Legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno dead at 85

Just three months after he was fired after 46 seasons as head coach of Penn State’s Nittany Lions football team due to the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal , legendary football coach Joe Paterno is dead at 85, succumbing to lung cancer Sunday morning.

Paterno’s death had been misreported earlier by Penn State’s college newspaper Saturday night, in which their managing editor apologized and resigned.

The Brooklyn, N.Y. native started his football career at Brown University, playing corner back. In 1950, he followed one of Brown’s football coaches to State College, Pa., home of Penn State.

After 16 years as an assistant, Paterno was named head coach of the Nittany Lions in 1966, where he would ultimately stay for the rest of his career.

In 1969, Paterno was offered to head coach the Pittsburgh Steelers – a decision in which he seriously considered. The job ultimately went to Chuck Noll, who led the Steelers to four titles under quarterback Terry Bradshaw.

Paterno led Penn State to two national titles in 1982 and 1986 and had been considered a possible head coach for the New York Giants from the late 1970s through the early 1980s before Bill Parcells took the position.

Due to his advancing age and mediocre gameplay by Penn State, there was debate in 2004 whether Paterno should retire. Paterno ultimately silenced his critics that year, winning the Big Ten in 2005 and again in 2008.

It was ultimately the culture of “JoePa” and Happy Valley that would bring the ultimate shock of concealing the alleged child abuse that occurred at Penn State by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. In 2002, then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary had gone to Paterno, informing him on what he saw.

Paterno then waited a day to inform the university, but not police officials – something that Pennsylvania State Police’s superintendent called a “moral obligation” that Paterno failed.

The Penn State Board of Trustees, due to the scandal rising to heights unbearable, decided to fire Paterno instead of allowing him to retire by the season’s end. The university’s president, Graham Spanier, also was fired as result.

A day after firing, Paterno’s son Scott informed the public that his father was suffering from a treatable form of lung cancer. However, the treatments took their toll on Paterno, as the Washington Post reported in their interview (his last) that the coach looked frail, talked with a whisper, and was wearing a wig.

Paterno’s adoration for Penn State and commitment to the university – especially for keeping high marks for students within the football program – garnered praise.

Paterno is survived by his wife and their three children.

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