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Major Shakeup: Penn State Fires Legendary Coach Paterno and College President

Major Shakeup: Penn State Fires Legendary Coach Paterno and College President

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Penn State trustees fired football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier (SPAN-yer) amid the growing furor over how the school handled sex abuse allegations against an assistant coach.

The massive shakeup Wednesday night came hours after Paterno announced that he planned to retire at the end of his 46th season.

But the outcry following the arrest of former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky on molestation charges proved too much for the board to ignore.

One key question has been why Paterno and other top school officials didn't go to police in 2002 after being told a graduate assistant saw Sandusky assaulting a boy in a school shower.

Penn State students stand outside the Old Main building on campus protesting the handling of a child abuse scandal involving a retired Penn State assistant football coach, in State College, Pa.,Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011. Penn State trustees fired football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier amid the growing furor over how the school handled sex abuse allegations against an assistant coach. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Paterno says he should have done more. Spanier has said he was not told the details of the attack.

Sandusky has denied the charges.

Rodney Erickson will serve as interim school president, and defensive coordinator Tom Bradley as interim coach.

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