Penn State Coaches Larry Johnson and Ron Vanderlinden Deny Knowledge of ’02 Rape

Given the amount of sexual assault allegations against former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, and the evidence that points to a large-scale cover-up in State College, many people figured that all the coaches on staff had to know something. We have been measured regarding our assertions of who knew what (and when), because it would be unfair to assume that everyone knew everything. Two current assistant coaches say they did not know of the 2002 rape allegation against Jerry Sandusky until recently.

Larry Johnson, the team’s co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach, told ESPN “When you read the report, it sucks the life out of you. You read things that no one should be treated that way. Absolutely did not know anything that transpired in 2002. Whether people believe it or not is not really important thing, I think that’s something that we feel has to be told.”

Johnson has been on staff for 15 years, so he was around when the 2002 incident occurred. He also coached with Jerry Sandusky, so he may have been privy to some of the affairs from that time, including the 1998 investigation.

Assistant Ron Vanderlinden has more of an excuse because he has only been on staff since 2001. The current co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach vehemently denies any knowledge of anything until the recent investigation began.

“Because of the horrific nature of these allegations, it’s easy to see where members of the media would assume that we all knew,” Vanderlinden says. “I was shocked to find out as so many of them came forward and said ‘those guys must have known.’ We, in fact, didn’t know.

“We had just started a 10-day vacation when the [alleged rape] occurred in 2002. Many of us weren’t on staff with Jerry and just kind of knew him here-and-there. And for nine years, none of us had any inkling — until the attorney general’s office asked to speak with us last summer — we had no idea. We were shocked that any of this happened.

“And our character has been called into question that we would have known something and not done something. That’s hurtful as well. Had I heard [about the incident] maybe I would have said something. Like ‘Jerry, what are you thinking, what are you doing?’ But I didn’t know anything about that.”

There are some coaches who likely had some idea what was going on at the time, and as the head of the program, it’s quite likely Joe Paterno knew what was going on. But it is believable that at least someone like Vanderlinden, who really wasn’t around at the time, didn’t know of Sandusky’s behavior. That is believable.