Joe Paterno, who was fired last week in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal, will have his name removed from the Big Ten Conference championship trophy.
The former Stagg-Paterno trophy will now be called simply the “Stagg Championship trophy” after Amos Alonzo Stagg — who coached the University of Chicago when it was a founding member of the Big Ten.
“We believe that it would be inappropriate to keep Joe Paterno’s name on the trophy at this time,” Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said in a statement. “The trophy and its namesake are intended to be celebratory and aspirational, not controversial.”
Both Paterno and Stagg are tied for the most NCAA games coached at 549, however Paterno is the winningest coach in Division I college football history with 409 victories.
The inaugural Big Ten Football Championship Game will be played on Dec. 3 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis with the winner getting a chance to either play in the Rose Bowl or the BCS National Championship Game.