And that pretty much sums it up. Paterno does not have a boss, he is the boss. As one columnist wrote, "Did you even know Penn State had a president before today?"
There was no chain of command to kick it up. If Paterno played that game it does portray him as a little lacking in character.
Paterno stated yesterday he did what he was required to do. You can drop the 'if'.
Of course not, practically everyone knows he runs the show, however, as I said he covered his butt legally, by reporting it to his technical supervisor, but didn’t follow up and did not call the cops. He covered himself legally, but didn’t do remotely the right thing.
I suspect we are going to find out that this coaches “retirement” in 1999 was because it was common knowledge this guy was doing this, and rather than reporting it pushed him out... Also, I fear that the local police up in happy valley probably were complicite in the cover up as well. That’s speculation at this point, but I’d say its better than even odds.