The penn state problem, other than children being molested on school grounds, also included turning a blind eye towards players on and off campus illegal activities.
Penn State has traditionally had a lot less of that than most schools. Entirely apart from the Sandusky business I think Paterno was starting to lose control and judgment the last few years and players were getting away with more. Even if there had never been a Jerry Sandusky Paterno should have retired more than a decade ago.
As to the question of sanctions, the thing is, the problem at Penn State was NOT just a matter of a few individuals, it was a problem of institutional leadership and culture. The football team was a law unto itself with Paterno as the god-emperor. That is how and why the Sandusky affair played out the way it did. At any sane school the school leadership would have told Paterno what to do, not the other way around, and would have placed protecting the victims above success on the field. It's because of that worship and pursuit of success at any cost that this whole thing happened. THAT is why it is a problem for the whole program and not just the individuals involved - because everything they did, they did to ensure the success of the football team on the field. So in a way, the players DID benefit.
And yes, every other school with a big successful football program is the same way. This would have played out the same way at any of them if the coach had made the same bad decision. That is one reason it has to be punished. Change has to start somewhere and a line has to be drawn for everyone.
Yes, it's a shame for current players to suffer for sins of past leaders but that's how the world works. If the company you work for dumped toxic waste illegally 20 years ago and it's discovered today when it starts making kids sick at a school unknowingly built on top of the dump site, the company will be sued into bankruptcy and everyone who works there will be out of a job even if they had nothing to do with the crime. That's tough but the alternative is letting the company get away with a crime that was committed in order to make profits for the company. The individuals responsible weren't just acting on their own behalf, they were acting on behalf of the company they were in charge of, so the company is responsible. Likewise the leadership at Penn State.
The NCAA has to show that this sort of culture is intolerable and the school has got to show that it is not a football team with a school attached, it is an educational institution that is much more important than any football game and can survive with or without football. One year death penalty at a minimum - two or even four would be better - and the statue must come down. Students currently on scholarship should be allowed to transfer without penalty or stay on scholarship at Penn State without playing. The rest of the athletic department shouldn't be punished apart from the loss of revenue, they have no control over the almighty football team. Needless to say, Spanier, Schultz, and Curley should and probably will go to jail.
