Paterno's ouster comes by telephone

STATE COLLEGE - With a phone call, Joe Paterno's tenure as Penn State's head coach is over.

Capping a surreal 5 days with an even more surreal news conference late last night, the school's Board of Trustees fired Paterno, effective immediately, scuttling the plans he had announced earlier in the day to retire at the end of the season.

In his statement, Paterno had urged the board not to "spend a single minute discussing my status."

The board thought otherwise, unanimously deciding to end Paterno's 46-year tenure as the school's head coach in the aftermath of sex-abuse charges filed against former longtime defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky and questions about the school's handling of the allegations.

"Right now, I'm not the football coach, and that's something I have to get used to," the 84-year-old Paterno told students who had remained gathered on his front lawn.

Penn State president Graham Spanier resigned, although it was clear he was forced out in the shakeup. He was replaced on an interim basis by provost Rodney Erickson.

"I would hope everyone who cares about Penn State . . . would agree that what we are doing is what we believe, in our best judgment, is in the best long-term interest of the university, which is much larger than the athletic program," said John P. Surma, the vice chair of the board.

"The past several days have been absolutely terrible for the entire Penn State community. But the outrage that we feel is nothing compared to the physical and psychological suffering that allegedly took place."

Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, an assistant for 33 years, was named the interim coach by interim athletic director Mark Sherburne. Penn State hosts Nebraska on Saturday before traveling to Ohio State and Wisconsin to finish the regular season, and then presumably a bowl game.

A team meeting is scheduled for this morning for Bradley to address his players.

Surma said the decision was conveyed to Paterno by phone because of the "greater distraction" it would have caused to have an in-person meeting. Reporters have been camped out at Paterno's house for most of the last 2 days and have followed his every move.

"We were unable to find a way to do that in person without causing a greater distraction," said Surma, saying he wanted to keep specifically what was said private. Surma and board chairman Steve Garban were the only ones to talk to Paterno, Surma said.

Asked what Paterno, who has been at Penn State for 62 years and won more games than any Division I football coach has meant to the school, Surma said, "He's made a great contribution," without elaborating.

Wide receivers coach Mike McQueary will remain on the coaching staff for now, Surma said. McQueary has come under harsh criticism for not doing more than informing Paterno after he witnessed Sandusky allegedly sodomizing a 10-year-old boy in the shower at the football complex in 2002. McQueary was a graduate assistant at the time.

"There is no change in his status," said Surma, who declined to elaborate further.

Paterno's son, quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno, will remain on the staff for now, Surma said.

Of course, a new coach likely will make changes on the coaching staff, given the current staff's deep and long ties to Paterno.

Surma announced that there is no change to the status of athletic director Tim Curley. Curley is charged with perjury and failure to report a crime. He took an an administrative leave this week.

Surma did not provide a reason as to why Paterno was fired but Curley remains on leave.

"These decisions are never easy in any walk of life," he said.

The board had a regularly scheduled meeting for today and a public meeting scheduled for tomorrow, but opted to make a decision before then.

"Today was the day our board felt we had sufficient deliberations and sufficient views that were consistent among the directors and trustees that we reached that judgment today," Surma said.

"We thought change now was necessary to allow this process to continue that we thought was damaging to the university and therefore we took the actions that we did."

Spanier had been at Penn State for 25 years, including 16 as the president.

In a statement, he said: "I am heartbroken to think that any child may have been hurt and have deep convictions about the need to protect children and youth. My heartfelt sympathies go out to all those who may have been victimized. I would never hesitate to report a crime if I had any suspicion that one had been committed . . .

"This university is a large and complex institution, and although I have always acted honorably and in the best interests of the university, the buck stops here. In this situation, I believe it is in the best interests of the university to give my successor a clear path for resolving the issues before us."

After the announcement, students gathered all over campus - on the steps of the administration building; perched atop the bronze statue of Paterno outside Beaver Stadium; Beaver Canyon; and more than 100 at Paterno's house. State police were using teargass downtown.

Paterno emerged from the house a second time to urge students to "get a good night's sleep and study." He also noted how late they were out.

A bouquet of flowers was placed on the front porch. Sue Paterno flipped on the porch light and came out to get them.

"Thank you, you are all so sweet. We love you all," she said, tears in her eyes as she returned inside.