Are you suggesting with a straight face that they would have covered it up if it was the chess team coach instead of the football coach?
I am not suggesting that. I wonder if the NCAA COULD have acted if it had been the chess team that was involved? Cheating in NCAA sports, violating recruiting rules, mistreating players and other team personnel, cheating at academics to preserve elegibility, etc. all seem fair game for NCAA action.
I suspect that any number of on campus actions might potentially harm an athletic program. If the marching band director was implicated in such actions, and Paterno had not disclosed it, would that be enough to invoke the NCAA? How about a physics professor? If Paterno had gone public, would Sandusky’s actions have been enough to invoke the NCAA’s authority? How do the lines get drawn, and do the schools know in advance what would constitute a violation?
As has been pointed out by others, Penn State signed off on the sanctions, so the point is moot here.