The team consistently ranked among the best in the Big Ten for graduating players.

He was a frequent speaker on ethics in sports, a conscience for a world often infiltrated by scandal and shady characters. From his idealistic early days, he had implemented what he called a вЂњgrand experimentвЂќ _ to graduate more players while maintaining success on the field. Paterno believed success was not measured entirely on the field. It is evident also in the thousands of successful student athletes who have gone on to multiply that impact as they spread out across the country.вЂќ вЂњThat impact has been felt and appreciated by our family in the form of thousands of letters and well wishes along with countless acts of kindness from people whose lives he touched. вЂњAs the last 61 years have shown, Joe made an incredible impact,вЂќ said the statement from the family. The university handed the football team to one of PaternoвЂ™s assistants, Tom Bradley, who said Paterno вЂњwill go down in history as one of the greatest men, who maybe most of you know as a great football coach.вЂќ Paterno was notified by phone, not in person, a decision that board vice chairman John Surma later regretted, according to Lanny Davis, an attorney retained by the trustees as an adviser. Graham Spanier, one of the longest-serving university presidents in the nation, also was fired. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.вЂќД«ut the university trustees faced a crisis, and in an emergency meeting that night, they fired Paterno, effective immediately. вЂњIt is one of the great sorrows of my life. He also said he was вЂњabsolutely devastatedвЂќ by the abuse case. When the scandal erupted in November, Paterno said he would retire following the 2011 season. I talked to people that I thought would be, if there was a problem, that would be following up on it.вЂќ вЂњAnd to be frank with you I donвЂ™t know that it would have done any good, because I never heard of, of, rape and a man. вЂњYou know, (McQueary) didnвЂ™t want to get specific,вЂќ Paterno said. вЂњI didnвЂ™t know which way to go вЂ¦ and rather than get in there and make a mistake,вЂќ Paterno said in the Post interview. Paterno waited a day before alerting school officials but never went to the police. McQueary described Paterno as shocked and saddened and said the coach told him heвЂ™d вЂњdone the right thingвЂќ by reporting the encounter. But outrage built quickly when the stateвЂ™s top cop said the coach hadnвЂ™t fulfilled a moral obligation to go to the authorities when a graduate assistant, Mike McQueary, told Paterno he saw Sandusky with a young boy in the showers of the football complex in 2002.ДЄt a preliminary hearing for the school officials, McQueary testified that he had seen Sandusky attacking the child with his hands around the boyвЂ™s waist but said he wasnвЂ™t 100 percent sure it was intercourse. Paterno was engulfed in a child sex abuse scandal when a former trusted assistant, Jerry Sandusky, was accused of molesting 10 boys over a 15-year span, sometimes in the football building. The reputation he built looked even more impressive because he insisted on keeping graduation rates high while maintaining on-field success.Д«ut in the middle of his 46th season, the legend was shattered. He won 409 games and two national championships. Paterno roamed the sidelines for 46 seasons, his thick-rimmed glasses, windbreaker and jet-black sneakers as familiar as the Nittany LionsвЂ™ blue and white uniforms. вЂњHe will go down as the greatest football coach in the history of the game,вЂќ Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said after his former team, the Florida Gators, beat Penn State 37-24 in the 2011 Outback Bowl. More than 250 of the players he coached went on to the NFL. The man known as вЂњJoePaвЂќ won 409 games and took the Nittany Lions to 37 bowl games and two national championships. Paterno built a program based on the credo of вЂњSuccess with Honor,вЂќ and he found both. He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community.вЂќ His ambitions were far reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them. вЂњHe fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. вЂњHe died as he lived,вЂќ the statement said. His family released a statement Sunday morning to announce his death: вЂњHis loss leaves a void in our lives that will never be filled.вЂќ

Coach after joe patterno