Missouri coach Gary Pinkel was talking with reporters at the SEC Football Media Day and the topic of Joe Paterno came up. Pinkel was quoted saying, “You can’t take away the greatness of this man. He was a great man, and you can’t, however you analyze this, all of a sudden erase all that this guy’s done. You can’t do that. Nobody can do that.”
Pinkel thinks it is wrong to solely blame Paterno for the child abuse that took place on campus while Paterno ran the Penn State football program. Pinkel said Paterno was a friend who he got to know professionally. He added that it was a “tragic situation … involving children” and that “I’m sure maybe if (Paterno) could do it over again he would (have) followed up a few things.”
