Joe Paterno was fired for ‘failure of leadership,’ trustees say

Four months after firing Joe Paterno -- and more than a month after Paterno’s death -- the Penn State trustees attempted again to explain their actions Monday, saying in a statement that the legendary football coach was released for a “failure of leadership” after receiving information about the alleged sexual assault of a child by former assistant Jerry Sandusky.

“While Coach Paterno did his legal duty by reporting that information the next day, Sunday, March 3, to his immediate superior, the then Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley, the Board reasonably inferred that he did not call police,” the statement said. “We determined that his decision to do his minimum legal duty and not to do more to follow up constituted a failure of leadership by Coach Paterno.”

In the statement, the board says it has been asked by members of the Penn State community “to state clearly its reasons for the difficult decisions that were made unanimously on the evening of Nov. 9, 2011,” the date Paterno and university president Graham Spanier were fired in the wake of the Sandusky scandal.

Sandusky has been accused of sexually abusing 10 boys during a 15-year span. Charges were first filed on Nov. 5.

“The Board spent hours on conference calls between Saturday, Nov. 5, and Tuesday, Nov. 8, discussing appropriate action and our fiduciary responsibility as the Trustees,” the statement said. “On Wednesday evening, Nov. 9, we met in person in State College. At about 9 pm, we unanimously made the difficult decision that Coach Paterno’s failure of leadership required his removal as football coach.

“We are sorry for the unfortunate way we had to deliver the news on the telephone about an hour later to Coach Paterno. However, we saw no better alternative. Because Coach Paterno’s home was surrounded by media representatives, photographers and others, we did not believe there was a dignified, private and secure way to send Board representatives to meet with him there. Nor did we believe it would be wise to wait until the next morning, since we believed it was probable that Coach Paterno would hear the news beforehand from other sources, which would be inappropriate.”

Paterno, the winningest major college football coach in history, won two national titles and was named national coach of the year five times during his six-plus decades with Penn State.

Less than two weeks after his dismissal, Paterno announced he was battling lung cancer. He died on Jan. 22 at age 85.

“We share the grief of the entire Penn State family at the passing of Coach Paterno,” the statement said. “We also continue to respect and appreciate Dr. Spanier’s and Coach Paterno’s lasting contributions to Penn State. We especially honor the great legacy of Coach Paterno in making his football program a model for his emphasis on academic as well as athletic performance and for his generous support of Penn State through the years.”

The board added that it plans to fulfill Paterno’s employment contract and to name him head coach emeritus, and also is considering other ways of honoring his memory.

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