Spurrier Remembers Joe Paterno

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno passed away this morning from lung cancer at the age of 85. South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier released a statement hours after Paterno’s death to remember one of the games greatest. “I have the utmost respect and admiration for Joe Paterno. I’ve coached around 300 college games and only once when I’ve met the other coach at midfield prior to the game have I asked a photographer to take a picture of me with the other coach. That happened in the Citrus Bowl after the ’97 season when we were playing Penn State. I had one of our university photographers take the picture with me and Coach Paterno, and I still have that photo in the den at my house. That’s the admiration I have for Joe Paterno. It was sad how it ended, but he was a great person and coach.” The final days of Paterno’s Penn State career were easily the toughest in his 61 years with the university and 46 seasons as head football coach. Paterno was fired from Penn State this past Novemeber due to the ongoing investigation and fallout of the Jerry Sandusky situation, his former assistant coach who has been charged with sexually assaulting 10 boys over a 15 year span. In the 46 years Paterno was Penn State’s head coach, he won 409 games and took the Nittany Lions to 37 bowl games which included two national titles in 1982 and 1987.