Penn State Scandal: Forcing out Joe Paterno Won't Save Face at Penn State

Joe Paterno is going to leave Penn State sooner than later and it won’t matter if he resigns or the university forces him out.

We all know why he is going.

The institution is now in disarray, recruiting is more than likely an absolute disaster right now and no one has any idea what is next for this program.

Will the NCAA punish Penn State? The smart money says they will and almost have to, but with their impeccable history (not having a single NCAA violation) and no precedent being set for something like this, it could be a while before something is handed down.

It will be clear when Joe Paterno "resigns" this week that it is not because he planned to or wants to go out this way.

Penn State was ready earlier this year to give Paterno was a year-to-year deal to remain with the program and continue coaching in 2012 and possibly beyond, as long as his health would allow him at the age of 84.

Now that they have found out that Jerry Sandusky was allegedly sexually assaulting children during and after his tenure as the defensive coordinator, the Nittany Lions must disassociate themselves with everyone and anything related to that monster.

That means Joe Paterno, that means Tim Curley, that means Gary Schultz and that possibly even means Graham Spanier, president of the university.

Penn State is going to suffer and I mean suffer horribly over the next few years. It will take a ton of effort and time to heal this program.

They need to start the damage control now and admit what happened was vile, disgusting and wrong and start picking up the pieces and moving on.

The Paterno era is over in Happy Valley and it is a sad end. Hopefully the program will one day return to glory after this all passes.