PSU athletic director Joyner resigns

STATE COLLEGE — David Joyner, the Penn State athletic director who steered the department following the Jerry Sandusky scandal and Joe Paterno’s death, will resign Aug. 1.

Joyner was appointed acting athletic director in November 2011 after Tim Curley was placed on administrative leave.

“Our student-athletes, coaches, staff and the university community were a daily source of inspiration for me,” Joyner said Tuesday “The spirit of Penn State is strong, and the department’s commitment to integrity, as well as academic and athletic excellence, is stronger than ever.”

Penn State will form a search committee and work with a consulting firm in looking for its next athletic director. David Gray, senior vice president for finance and business at Penn State, will chair the search committee.

Joyner hired Bill O’Brien to replace Paterno following sanctions levied against the university because of the scandal. O’Brien coached the Nittany Lions for two years before leaving for the NFL’s Houston Texans.

Joyner also hired former Vanderbilt coach James Franklin as O’Brien’s successor. Joyner, a former offensive tackle, played for Paterno from 1969 to 1971. Joyner was a member of the Penn State Board of Trustees in November 2011 when state prosecutors filed child molestation charges against Sandusky and accused Curley of lying to a grand jury and failing to properly report suspected child abuse. Curley was placed on leave after he was charged and Joyner was named AD. Authorities added several more charges against Curley about a year later. The judge overseeing the criminal case against Curley, former vice president Gary Schultz and former university president Graham Spanier has not scheduled it for trial. Curley has since retired from the university.

In September 2012 the university announced that Joyner was likely to remain on the job until university president Rod Erickson retired, which occurred last month.