The New York Times on Tuesday reported that Joe Paterno would lose his job in the wake of the scandal that’s currently consuming the Penn State football program and the university as a whole. That hasn’t come to pass yet, but whether or not it’s a done deal like the Times report suggested, it probably eventually will be. The Associated Press reports that support for Paterno and Penn State president Graham Spanier is “eroding” on the PSU Board of Trustees.
A person familiar with the trustees’ discussions and who used the term “eroding” said it was unclear what the consequences for Paterno will be and that a decision could be rendered before the board meets on Friday.
Penn State President Graham Spanier has also lost support among the Board of Trustees, the person said, but again, how much was unclear.
It’s hard to imagine how Spanier will survive this, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to figure out how Paterno will be able to do more than finish out the year, if that. He doesn’t appear to have committed any crime, but he appears to be guilty of failing to do more than tell his superiors after then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary reported to Paterno that former coach Jerry Sandusky had committed a sex act with a young boy in a shower in a Penn State football locker room. Paterno’s value to the university as a figurehead has been dramatically reduced, perhaps irreversibly so.