Penn State Football: Duke's Coach K Wrong to Criticize Joe Paterno's Firing

The problem with the Penn State scandal, specifically as it relates to the firing and legacy of Joe Paterno, is that no matter how much his family wants to heal and the program wants to move on, there will never be a shortage of people willing to rip the proverbial scab off.

It appears two such people are CNN's Piers Morgan and legendary Duke basketball Mike Krzyzewski. According to StateCollege.com, Morgan asked the iconic head of Duke basketball his opinion of Paterno's departure from Penn State, and "Coach K" pulled no punches in his response:

"

It was horrible, and I've respected coach Paterno my entire life and had a chance to get to know him really well in the last year of his life. I thought it was really not well done in handling the situation that—it's a difficult situation to encounter.

You had somebody who's given six decades of service to the university and done such an incredible job. Somehow, you have to let—something has to play out and respect the fact that you've gone through all these experiences for six decades. It doesn't just go out the window right at the end. I thought it was a real mistake by Penn State's leadership.

"

That's an interesting answer, and certainly one that most Paterno supporters share. The correct answer, however, is this:

"I'm not going to comment on something like that. I've respected coach Paterno my entire life and had a chance to get to know him really well in the last year of his life, but I'm not qualified to comment on a situation as unique as that, especially six months after the fact, when everybody's trying to heal. I'm sorry."

And to be clear, it would be every bit as inappropriate if Krzyzewski had taken the side of the Regents.

It's easy to appreciate the sentiments Krzyzewski espouses here. Yes, practically everybody would have liked to see Paterno leave on his own terms from a sentimental perspective—the Board of Regents included.

From a practical standpoint, though, the Board of Regents was operating with more information on the situation than anybody else (including, obviously, Krzyzewski), and it was their determination that Paterno couldn't keep coaching.

Krzyzewski is free to (and does) think that sucks. It doesn't behoove him, however, to stoke the fires of that controversy once again, even at the prodding of a third party for the sake of an interview.