Joe Paterno’s passing sparks debate on college coach as all-powerful leader (and saint)
Bill Livingston / The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND — Joe Paterno was the Lion King. His reign lasted from the 1960s until he was fired at Penn State in November.
There won’t be another quite like him, due to Penn State’s geographic isolation, his success and his astonishing longevity with the Nittany Lions in a win-now world. No big-city media organizations focused on the Nittany Lions on a daily basis. Central Pennsylvania was almost Paterno’s personal fief, to run as he saw fit.
In 2004, after a 4-7 record, Paterno’s second straight losing season, former Penn State president Gordon Spanier went to Paterno’s house to tell him it was time to retire. Paterno told Spanier to take a hike.
Ohio State president E. Gordon Gee made himself the butt of jokes when he quipped in the midst of the memorabilia sale scandal that he worried Jim Tressel might dismiss him. But when Ohio State’s reputation was at stake, Gee forced Tressel out, albeit by changing his resignation to a “retirement” with a sweet benefit package.
