yahoo sports...
Joe Paterno on his way out 
November 9, 2011 

Joe Paterno will exit Penn State in the least likely way anyone could have ever imagined. 

The longtime Nittany Lions head coach will leave the coaching ranks within days or weeks, according to a New York Times report, as a sex-abuse scandal that has implicated university officials rocks not only the entire campus but the entire college football world and society as a whole. 

Paterno, who has more victories than any other Division I head football coach and has two national championships on his resume, had a scheduled Tuesday news conference canceled by the school less than an hour before its start depite a throng of national media on campus. The school’s board of trustees has not yet determined when Paterno will step aside, but the discussions regarding how and when he will depart have started. 

The 84-year-old Paterno, who has been the Nittany Lions head coach for 46 seasons and has helped raise tens of millions of dollars for the school, will ultimately endure a shocking graceless exit in the wake of former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky being charged with sexually abusing eight boys across a 15-year period. Although he reported an assault of a young boy in 2002 when he became aware of one of Sandusky’s alleged wrongdoings, Paterno’s inaction in regards to calling police or following up on the case revealed a lack of leadership and contributed to an apparent cover-up by top officials at the school. 

Top university officials Gary Schultz, the senior vice president for finance and business, and Tim Curley, the athletic director, were charged with perjury and failure to report to authorities what they knew of the allegations, as required by state law. 

Get your sports news at Yahoo Sports

sports.yahoo.com/