Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 is a day that will be remembered throughout college sports history for many years to come. The day was the last of a legend of college sports, Joe Paterno, former Pennsylvania State University head football coach.

Paterno lost his fight to lung cancer after the end of a storied coaching career that ended on a dark note. The scandal cost Paterno the job that he held for 62 years. The image left should not be marred by that of the sexual abuse scandal by an assistant coach, but of a man that put player graduation first and college football second.

Paterno, or Joe Pa to many, ends a legacy that sees him at the top of the all-time NCAA Division I head coaching win chart with 409 career wins, second only to John Gagliardi in all time wins in the NCAA overall. The legacy that Joe Pa should be remembered by is the students’ lives that he became a part of as their leader.

Under Paterno, more than 80 percent of the athletes he led on the field excelled in the classroom and earned a college degree. To put that achievement in perspective, the average NCAA football graduation was just 69 percent in 2010, which was an all-time high since the NCAA kept track of the percentage.

His philosophy, on and off the football field, was about winning. He was about winning in the classroom first. He was one of the first coaches in the NCAA to adopt a program of having set study-hall schedules for student athletes and one of the first to have standards to be able to play for Penn State. As students would fall below his standard, he would not toss them aside but make sure they were put back onto the right path toward graduation.

That same message is carried out here at UTA. Athletics director Pete Carlon and his successor Jim Baker strive to make sure all student athletes graduate. It’s been a message UTA and the coaching staff have spoken for years, following the lead of such examples like Paterno.

Remember his philosophies on and off the field for winning. The mistake was admitted and apologized for. While forgiveness may not be given, he helped provide a foundation for many young men to excel by the time they would leave the program.

His legend and legacy is not soon forgotten, and all fans should give their respects to the man, if not for his football memory, but for the difference he made in everyone’s lives around him.