Joe Paterno, the longtime head football coach at Penn State University who was fired in November amidst a child sex abuse scandal that rocked his program, died this morning in State College. He was 85.
Paterno coached at Penn State for 62 years, including 46 as the head coach, compiling a record of 409-136-3, including national championships in 1982 and 1986. His 409 wins are the most in college football history.
Long revered for his steady, no-nonsense demeanor, Joe Pa was an icon at Penn State, where he donated millions of dollars to the university. He found himself embroiled in one of the biggest scandals in sports history this fall, however, when his former longtime defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was indicted on multiple charges of child sexual abuse. Paterno was informed of at least some aspects of the charges in 2002, but did not go to police, instead passing along the information to his superiors in the athletic department. Paterno was fired by the university's board of trustees in November.
[via Yahoo]
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