But Eddie Robinson Jr., who played and coached for his father at Grambling, said it's not a happy day for the family.
"Today is mixed emotions for me," Eddie Robinson Jr said. "I've talked to a lot of people who've asked me if I was happy. I can't truly say that I am.
"I've known Coach Paterno for years, and the only thing I can say that I knew about him ? is that to me, he was a great coach and a class individual.
"As far as what has happened, I don't have all the investigative facts and I'm not close enough to it to say what it should be and what it shouldn't be."
Eddie Robinson Jr. said he's talked to Paterno several times at the American Football Coaches Association convention and said his father enjoyed Paterno.
Robinson finished his 57-season career at Grambling in 1997 with 408 wins. Before the NCAA sanctions, Paterno had 409, the last coming a week before the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal broke.
Grambling President Frank Pogue said he doesn't think Robinson would have been celebrating Monday, either.
"Eddie Robinson would be have been the first to express regret at this situation," Pogue said. "We at Grambling State University will always feel that Eddie G. Robinson was the smiling face of this university.
"The reason he will be known as the winningest Division I coach here is larger than football. He took men largely from small towns with virtually no equipment to play with compared to Penn State and most of the larger universities.
"He was able to say to those men that you are somebody, and you are attending Grambling, and Grambling is the winning spirit of football and athletics."
Doug Williams, the current Grambling coach and former quarterback under Robinson, was out of town Monday, but he shared a similar view that several other officials expressed.
He said Eddie Robinson can't be defined by any number of wins.
"Today doesn't change any player's opinion of Coach Rob," Williams said. "Players like Franco Harris that played for (Joe Paterno) held him in high esteem, and players that played for (Robinson) feel the same way.
"I don't think (Robinson) would be happy today."
Last week, Cynthia Breedlove, an attorney for the city of Grambling, petitioned to the NCAA to vacate some of Paterno's wins in hopes of getting Robinson restored as the record holder. She did so with the back of Grambling Mayor Edward Jones.
Monday, Jones said the city is "elated" that Robinson has the record back. But he said the city's foremost thoughts are with the victims of the abuse, "and it's our prayer that everyone involved will heal."
The mayor said the petition was never meant to alter the NCAA process, just to voice the city's position.
"Before others can fight for you, they have to know that you approve the fight," Jones said. "We took the stance that we couldn't expect Penn State or the NCAA to address the issue unless we supported it.
"Eddie Robinson is very special to us ? He was an ideal American ? and because of who he was, we felt compelled to take that test."
Robinson died in 1997 at age 88. The following year, the Football Writers Association of America named its coach of the year award in Robinson's honor. The winner of the initial Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year trophy? Joe Paterno.
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomCollegeSports-TopStories/~3/IctUXs6pLSY/1
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