Yesterday evening, Joe Paterno was removed from his position as the head football coach at Penn State.
Paterno had this to say, speaking outside his home after the press conference where his firing was announced: "Right now, I'm not the football coach. And I've got to get used to that. After 61 years, I've got to get used to it. I appreciate it. Let me think it through."
Like Paterno's statement earlier on Wednesday announcing that he would retire at the end of this football season, I found his quote afterwards to be a bit of a shot in the dark. When he announced his pending retirement, I found myself questioning whether it was an attempt to stave off the Board of Trustees from firing him, giving them an easy out to escape from the public outcry and outrage that would follow firing the beloved coach. After being fired, his use of the term "right now" could be read by some as a way of saying that he has some kind of optimism or hope about getting his job back, but I think it likely that it was just shock and dismay of an 84 year old man trying to hold onto some false hope that cannot exist in the reality of the day.
While many students, fans, and alumni seem outraged over the whole thing, it seems like the board was placed into a position where they had little option. If they were to wait, and the full facts came out, it is likely they would look even worse - they being every single person associated with Penn State. Even waiting one game would mean some kind of acceptance or an attempt to look the either way, which is the same kind of behavior that got Penn State into this situation to start with.
I think Penn State made the right move here, and although it may be tough for Paterno fans to swallow, it is not about Joe Paterno. It is about the children who suffered the abuse, and the adults who could have helped them and prevented it from happening from others, and who failed to do so.
