Hang ‘Em Up, Joe: Penn State’s Paterno to retire at season end

It’s the end of an era for Penn State college football coach Joe Paterno, as the Associated Press is reporting that the 84 year old coach will retire at the end of the season and will make the announcement this afternoon.

Paterno is embroiled as a part of the Penn State child sex scandal that saw former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky charged with molesting eight boys between 1994 and 2009. Paterno isn’t being charged with any legal wrongdoing, but a Pennsylvania State police commissioner stated that Paterno had a lack of “moral responsibility” in not stopping Sandusky.

Paterno has been head coach of Penn State’s Nittany Lions college football team since 1966 and led his team to five championships, including two national titles. Paterno is also college football’s most successful coach by number of victories, which now total 409, passing former rival and friend Bear Bryant of Alabama’s “Crimson Tide.”

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