Bill Plaschke: In wake of Sandusky scandal, Joe Paterno must resign

In 46 seasons as the football coach at Penn State University, Joe Paterno appeared to create a culture of winning and decency he called "Success with Honor."

Now that the culture has been exposed as a haven for an alleged child molester, Paterno needs to do the honorable thing and resign before he coaches another game.

It's sad that the winningest coach in major college football history will end his career with a giant "L" in the human-being department, but not nearly so sad as the idea that boys may have been abused because football's most controlling boss did nothing.

Paterno is a simple man, a basic man, with his trademark black shoes and white socks and thick black glasses remaining unchanged for nearly half a century. Surely this fundamental approach can help him understand why he can no longer run a program whose legendary sparkling blue-and-white uniforms hid a dark sickness within its locker room walls.

On Saturday, Jerry Sandusky, 67, a longtime Nittany Lions defensive coordinator who was once thought to be Paterno's successor, was charged with sexually abusing eight boys during a 15-year period. The grand jury’s findings of fact in the case read like a horror story, except the location wasn't some haunted mansion, it was Joe Paterno's hallowed halls.