Coaching Legend Joe Paterno Passes Away[Photos]

Penn State's coaching staff,  students and fans the world over are in mourning today after the legendary Joe Paterno died yesterday at age 85.  Paterno's death comes a little more than a week after getting his record-setting 409th win.

H storied, 46-year career was marred at the end by a child sexual abuse scandal at Penn State involving a former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky.  Paterno was diagnosed with lung cancer on Nov. 18th.   The diagnosis came just days after Paterno was fired by Penn State's Board of Trustees in the wake of the Sandusky sex abuse scandal.

Paterno  was later hospitalized when he fell at home and fractured his pelvis. He initially hurt his pelvis  after he was blindsided on the sideline during pre-season practice in August.

In a recent interview,  Paterno was described as being  "wracked by radiation and chemotherapy, in a wheelchair with a broken pelvis, and 'shocked and saddened' as he struggles to explain a breakdown of devastating proportions."

The sex abuse trial will continue in Paterno's absence.

Here's a gallery looking back on Paterno's distinguished college football coaching career: