Tom Bradley Will Be Interim Head Coach as Joe Paterno Reportedly Forced out

What we thought would happen in days or perhaps weeks has come far sooner. Penn State head coach Joe Paterno is reportedly out and Tom Bradley has been called upon to pick up the pieces. 

The Penn State board of trustees met on Wednesday to discuss the steps that needed to be taken in order to restore some semblance of order to the University and the football program. 

The biggest news to come from that is that President Graham Spanier has been ousted, and so has longtime head coach Joe Paterno. In a press conference Wednesday night, the board issued a statement that assistant coach Tom Bradley would serve in the interim as head coach. 

Prior to the bomb that was dropped, word was leaked by way of Twitter by ABC Philadelphia reporter Jim Gardner. He initially released this tweet signaling that the president of Penn State would be forced out. 

Then came the tweet we thought we would see at some point, just not this soon into the board's investigation into the scandal. 

Paterno has served as the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions since 1966. Before that, he served as an assistant coach from 1950 on. 

During his tenure as head coach, Paterno led the Nittany Lions to a record of 409-136-3. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and winner of two national championships and three Big Ten titles. 

In 1986, Paterno was named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year. It remains to be seen what many will remember his legacy as. The man was no doubt a winner that took the Nittany Lions to the highest of highs. 

Amidst allegations, it seems that his secondary accomplishment of running a program of the highest honor was all a farce. 

Time is certain to heal many of the wounds left by the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Tom Bradley takes over what looks to be the toughest job in all of sports. 

He must corral a team that is no doubt emotionally scarred and a program that is shamed. The Nittany Lions will face one of their toughest opponents this weekend in Nebraska, and they will do it without the man that has led them onto the field for over four decades.