paterno is being held up to a moral standard, that the only thing that matters is doing the absolute minimum legal requirements. Whether Paterno even met the absolute minimum legal requirements isn't quite clear. Quietly firing the coach wouldn't have been nearly enough, but keeping him on the staff forfeits any claim to morality or to honor. Doing the absolute minimum isn't honorable.

There are grumblings about Penn State being kicked out of the Big Ten. I doubt that will happen, but they do need to recognize that this is big, bigger than just the football team.
 



umn99 said:
Are they really going to allow him to retire at the end of the year? Coach four more games? Still think he needs to be gone by Saturday.
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I don't know how they can let him go before the media, which, if he continues to coach, he will have to.
 

RodentRampage said:
From the Penn State Scout board:



You can't say that because Paterno did good things that all of his actions are good. The poster said there was no hiding of anything. But how would anyone know that? Then he goes on to raving about the Civil War and WWII. Paterno is old, but not that old. It's absolutely absurd to try to invoke the Civil War and WWII to defend Paterno.

And honor. What honor? Where is the honor in not only passing the buck by merely telling the administration, but by still retaining the coach? There are posters who are claiming that it is an outrage that Paterno is being held up to a moral standard, that the only thing that matters is doing the absolute minimum legal requirements. Whether Paterno even met the absolute minimum legal requirements isn't quite clear. Quietly firing the coach wouldn't have been nearly enough, but keeping him on the staff forfeits any claim to morality or to honor. Doing the absolute minimum isn't honorable.

There are grumblings about Penn State being kicked out of the Big Ten. I doubt that will happen, but they do need to recognize that this is big, bigger than just the football team.
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I'm reading the new book about Steve Jobs and one of the major themes is the "reality distortion fields" that warped Job's sense of reality. Sometimes the distortion proved beneficial, other times harmful. Some of these Penn Staters are living in reality distortion fields of their own, and its not helping them in this instance.
 

RodentRampage said:
From the Penn State Scout board:

You can't say that because Paterno did good things that all of his actions are good. The poster said there was no hiding of anything. But how would anyone know that? Then he goes on to raving about the Civil War and WWII. Paterno is old, but not that old. It's absolutely absurd to try to invoke the Civil War and WWII to defend Paterno.

And honor. What honor? Where is the honor in not only passing the buck by merely telling the administration, but by still retaining the coach? There are posters who are claiming that it is an outrage that Paterno is being held up to a moral standard, that the only thing that matters is doing the absolute minimum legal requirements. Whether Paterno even met the absolute minimum legal requirements isn't quite clear. Quietly firing the coach wouldn't have been nearly enough, but keeping him on the staff forfeits any claim to morality or to honor. Doing the absolute minimum isn't honorable.

There are grumblings about Penn State being kicked out of the Big Ten. I doubt that will happen, but they do need to recognize that this is big, bigger than just the football team.
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Blind loyalty. Saying "WE ARE..." over and over again while giving Paterno unconditional support as more and more details come out just seems ignorant.
 

SelectionSunday said:
What happened at Penn State was morally reprehensible, but as far we know no B1G or NCAA rules were broken.
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What does it tell you about the NCAA that Jim Tressel's inaction over Terrelle Pryor trading memoribilia for tatoos is worse to the NCAA than PSU's administration allowing serial sexual abuse of children to take place in its facilities? If this is not lack of institutional control, then Minnesota should ignore the NCAA and place the 97 Final Four banner back up at Williams.
 

Winnipegopher said:
What does it tell you about the NCAA that Jim Tressel's inaction over Terrelle Pryor trading memoribilia for tatoos is worse to the NCAA than PSU's administration allowing serial sexual abuse of children to take place in its facilities? If this is not lack of institutional control, then Minnesota should ignore the NCAA and place the 97 Final Four banner back up at Williams.
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It tells me that the NCAA is neither a legal nor governmental entity. This is a horrible and reprehensible series of incidents, but it is entirely within the legal realm and has absolutely nothing to do with football specifically or sports in general. The fact that the offender was a football coach doesn't make it a football issue. The NCAA has zero to do with any of this, and will not, and should not, punish the University in any way. It has no authority whatsoever in this issue. The Tressel/Pryor incident was worse to the NCAA because it broke NCAA rules. What NCAA rules did Sandusky, Paterno, Spanier, Curley, etc. break?
 

Imagine the student section in Madison if they are playing for the division. It could get ugly, 100,000 people chanting 9-1-1.
He can't coach an away game.
 

dpodoll68 said:
What NCAA rules did Sandusky, Paterno, Spanier, Curley, etc. break?
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I took a look but I can't seem to find any of the rules on the NCAA website. One point they are there but you need a log-in. Can anyone point to their rules? I have a hard time beleiving that the NCAA does not have a code of conduct for coaches and administrators.
 

Winnipegopher said:
I took a look but I can't seem to find any of the rules on the NCAA website. One point they are there but you need a log-in. Can anyone point to their rules? I have a hard time beleiving that the NCAA does not have a code of conduct for coaches and administrators.
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http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D110.pdf

You're probably interested in combing through Bylaw 10 (covers "Ethical Conduct") ... but from a quick pass, and from my own recollection, there's nothing the NCAA can do about a case such as this in terms of sanctions. Breaking a law is a criminal and civil offense, and the University can certainly act (breach of contract, for example) but the NCAA won't have a say in it.
 

Terrible timing for this whole ordeal too. Why couldn't this have happened BEFORE Halloween?
 



I guess the only part possibly relevant is:

Unethical conduct by a prospective or enrolled student-athlete or a current or former institutional staff member (e.g., coach, professor, tutor, teaching assistant, student manager, student trainer) may include, but is not limited to, the following: (Revised: 1/10/90, 1/9/96, 2/22/01)

Emphasis mine. I suspect this will lead to scrutiny that will find a ton of violations.
 




drinks at Northpoint said:
Imagine the student section in Madison if they are playing for the division. It could get ugly, 100,000 people chanting 9-1-1.
He can't coach an away game.
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He can't coach a home game either. Imagine 100,000 PSU fans and students cheering him.
 

umn99 said:
He can't coach a home game either. Imagine 100,000 PSU fans and students cheering him.
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I hadn't even thought about that. Just imagine how appalled the whole country would be at that.
 

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