Leadership 'failure' led to Paterno firing

STATE COLLEGE, Pa., March 12 (UPI) -- Penn State's Board of Trustees said football Coach Joe Paterno was fired due to his lack of actions following allegations of sexual abuse by an assistant coach.

Paterno, who died in January, had been fired Nov. 9 following a unanimous vote of the board, which was also trying to deal with allegations against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Other university officials were also fired.

Sandusky has been charged with multiple counts of sex crimes involving young boys. An indictment listing the allegations was handed down Nov. 4 and his trial is to begin May 14.

Sandusky was a member of Paterno's Penn State staff from 1969-99.

The board issued a report Monday outlining the reasons for Paterno's dismissal, saying his failure to address concerns regarding Sandusky "constituted a failure of leadership." It said Paterno did his "minimum legal duty" when he heard of allegations about Sandusky.

Paterno had been associated with Penn State since 1950 and was head coach from 1966-2011. His teams had a combined record of 409-136-3. The 409 victories are the most for a major-college coach.

He died of lung cancer at the age of 85.