The process of moving on from the Joe Paterno era will prove to be a costly one for the Penn State athletic department specifically and the university as a whole, and not just in the area of civil litigation either.
At PSU’s first board of trustees meeting since Paterno’s firing Nov. 9, acting athletic director David Joyner informed the trustees in attendance that, at the moment, it will cost in the neighborhood of $4.4 million in severance for the coaches not retained by the new head coach.
Thus far, six of the nine members of Paterno’s 2011 coaching staff have not been retained by Bill O’Brien. The only holdovers rehired by O’Brien are Larry Johnson Sr. (defensive line) and Ron Vanderlinden (linebackers).
The ninth member of Paterno’s final Nittany Lions staff is wide receivers coach Mike McQueary, who is currently on administrative leave. McQueary is a key witness in the prosecution’s case against former PSU assistant Jerry Sandusky. McQueary’s status will be determined at a later date, and any severance package he receives will push the total beyond the current mark of $4.4 million.
Additionally, there’s the cost of replacing the old with the new. O’Brien agreed to a five-year deal earlier this month that’s worth roughly $2.3 million annually; in 2011, Paterno was scheduled to earn $1.02 million. Of course, there were likely also increases in salary for position coaches hired by O’Brien compared to what the coaches in the same positions were paid last year.
Paterno, incidentally, was in the final year of his contract when he was fired. In a statement on the legendary coach’s dismissal last week, the school confirmed that “the University intends to honor the terms of his employment contract and is treating him financially as if he had retired at the end of the 2011 football season.”
What exactly that will ultimately entail is still in the process of being negotiated.