STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The Pennsylvania State University trustee who fired football coach Joe Paterno over the phone is leaving the board when his term ends in June. John Surma was vice chairman of the board of trustees when he told Paterno that he was being ousted as Penn State's head coach after 46 seasons.
Surma delivered the news on Nov. 9, 2011, shortly after the board voted unanimously to fire the Hall of Fame coach in the wake of the child sex-abuse charges against former Paterno assistant Jerry Sandusky. Paterno died two months later at age 85.
