Joe Paterno: 3 Ways He Could Have Saved His Legacy by Doing the Right Thing

With the alleged acts that went on under Joe Paterno's watch at Penn State, the legacy of one of the greatest college coaches ever will for sure be tarnished. 

All those wins will come second to the allegations of what Jerry Sandusky did under the roof of the Penn State football program.

But it didn't have to be this way. If Paterno had done things differently, he could have saved his legacy at Penn State.

Reported What Mike McQueary Told Him to the Police

Mike McQueary is the assistant coach, then graduate assistant, who allegedly witnessed Jerry Sandusky molesting a boy in the Penn State showers.

It has been reported that he told what he saw to Paterno, who then failed to report what McQueary said to the police.

All Paterno had to do was report what McQueary said to the police, and he could have saved his legacy. He would not be viewed as the man who tried to cover for his friend, Sandusky, but would be viewed as the man who did the right thing.

Unfortunately for Paterno, he did not report this to the proper authorities, and that is part of the reason why he was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Penn State football program. 

Banned Sandusky from Campus After Learning About What He Did

The second Joe Paterno got light of the possible things Jerry Sandusky was doing at the Penn State football facilities, he should have banned him from the facilities and university immediately.

When you hear of potential child molestation, there is no time to sit around, you have to take action immediately.

If he banned Sandusky upon learning about the allegations, he could have rid the program of any further wrong doings by Sandusky, but instead, he was allowed to stick around the football program up until a couple weeks ago. 

Resigned after Allegations Came out

It may not have saved his legacy a lot, but if Joe Paterno had resigned, rather than made the Board of Trustees fire him, his legacy could have been saved a bit.

Resign is a much nicer word than fired, and to hear that one of the greatest coaches of all time was fired, will never help your legacy among the public. 

Since Paterno didn't do the right thing when he found out about what Sandusky was doing, resigning would have been a step in the right direction.