The Paterno-as-morally-superior ship had already sailed, hadn't it? I remember several incidents of him spewing curse-laden rants, and then there was that ESPN expose a couple of years back and the "cute girl comes knocking" dismissal of a player's sexual assault charges already mentioned that got him in hot water in the press.Paterno enjoyed, and cultivated, a reputation for moral rectitude. That's one reason the parallels to the Catholic Church are more than superficial.
Among the historic parallels tossed out here, the most apt one is Benedict Arnold. Arnold, renowned as a patriot, was found to be a traitor. Paterno, renowned as a man of great virtue, looks more and more like the opposite of that.
EDIT: http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/27/sports/paterno-offers-apology.html for instance