The past several weeks have been interesting, to say the least.
In the wake of one of the worst scandals in the history of collegiate athletics, emotions have been all over the map. We’ve seen students so upset that they rioted in the streets of Happy Valley. Some alumni have pledged never to attend another Penn State football game. Even former Penn Stater Franco Harris got swept up in the storm, losing an advertising deal after defending his beloved coach. In the end, Penn State is still trying to recover. It has a new president, a new athletic director and the search is on for Penn State’s next head football coach.
In today’s edition of Morelli OnLion, we’ll take a closer look at the scandal — and why nothing quite like this will ever happen again.
Don’t blame the media
Since news of the Penn State sex abuse scandal broke several weeks ago, we’ve seen a proud university ripped to the core. President Graham Spanier? Gone. Athletic director Tim Curley? Done. Penn State coach Joe Paterno? Fired. The scandal has made international news and has been covered by just about every television network on the globe.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned through all this, it’s one thing — this is clearly the media’s fault.
Well, that’s what most Penn State apologists would like you to believe.
I’ve read plenty of fan blogs and letters to the editor. Apparently, this scandal is everyone else’s fault. Everyone except Joe Paterno’s, that is.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand fandom. I grew up a Penn State football fan. I went to games as a child and attended Penn State as a young adult. I watched plenty of games from the student section at Beaver Stadium and traveled around to watch the team. I was sitting in the Notre Dame student section in 1990 when Craig Fayak booted the Lions past the No. 1 Fighting Irish in one of the best football games I’ve ever seen. As an adult, I covered the Nittany Lions for newspapers and magazines. I’ve had face-to-face encounters with Joe Paterno and even had dessert at his house as part of a media gathering. He sat next to me on his back porch. We talked about everything from his life with Sue to his early days as coach to what Penn State had become.
I’d like to say that I know Joe Paterno. I like Joe Paterno. In the end, though, Joe Paterno had to be fired.
Truth be told, Paterno probably should have been fired several years ago. It was clear that he had lost control of his team.
In recent years, members of the Penn State football team kept winding up in the police blotter. There were incidents of public drunkeness, DUIs and assaults. Paterno did very little to discipline his players. Perhaps the best example of this came in 2007, when a group of Penn State football players forced their way into an apartment and started a fight. Their punishment? Clean the stadium a few times. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call a lack of institutional control. While all of that stuff was bad, it was nothing compared to what Paterno was hiding. The fact that Sandusky was allowed to roam free for a decade after Mike McQueary witnessed him raping a young boy in the showers at the Lasch Football Building says it all. Paterno, who built his career on “success with honor” and doing the right thing had done one of the worst things imaginable — he helped cover up a crime. And not just any crime, but one of the worst crimes imaginable.
If you’re looking to blame someone for the firing of the beloved coach, blame the icon himself. Don’t blame the Penn State Board of Trustees, the media, Sandusky, McQueary, Spanier or Curley. Blame Paterno. He did it to himself. As I stated in a previous column, one single phone call would’ve changed things. It’s ironic that so many “fans” were upset that the Board of Trustees fired him with a phone call when a phone call could’ve saved his job and his reputation.
Perhaps things wouldn’t have turned out this way for Paterno and Penn State had he not put the school on such a high pedestal. The university often looked down its nose at those “other schools.” You know, the ones that suffered from recruiting violations and the like. What Penn State wouldn’t give for this to be a recruiting scandal instead of a child sex abuse scandal that has left a permanent stain on the university.
The university has formed a search committee to find Penn State’s next football coach. It’s hard to imagine that the country’s best coaching talent is lining up for a shot to succeed Paterno. Whoever the next coach is will have a monumental task ahead of them. It certainly will be interesting to see how all of this plays out. To make people forget about the horrible scandal, he will need a great staff, plenty of four- and five-star recruits and a little luck.
Next week, we’ll take a closer look at some of the potential candidates.
Chris Morelli is an award-winning writer/editor who lives in Centre County and covers Penn State athletics for gantnews.com. He’s also a regular on “Sports Central,” which airs on ESPN Radio in Altoona and State College. E-mail him at morellionlion@gmail.com. Also, be sure to check out Morelli OnLion on Facebook!