Remember what I told you about Rodney Erickson the last time we met? It’s all John Surma’s fault.
Life was good for Penn State board vice-chairman John Surma on November 8, 2011. Jerry Sandusky had been indicted, along with V-P Gary Schultz and AD Tim Curley. Chairman Steve Garban stepped aside, handing the wheel to Surma. Here was his big chance. Though he had no idea how, or even if this connected to Joe Paterno, he wasn’t about to let the opportunity slip away. Never waste a crisis.
From all accounts, by about 2007, John Surma hated Joe Paterno. According to one source, Surma would ask President Graham Spanier about once a year, “Have you fired Paterno yet?” And Surma’s brother Vic was off the rails. In 2007, Vic Surma posted the following on a listserv board for former Penn State football players: “The Rat [Paterno] has hurt so many young men; destroyed their self-esteem, ruined their confidence, etc. I feel it is my obligation to expose his fraud to the national media before he checks out.” Vic’s incessant vitriolic posts got him banned from the group.
In Rich Scarcella’s 2003 book, “Penn State Nittany Lions – Stadium Stories,” Vic Surma was quoted as saying: “Joe instilled in us how to win. He’s a special man, a special person. There’s nobody better at taking high school players and making them win.” Huh? So what happened between 2003 and 2007?
Vic’s son, Vic Surma, Jr. was a member of Penn State’s football squad from 2003-2005, appearing in only two games. Perhaps more germanely, Surma, Jr. encountered drug and relationship problems during that time, went missing for several days, and was eventually asked to stay away from the football program until he got some help. According to notpsu.blogspot.com, several sources indicated that “(t)he Surma family put the problem on Joe and never forgave him. Even more important is the same change of attitude of John P. Surma at the same time. People who knew John were confused by the evident change of heart because he had been such a staunch Paterno supporter, but after 2007 made no attempt to hide his antipathy for the aging coach.” (For more detail on “The Surma Vendetta,” visit notpsu.blogspot.com. Barry Bozeman’s best work.) Surma, Jr. passed away on 1/26/14.
John Surma, who was in close contact with Corbett after the indictments, and the other trustees were furious on the afternoon of 11/5/11 when Spanier altered the script they had prepared for him, and released a statement that expressed sympathy for the victims, but also support for Schultz and Curley. Corbett wanted Spanier’s head anyway, and Surma wanted Paterno’s. There would be plenty to sort out later…but Spanier and Paterno would have to go…quickly.
Assistant coach Tom Bradley could help the football team limp to the season’s finish. But who would step in as president of the university? It would have to be someone who could be counted on to carry out unquestioningly any plan the scoundrels on the board would need to concoct. Someone utterly lacking in conscience, backbone or original thought. Someone, if Surma had his way…which he did… with a healthy distaste for Joe Paterno, big time college sports, or better yet…both. Maybe a guy who’d heard “No, you have to take him this time; we’ll just play without a right fielder,” a few too many times in his youth. A guy who’s been on the business end of a wedgie or two. An “errand boy,” if you will.
On November 8, 2011, John Surma spoke nine words that will live in Penn State infamy: “If it comes to it, we may need you.” “You” was Rodney Erickson.
The same day, according to numerous sources, Surma unilaterally canceled Joe Paterno’s scheduled news conference. He also established the Special Investigative Task Force, assigning Ken Frazier and Ron Tomalis to run it. Thus, the Freeh fraud was born.
The next day, Surma sort of took a vote among board members to determine Paterno’s fate. “Sort of,” in that no one really voted, but no one objected. That night, Surma betrayed no doubt to the world that Graham Spanier and Joe Paterno were to blame for covering up Jerry Sandusky’s crimes. Not that he had any idea himself. When asked, “But does the board believe there was any wrong here, and if so, …” Surma interrupted and replied: “The board doesn’t know that, and no one else does, either. This is very early in the process. The facts are not established. The board doesn’t really know that any more than anyone else does. And we will of course respect the law enforcement process that is still underway.”
By November 17, Louis Freeh had been hired, NCAA president Mark Emmert, flexing whatever muscle might lurk beneath his otherwise empty suit, sent a letter to Erickson, and John Surma apparently took advantage of a well-hidden clause in an equally well-hidden document to install Erickson as permanent president. I looked, but couldn’t find Surma’s authority in the Penn State charter, by-laws, standing orders, local traffic laws, zoning ordinances, Mom’s old recipe book, this week’s Sports Illustrated or behind the couch. Based on email evidence, Tom Corbett and board insiders Ken Frazier and Ron Tomalis were as surprised as anyone else. A trusted source reported that “the decision to hire Rod was made largely by Surma and Garban.” None of the board’s other members made a peep about such an “unconventional” hiring process. So twelve short days after the indictments…we’ve got Surma, Erickson and Freeh in command of the situation. “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.”
After the Freeh Report came out in July, 2012, Erickson was sent to negotiate with Emmert with strict orders: “Those guys did everything Freeh said they did. We don’t care if he has the right to interfere in this or not, do not challenge him. Do not come back to us without a deal. Sign whatever you have to, but do not let them investigate us…under any circumstances.” Needless to say, Rod wasn’t about to emerge from such negotiations walking Emmert on a leash. On 2/8/13, Surma announced that he would not seek reelection to the board when his term expired on 6/30/13. His work here was done.
I’ve wondered a good bit about what kind of foul witches’ brew might have been bubbling up during Sandusky’s early days at Penn State. Sandusky was a grad assistant in 1966, moved to Juniata in 1967 and Boston University in 1968. He returned to Penn State as a full-time assistant in 1969. Let’s take a whiff of the cauldron aboil during Sandusky’s first few years on duty:
Ira Lubert and Dave Joyner wrestled together (’70-’72). Joyner and Vic Surma played the same position on the football team (’69-’70). Vic Surma lived in a spare bedroom in Sandusky’s basement for a semester. Fullback Don Abbey (class of ’70), who has enjoyed a successful career in real estate in California, wrote a letter of recommendation for Ryan McCombie (also class of ’70) when McCombie ran successfully for an alumni seat on the BOT. Been awhile since I’ve been able to find it on the internet.
Abbey’s relationship with Joe Paterno blew hot and cold over the years. McCombie was closely associated with The Second Mile, having participated in its Friend Fitness program. He is a business associate of former Second Mile director Bruce Heim, and recommended Heim for the controversial, aborted Army pre-game coin toss in 2015. He has been photographed playing golf with Heim and former Penn State player Brian Gelzheiser, with self-professed Victim/Claimant #2 reportedly completing the foursome.
Ron Coder (class of ’75) played defense under Sandusky for at least part of his time at PSU. Ron’s father, Ron, Sr. was an early executive director of The Second Mile, and also served on the board of the Boalsburg Heritage Museum board of directors with former PSU trustee Anne Riley and convicted pedophile Christopher Lee. And Sandusky was Paul Suhey’s position coach in 1975-76 and his defensive coordinator in 1977-78. Jim Martin, Suhey’s orthopedics partner, testified as a character witness at trial for Sandusky. Suhey, Joyner and Vic Surma all had sons who got little or no playing time at Penn State under Joe Paterno. Suhey was also a fraternity brother of Joyner and Tim Curley.
John Surma (through U. S. Steel) was one of the Penn State board’s biggest contributors to The Second Mile, donating between $5,000 and $10,000 each year from 2005 through 2008, reducing their donation to between $2,000 and $5,000 in 2009 and 2010. (U. S. Steel also contributed $36,250 to Tom Corbett’s political campaigns between 2004 and 2012.) As was the case with some other trustees, Surma’s donations decreased at or near the same time the Sandusky/Central Mountain investigation began. But before we assume cause-and-effect there, it’s fair to note that U. S. Steel’s financial condition was deteriorating at the same time. The company followed up its $2.1 billion profit in 2008, with losses of $1.4 billion in 2009 and $482 million in 2010. Most companies would cut back on charitable contributions given those operating results. After the company’s stock price fell from $196/share in June of 2008 to less than $19/share in August of 2013, Surma was axed as CEO. The silver lining for John: Unlike the situation on November 9, 2011, no one had to wonder why. “How many CEOs of a company survive when the stock is down 90%?” said Charles Bradford, president of New York-based Bradford Research Inc. and a longtime observer of U. S. Steel.
Fiduciary responsibility to PSU…or stick it to the old man, and make big brother proud? Easy call for John Surma. “I feel it is my obligation to expose his fraud to the national media before he checks out.” U. S. Steel lost 90% of their value under John Surma’s leadership. They might have been the lucky ones.
SR/BHF
