Dr. Rodney Erickson, who was hastily named as the President of Penn State University during the first frantic days following “the greatest scandal in the history of college athletics,” just gave one of those “exclusive” interviews to USA TODAY and, boy oh boy, the one-time geography professor came across as a lost soul badly out of touch with reality.

I have no doubt that Prof. Erickson can tell us how the Strait of Gibraltar differs in global importance from the Strait of Hormuz but when he said on Wednesday that his university is reassessing its role as a “football school,” it was clear to those who have watched an unthinkable tragedy unfold that this guy has already lost his vision and perhaps his mind.

In the first place, the sport of football had absolutely nothing to do with the horrendous stories that have spilled from glorious Happy Valley since a former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, was first arrested on charges of child abuse. The Penn State students, the alumni who pack into Beaver Stadium (the second-largest in the nation) and not a one of the now 96 All-Americans who wear the tradition-rich blue-and-white uniforms didn’t, either. To even suggest anything otherwise is a travesty.

Yet Dr. Erickson, perhaps after listening to some zany damage-control expert, made it clear he wants to change Penn State’s image to “a world-class research institution” and told reporters, “We want that to be the front face of the university.”

What is this guy thinking? Everybody knows Penn State is one of the most respected schools in the country but to slander or even hobble the hallowed Nittany Lions would be akin to killing a cow that produces too much milk. Instead of striving for overall brilliance, here’s a stumbling “PhD” who seeks to put a de-emphasis a century of glory, pride and heart-fierce loyalty.

How many people does this guy think will show up on a Saturday afternoon in the fall and pay $100 a pop to watch a chemistry experiment? How many who pay $2,000 a seat to be in the Nittany Lion Club are going to come to a trigonometry test, a Chopin recital or a reading of 18th century poetry?

On the same day his comments were being read by a reported 1.8 million readers, NCAA President Mark Emmert was not to be outdone, saying in a pious stance, “There’s no question the allegations at Penn State should cause us all to look at the role of an athletic program and determine whether or not we have everything in proper balance.

"If those allegations are correct,” Emmert added, “then it certainly suggests that the culture of the program has gotten out of balance with the realities of what an academic institution and society demand of it.”

My goodness gracious! Why can’t everybody just shut up? The stark truth is that any fool knows this is the time to be absolutely silent. It’s just like any cop will tell you, “Anything you say can – and will – be used against you.” Sandusky, arrested on more charges, is due in court for a preliminary hearing next week, along with two Penn State leaders who have been charged with perjury in an alleged cover-up. Certainly there is more to come in the months ahead.

But apparently Erickson isn’t smart enough to save his voice, or his face. He cried for an “urgency for discussions about the role of big-time athletics and where they interact with higher education” and vowed not to “run away from the issue of child abuse.” Oh please, Professor!

Then he badly tipped his hand, saying it would be a “terrible mistake” to pay a new coach on a scale equal to the $4.5 million Ohio State just promised Urban Meyer or the $6.5-million “package” that just-named Coach of the Year Les Miles could haul after LSU’s BCS Championship game.

The average salary of an upper-tier college coach is now $1.47 million – up 55 percent in just six years. If Erickson dares mess with the football splendor of Penn State he’ll soon commit hari-kari. Listen to Lydell Mitchell, one of the best to ever play in Beaver Stadium:

“We never want to forget those victims but to try and put this all on football is just ludicrous. I don’t want to say that Penn State football made the university, but it certainly put it on the map. We can still have a world-class research school — that is what we are striving for.”

Others are angered by Erickson’s “over-reaction” while some agreed with the far-flung belief that the university’s values and ideals have been compromised. But the best comment on the role of football on the college campus was made in New York on Tuesday during the annual gala of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame.

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates was presented the Gold Medal, the organization’s highest honor, and he, once the president of Texas A&M, quipped, “I fired a lot of people when I was at the Pentagon but I don’t think I ever did anything as controversial as firing a football coach in Texas. I later told the media I had overthrown the governments of medium-sized countries with less controversy.”

In more meaningful remarks, Gates said the tradition of sports in bringing together campus communities is vital. He also connected his experiences as a university president and those of leading the country’s military, noting the similarities in age of college students and those in the military. “Our greatest heroes are defending our country,” he smiled and everybody in attendance agreed.

This is not the time for Penn State to panic, not the time for page-one “exclusive interviews” and not the time to take money from a gloried football program to build the National Center for the Protection of Children on the Penn State campus. Chill. Let the storm subside and then take purposeful steps in a way where all of us, all around the country, can heal with the Penn Staters who had absolutely nothing to do with it.