Earlier this week it was announced Penn State athletics director David Joyner will resign from his position. Joyner had never been much of a fan favorite, and the tales of his interactions with coaches and football players had been documented, including in the John Bacon book “Fourth and Long: The Fight for the Soul of College Football.” Joyner realizes why his image is tarnished to a certain extent, but he appears to not want to shoulder the responsibility for some of his actions as a member of the Penn State Board of Trustees and athletics director.
“I just think people have so many emotions tied up in how they feel about what went on that it interferes perhaps with some rational thought process,” Joyner said in a one-on-one interview with David Jones of The Patriot News. “And I don’t slight them for that; that’s not a criticism.”
What did Joyner mean by “what went on?” The firing of former head coach Joe Paterno, as the Jerry Sandusky scandal was ripping apart the program and university before a blitzkrieg of national media flocking in State College in November 2011.
“What happened with Joe and the Board and all the issues surrounding that,” Joyner explained. “You know, if you have a burr under your saddle, every time you move, it hurts, no matter what it is.”
Joyner’s critics ranged across the state of Pennsylvania. Penn State fans had been split as a result of the Sandusky crimes and to this day the healing as a community continues. Anger and outrage was directed at the leadership of the school, and that meant Joyner was a bit of a target as well after coming form the board. Joyner says he received plenty of criticisms for his actions from those who felt the entire Paterno portion of the fallout was mishandled, but he tried to suggest Paterno was never fired. Jones was not buying that.
From The Patriot News;Joyner: “The folks that may have come up to me and said that they were upset that I was part of Joe’s – well, let’s clarify something, too: He wasn’t fired. He was not permitted to coach the last three games.”
P-N: Oh, come on. And [former men’s basketball coach] Jerry Dunn wasn’t fired either. Please. Stop it.
Joyner: “I understand. Having said that, people have come up to me and said some things. It’s happened in the grocery store. Not very often anymore. But when it would happen, I would just say, ‘I respect your right to that opinion.’”
Joyner was also charged with the task of hiring a new head coach. That job search led to the hiring of New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien. O’Brien coached two seasons at Penn State, which were slammed with NCAA sanctions nobody quite expected later in the summer just before O’Brien got his head coaching gears in motion. O’Brien left to take a job as the head coach of the Houston Texans this offseason. Some felt O’Brien had issues with Penn State leadership, but Joyner suggests Penn State tried to give O’Brien everything the coach wanted.
“I’m not sure what he wanted that he didn’t get, to be honest with you,” Joyner said. “We tried every way we could to do everything we can. Not saying we can do everything. But we would talk very frequently about, hey, what do you need?”
Joyner will retire effect August 1 but has informed Penn State he will help with the transition as a new AD is brought in.
You can read the full interview with Joyner via The Patriot News.