My dad is, without question, the smartest man I know. And as the tidal wave of scandal has begun to break over Penn State’s football program, I wanted to know how something of this magnitude could have been hidden so well for so long. Naturally, I turned to him.

But for the first time, my dad was at a loss for words. You see, he is a proud Penn State alumnus and grew up just an hour south of campus. Recently, he was trying to put into perspective how impressive legendary coach Joe Paterno’s career wins record truly is.

JoePa took over as head coach of the Nittany Lions in 1966. Yes, 1966. If I remember correctly, that was when “Batman” first premiered on television. And when Willy Mays signed the richest contract in baseball history, for $130,000 a year.

That was 44 years ago, when my dad was about to turn 12. And since then, he has won 409 games, an average of more than seven games a year. Every. Single. Year.

And all at the same place: the little town of Happy Valley, Penn. Now that’s a streak unlike any other. Joe DiMaggio may have hit in 56-straight games, but he’d have to keep hitting for another 658 months to equal the time Paterno has devoted to building a program that is firmly cemented among the elite in college football.

There are several great coaches in the game today. From Boise State’s Chris Petersen to former Florida head coach Urban Meyer, to LSU’s Les Miles or Alabama’s Nick Saban. They form the elite in the coaching ranks today, and yet the closest of the bunch to Paterno is Saban, with 142 wins.

Not too shabby; only 267 more to go. If Saban can average 10 wins a year, he could reach JoePa in 26 more years, or the year 2038, when Saban is a robust 86 years old. And that’s if he can win 10 games a year, which is not exactly realistic.

Miles would have to win 310 more, putting him in the ballpark at age 90. Meyer might be the big hope, since he has just 340 wins to go before he reaches the top. And in 34 years, he’ll only be 81. But we saw him burn out at Florida long before the wins stopped piling up and the grumblings from alumni and boosters grew louder and louder.

The record pales in comparison to JoePa’s legacy as a human being, however. He and his wife Sue have long been dedicated philanthropists and anchors of the Penn State community. While programs like USC and Alabama and Auburn and Ohio State were rocked time and again by allegations of improper benefits and malfeasance by athletes, JoePa had the reputation of knowing how to win the right way.

He was revered around the country as a demigod, particularly as he grew older and people loved the little ol’ ball coach trudging around town with his khaki pants rolled up at the cuff and his trademark glasses.

And that’s what makes JoePa’s fall from grace all the more tragic, because for those of you who don’t know, Paterno is on the ropes at Penn State because one of his former assistants, Jerry Sundesky, is accused of molesting several young boys. And many think Paterno did not do enough to satisfy his moral obligation to stand up and put a stop to the abuse.

Never did my dad ever imagine he would see the day when JoePa was forced out of Happy Valley because of an issue with his moral compass. Maybe because the team was struggling to score, or because “Linebacker U” was more like “Linebacker Who?”

I believe that Paterno ought to stay, because he means that much to the team and the university that he should be the one to sort things out and unify everything in the midst of this disaster. And until all the facts come out, it seems very unfair to blame him for what he did not do when plenty of other people had to have known what he knew. (Incidentally, no one is questioning Paterno’s legal grounds because he did report the alleged incident to his bosses when he found about them.)

But it will be sad to see the day when JoePa is no longer roaming the sidelines, inspiring students and making people like my dad remember why college football was once the pinnacle of athletic achievement.

Give ‘em hell, Joe.

Miles believes in the legacy of JoePa. Share your thoughts at [email protected] and check him out on Twitter @smilesbsmith.