STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Veteran Penn State athletic department administrator and assistant coach Fran Ganter is retiring after nearly five decades at his alma mater.

A former player, Ganter also served as an assistant for 33 years under the late coach Joe Paterno. He became offensive coordinator in 1984 and oversaw the offense for the 1986 national title team. Ganter became assistant head coach in 2000 before leaving the sidelines in 2004 to become associate athletic director of football administration.

Ganter was asked to deliver a note to Paterno with the number of a university trustee the night Paterno was fired in November 2011 in the aftermath of retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky's arrest on child sex abuse charges.

Ganter in a statement Wednesday called Paterno an ``influential and constant figure'' in his life.