Before getting angry about this, understand it’s completely normal: Joe Paterno is still employed by Penn State, despite the decision to relieve him of his duties during the 2011 football season. The Penn State Board of Trustees made the unanimous decision to strip away his title of head football coach, but is continuing to work on a retirement package in accordance with his status as a tenured faculty member.
Joe Paterno Still Employed By Penn State As Tenured Faculty Member
In explaining its decision to remove Paterno, Board of Trustees chairman Steve Garban and vice chair John Surma released a statement on Thursday. While the board felt Paterno had to be removed from his post immediately, they still intend to honor the terms of his contract.
Coach Paterno remains employed by the University as a tenured faculty member. The details of his retirement are being worked out and will be made public when they are finalized. Generally speaking, the University intends to honor the terms of his employment contract and is treating him financially as if he had retired at the end of the 2011 football season
In the meantime, Penn State has hired Bill O’Brien as head coach and his staff is nearly complete as the Nittany Lions continue to move forward into life without Paterno at the helm.
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For more on the Nittany Lions, head to Penn State blog Black Shoe Diaries.
Related: Jerry Sandusky fallout, replacing Joe Paterno, and Penn State's movement to support sexual abuse survivors.