STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State football coach Joe Paterno will retire at the end of the season, his long and illustrious career brought down because he failed to do all he could about an allegation of child sex abuse against a former assistant.

"I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case. I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief," Paterno said in a statement released just after initial reports of his pending retirement.

Meanwhile, Penn State president Graham Spanier reportedly will be out of his job by the end of Wednesday. The Express Times of Lehigh Valley, citing a source close to the school's board of trustees, reports that Spanier either will resign or be voted out. Tom Ridge, the nation's first Homeland Security Secretary, has been mentioned as Spanier's possible successor.

A source told ESPN's Tom Rinaldi that it was Paterno's decision to retire and that he has had no contact with the board. It is not yet known if this is adequate action in the board's eyes. The board announced Tuesday night that a special committee will be appointed at the board's regular meeting Friday to investigate the case. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said he plans to attend.

"I have come to work every day for the last 61 years with one clear goal in mind: To serve the best interests of this university and the young men who have been entrusted to my care. I have the same goal today," Paterno said in his statement.

"That's why I have decided to announce my retirement effective at the end of this season. At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can.

"This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more. My goals now are to keep my commitments to my players and staff and finish the season with dignity and determination. And then I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to help this university."

Sources have told ESPN that Paterno is planning to coach the 12th-ranked Nittany Lions in Saturday's home game -- their last home game of this season -- against No. 19 Nebraska.

On Wednesday, Paterno talked to his team for about 10-15 minutes in an auditorium of the football facility on campus. Standing at a podium, he told players he was leaving and broke down in tears.

Players gave him a standing ovation when he walked out. Junior cornerback Stephon Morris said some players also were nearly in tears as Paterno spoke.

"I still can't believe it," Morris said. "I've never seen coach Paterno like that in my life." Asked what was the main message of Paterno's talk, Morris said: "Beat Nebraska."

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, who worked as a graduate assistant under Paterno, was pained to see Paterno not able to leave on his own terms.

"I love coach Paterno, so am I emotional," Schiano said Wednesday after Rutgers finished practice for Saturday's game against Army. "People you love and care about, this is a hard thing for him, I'm sure. I know it is. So it hurts me when someone you love hurts."

Paterno has been besieged by criticism since Jerry Sandusky, his former defensive coordinator, was charged over the weekend with 40 criminal counts of molesting eight young boys between 1994 and 2009 through his charitable foundation for at-risk youths, The Second Mile. Sandusky is free on bail and has a Dec. 7 court hearing.

Athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz were charged Monday with failing to notify authorities after an eyewitness reported a 2002 assault. The two will seek to have the charges dismissed, their lawyers said. Curley requested to be placed on administrative leave so he could devote time to his defense, and Schultz will be going back into retirement, the school announced.

The U.S. Department of Education said Wednesday it would investigate whether Penn State violated federal law requiring the disclosure of criminal offenses on campus and warnings of crimes posing a threat to the community in its handling of the allegations. U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., requested the Education Department's involvement on Tuesday.

"If these allegations of sexual abuse are true then this is a horrible tragedy for those young boys. If it turns out that some people at the school knew of the abuse and did nothing or covered it up, that makes it even worse," U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said. "Schools and school officials have a legal and moral responsibility to protect children and young people from violence and abuse."

Mark C. Sherburne, Curley's acting replacement as AD, issued a statement Wednesday, saying the school is "devastated" by the allegations in the grand jury presentment against Sandusky.

"Our hearts go out to the children and their families," he said.

"Every day we are entrusted with the lives of young people, and we do not -- nor have we ever -- taken that trust lightly," Sherburne said. "We are outraged that a valued trust has been broken. We can promise you that we are doing everything in our power to restore that broken trust. Everyone within athletics -- coaches, administrators, staff and student-athletes -- are committed to this pledge."

Spanier is the head of the BCS Oversight Committee and would be removed from that role, too, BCS executive director Bill Hancock said, if he is ousted by Penn State as expected.

Paterno decided to retire at age 84, in his 46th season with the Nittany Lions. He has 409 victories, a record for major college football, and will pass Amos Alonzo Stagg for the most Division I games coached in history (both tied at 548) if he coaches against Nebraska.

But now, the grandfatherly coach known as "Joe Pa," who had painstakingly burnished a reputation for winning "the right way," leaves the only school he's ever coached in disgrace.