University president Rodney Erickson wants to close the door on Joe Paterno and Penn State football
In the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, newly appointed Penn State President Rodney Erickson has avowed to the Nittany Lion nation that he will place less emphasis on football. He wants to portray Penn State as a “world class research institution” rather than Linebacker-U. One of Erickson’s first initiatives to reach this goal is to establish a national Center for the Protection of Children that will be housed at Hershey Medical Center Children’s Hospital and funded by the football team’s bowl proceeds. This move is a clear act that Erickson will change the identity and image of the university.
Erickson, in conjunction with Damon Sims, VP of Student Affairs, agrees that there needs to be a de-emphasis on athletics because “there’s all this other stuff that’s more important to us than football.” Both agree that it would be a mistake to hire a new football coach at a premium rate such as Ohio State’s recent addition of Urban Meyer for roughly $4.5 million per year.
Many former players are displeased with Erickson’s direction. As former all-American RB Lydell Mitchell states, “de-emphasize football makes no sense.” The reality is, Joe Paterno and Penn State football put the university on the map and made the school what it is today. Sports, especially at Penn State, is a necessary component to the success of the university. Kids aren’t going to go to Penn State because of its great geography program. They go to Penn State because Joe Paterno tells them to “come to Penn State.”
Proponents of taming the Nittany Lions and the football program all agree that Erickson is pointing the school in the right direction. One former graduate believes “football is king at Penn State, it’s about time the school focuses on academics.” “Besides, when was the last time Penn State actually won a game of relevance?”
Despite what side of the coin you land on, Erickson apparently wants to dismiss everything Joe Paterno did and created. Paterno turned Penn State into a top college football program, winning 24 bowl games, churning countless NFL caliber players, and bringing home two national championships. For Erickson to dial-down the program would be a huge mistake both financially and spiritually. If he really wants to clean house and make a change, he should start by looking in the mirror.
Erickson has been Penn State’s executive VP since 1999, right at the heart of the alleged Sandusky incidents. Why isn’t he being accounted for? The entire Board, who could not of handled the situation any worse, needs to be investigated and questioned. These are just but a few questions that need to be answered.
The Jerry Sandusky scandal was not about the football program, it was about the top brass and how they failed to have institutional control. It just so happened that it involved the football coaches and high ranking school officials. The top ranking officials, who appear to have made it unscathed, should bear some of the blame. But Erickson is deflecting responsibility and pointing to the football program. Now the football program, all Penn State athletics (which are funded by the program), and all students and alumni are going to suffer the repercussions.
We must certainly not forget about the lives of the victims, but dismissing and paralyzing a football program as damage control is the wrong approach. Erickson must reconsider how he handles this PR nightmare.
