Joe Paterno

Following a day of swirling rumors, speculation, and false reports; the family of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno conforms that he passed away this morning at the age of 85. Paterno had been diagnosed with lung cancer in November, and was hospitalized for a broken pelvis in December.

The board of trustees at Penn State University fired head coach Joe Paterno along with the university's president as a result of the growing child sex-abuse scandal that centers around former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. Paterno had been the Penn State head coach for 46 years.

Amid the sexual-abuse scandal surrounding the Penn State football program, head coach Joe Paterno has agreed to retire at the end of the season. Paterno has been the head coach at Penn State since 1966. Paterno's move comes in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal involving a former assistant football coach.