He was portrayed as a saint and derided as a phony for as long as I knew about him. As always, it was more complicated than either extreme.
The fact is, his players would get in scuffles, have a few beers, run into girl trouble and otherwise be stupid kids, and pay with a short trip to the doghouse.
But God forbid they skip a class.
For that alone, among coaches who also win football games, he was unique, and a treasure.
He reported a couched account of a child sexual assault perpetrated by a former employee to his superiors promptly, and directed them to the eyewitness. He should have done more, and said that he wished he had. Alone among the principals, he took ownership of that.
But as the most visible symbol of Penn State, he also took nearly all the heat from the media and the public. (Not from the attorney general prosecuting the case, who praised him). And he handled that like you would predict, too.
He should have lived long enough for justice to be served, for the dust to settle, and for his role in this terrible, terrible thing be considered proportionately.
He was a great man.
— Tim Beidel