Penn State Athletic Director Dave Joyner to Retire

It's been known for some time that Penn State was searching for a new athletic director - reports emerged this week that Northwestern AD Jim Phillips was being targeted for the position - so it's not much of a surprise that PennLive.com's David Jones is reporting that current AD Dave Joyner could resign by the end of this week.

If Joyner's time at Penn State is indeed coming to a close, it'll mark the end of the most controversial two-and-half-year era in Penn State's athletic history. Between the department's handling of the aftermath of the Sandusky scandal and the hiring of football coaches Bill O'Brien and most recently James Franklin, Joyner is perhaps the most polarizing non-Paterno figure among Nittany Lion faithful.

Despite that, however, PSU has won three NCAA Championships this past academic year (in women's volleyball, wrestling, and fencing), its most national titles since the 1999-2000 academic year. Per the University, student-athletes have an 88 percent graduation rate, and was number 5 in the most recent Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings, which tracks athletic achievement throughout each academic year across all sports.

The mothership also has their take, here.

More on Joyner's legacy and the candidates to replace him in the coming days.

Updated: the University has confirmed that Joyner will retire.

After Jones' column spread, Penn State confirmed later Tuesday that Joyner will retire as of August 1. He may stay on to aide the University in its transition under a new Athletic Director.

According to the PSU release, new President Eric Barron will name a search committee, along with an executive search and consulting firm, to find the next Director; Penn State senior VP for Finance David Gray will chair the committee. There are rumors circulating that Northwestern's current AD, Jim Phillips, was being courted for the position, but no names of candidates have been released.