The single most damning moment for Paterno was when he held court a few days after the allegations surfaced and helpfully explained that the Board of Trustees had better things to do than look at the issue.
That was a blatant display of his de facto power, and the board could not let it stand. I don’t think Paterno was evil, and I have come to believe he was more of an addled figurehead than any sort of conniving dictator. But the board did the right thing for the university in the long run. Did they do the right thing for Paterno? Well, that really shouldn’t have been their concern. Everyone thought what was good for Joe was good for PSU and vice versa, but this situation changed all of that.
Good way to put it. Paterno simply stayed way, way too long. He should have retired 15 years ago, but I guess being an icon is addictive stuff.