Nobody Believed Jerry Sandusky’s 1999 Retirement Was for Good

There is a popular theory regarding a potential Penn State cover-up that suggests former defensive coordinator/alleged pedophile Jerry Sandusky was forced to retire in 1999, shortly after University Police investigated him for a sexual assault allegation.

We have asked the question: Why was the 1998 investigation called off by the University Police director? It is quite possible they didn’t press forward because the prosecutors didn’t think they had enough evidence for a conviction. It’s also possible that the investigation was called off because the athletic department/football program got involved and told them that they would make Sandusky go away if campus police made the incident go away.

Supporting the theory that Sandusky was forced out are the comments from a December 26th, 1999 article appearing in The Vindicator, a Youngstown (Ohio) newspaper. (Credit to Busted Coverage for finding the article). Here is an excerpt from the article:

He is leaving Penn State, but nobody believes this retirement gig is for good. Not even Sandusky. After all, one reason he is leaving now is because of an attractive retirement plan offered to state employees this summer. He has turned down coaching offers in the past. He might not if something opens next year.

“I’ll coach,” [Jerry Sandusky] said. “I’m going to coach at football camps. I have to do that. I might coach midget leagues.”

He said he might decide he needs to coach Division I again.

Have you heard of many coaches walking away from the game because of a good retirement plan? The only other one who I recall retiring under those circumstances was Colts offensive line coach Howard Mudd. He’s back in football and with the Eagles.

The other reason cited for Sandusky’s retirement was that he was told he was not going to get the head coaching job at Penn State. That makes sense — Joe Paterno was still coaching until this week. It’s equally likely that JoePa told him “I’m never going to retire,” as it is that he said “We can’t have you around the program anymore because of the child molestation investigation.”

It’s possible that Sandusky decided he wanted to work with children and The Second Mile almost exclusively. That does make sense given how obsessed he appeared to be with children. But the circumstances of Sandusky’s abrupt retirement raise many questions.