Backpedaling

PA Governor: Paterno Wrongly Fired

Probably should have been suspended.

The late Penn State coach Joe Paerno should have been allowed to finish out the 2011 season instead of being fired, outgoing Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett said. Corbett, who just lost his reelection bid in the midterms, told the Philadelphia Inquirer the university should have suspended the legendary coach. "He probably should have been given the last three games, not on the sideline," he said. Paterno was fired in November 2011, via a phone call, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal. He had announced hours before that he would retire at the end of the season. Corbett was seen as among those who pushed for Paterno's dismissal. "It seems rather disingenuous to make that statement, given he made the charge to fire Paterno," Penn State trustee Anthony Lubrano told ESPN.