Tom Bradley: I didn't watch interview

Updated: November 15, 2011, 9:40 PM ET
ESPN.com news services

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State interim coach Tom Bradley didn't watch Bob Costas' interview with former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky on Monday night.

He was preparing for Saturday's game at Ohio State.

Bradley, speaking to reporters six days after he replaced Joe Paterno, said he is trying to keep his players as informed as possible about everything as No. 21 Penn State continues to deal with the allegations of sexual abuse against Sandusky and the fallout that removed Paterno from his 46-year post at Penn State.

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"A lot of questions have come up that I've tried to answer," Bradley said Tuesday. "I've been very transparent about what I know and what I hear. I try to keep them all in the loop and make sure we're on the same page."

Bradley also held a conference call for players' parents as well as a separate call for Penn State's recruits and their families last week.

"We wanted to make sure they were hearing one voice, that it came out the same way," he said. "If there were any questions, we answered those questions as a group."

Penn State players will not be available to the media prior to the game this week.

"They'll answer any Ohio State questions you have," Bradley said. "They're just not sure how to answer some of the other questions. They don't know a whole lot about it."

The Nittany Lions (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten) still control their own destiny as they chase a Big Ten championship. Asked if he expected to see any negative reaction in Columbus, Bradley said he spoke to Ohio State coach Luke Fickell earlier in the week.

"We've been assured there will be no problems," Bradley said.

Bradley, a longtime defensive coach, said Tuesday he is trying to get to know some of the players on offense. Penn State promoted graduate assistant coach Bill Kavanaugh to wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator in place of Mike McQueary, a key witness in the Sandusky investigation who is currently on administrative leave.

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"It's still Ohio State-Penn State," Bradley said. "The one thing I want to emphasize: This is all about the players, about our team, about their team. It's still college football."

Sandusky told NBC News' "Rock Center" on Monday night that he was not a pedophile but, in retrospect, should not have showered with the boys he's charged with sexually assaulting.

In an interview with Bob Costas, Sandusky, once considered the heir apparent to Paterno, proclaimed his innocence in the face of a series of startling allegations detailed in a grand jury report issued last week.

"I am innocent of those charges," Sandusky said. "... I could say that I have done some of those things. I have horsed around with kids. I have showered after workouts. I have hugged them, and I have touched their legs without intent of sexual contact."

Sandusky is accused of sexually assaulting eight boys over a 15-year span, with some of the alleged crimes happening at Penn State, where he had access to campus as an emeritus professor following his 1999 retirement.

The Nittany Lions lost their first game under Bradley, 17-14, to Nebraska. Last year, at Ohio State, Penn State lost, 38-14, to the Buckeyes (6-4, 3-3).

Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski talked about the scandal and Paterno's dismissal on Monday, the day before his Blue Devils were to play Michigan State in New York.

"I just feel badly for him," Krzyzewski said of Paterno. "Whatever he is responsible for, it'll come out and hopefully it'll come out from him."

Paterno and Krzyzewski share historic success in their respective fields. Paterno has won 409 games, the most in Division I college football history, while Krzyzewski surpassed his mentor, Bob Knight, for the most Division I men's basketball wins with 903 after Tuesday night's 74-69 victory over Michigan State.

The two men also spent time together during the summer for an ESPN televised special, "Difference Makers: Life Lessons with Paterno & Krzyzewski," in which they spoke at length about coaching, ethics, teaching, NCAA rules and other subjects.

Krzyzewski said the differences between the society in which Paterno was raised and modern times might have played a role in how Paterno responded to the allegations against Sandusky.

"I think one thing you have to understand is this: Coach Paterno's 84 years old. I'm not saying that for an excuse," Krzyzewski said. "The cultures that he's been involved in, both football-wise and socially, (there) have been immense changes. And in how social issues are handled in those generations are quite different."

"But as we judge, remember that there's a lot there ... a lot, a lot there," Krzyzewski added. "I think he's a great man and it's a horrific situation."

In a related development, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., is asking for a hearing into how federal laws apply to the investigation of the child sex-abuse case that has enveloped Penn State.

In a letter sent Tuesday to Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Richard Burr, Casey sought an expedited hearing in the Subcommittee on Children and Families to see how well federal laws protect children and to ensure that provisions for reporting suspected cases are in place.

Pennsylvania is not one of the 18 states that require all adults to report suspected child abuse.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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