Joe Paterno

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Joseph Vincent Paterno

Date of birth	December 21, 1926 (age 80)
Place of birth	Brooklyn, New York
Sport	American Football
College	Pennsylvania State University
Title	Head coach
Record with Team	363-121-3
Overall Record	363-121-3
Bowl Record	22-10-1(Most all-time)
Awards	2005 Walter Camp Coach of the Year 2005 AP Coach of the Year 1986 SI Sportsman of the Year 1981 & 2005 Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year
Championships   won	2 National Championships (1982, 1986) 2 Conference Championships (1994, 2005)
Coaching Stats	College Football DataWarehouse
School as a player
1946-1950	Brown University
Position	Quarterback/Cornerback
Coaching positions
1950-present	Pennsylvania State University
College Football Hall of Fame, 2007

Head Coaching Record

Penn State Nittany Lions (1966-present)
Year	W	L	T	Titles	Bowl Game
1966	5	5	0
1967	8	2	1		Gator Bowl
1968	11	0	0		Orange Bowl
1969	11	0	0		Orange Bowl
1970	7	3	0
1971	11	1	0		Cotton Bowl
1972	10	2	0		Sugar Bowl
1973	12	0	0		Orange Bowl
1974	10	2	0		Cotton Bowl
1975	9	3	0		Sugar Bowl
1976	7	5	0		Gator Bowl
1977	11	1	0		Fiesta Bowl
1978	11	1	0		Sugar Bowl
1979	8	4	0		Liberty Bowl
1980	10	2	0		Fiesta Bowl
1981	10	2	0		Fiesta Bowl
1982	11	1	0	National Champions	Sugar Bowl
1983	8	4	1		Aloha Bowl
1984	6	5	0
1985	11	1	0		Orange Bowl
1986	12	0	0	National Champions	Fiesta Bowl
1987	8	4	0		Citrus Bowl
1988	5	6	0
1989	8	3	1		Holiday Bowl
1990	9	3	0		Blockbuster Bowl
1991	11	2	0		Fiesta Bowl
1992	7	5	0		Blockbuster Bowl
1993	10	2	0		Citrus Bowl
1994	12	0	0	Big Ten Conference Champions	Rose Bowl
1995	9	3	0		Outback Bowl
1996	11	2	0		Fiesta Bowl
1997	9	3	0		Citrus Bowl
1998	9	3	0		Outback Bowl
1999	10	3	0		Alamo Bowl
2000	5	7	0
2001	5	6	0
2002	9	4	0		Capital One Bowl
2003	3	9	0
2004	4	7	0
2005	11	1	0	Big Ten Conference Champions	Orange Bowl
2006	9	4	0		Outback Bowl
Totals					W	L	T
At Penn State (41 years)					363	121	3
Career (41 years)					363	121	3

Joseph Vincent Paterno (born December 21, 1926, in Brooklyn, New York), nicknamed JoePa, is the head coach of Pennsylvania State University's college football team, a position he has held since 1966.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Records and Accomplishments 3 Controversies and criticism 4 Stances on college football issues 5 Philanthropist and education 6 Political interests 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Early life

Paterno grew up during the Depression. He nearly had to leave high school because the tuition of $20 a month was such a burden for his family. In 1944, Paterno graduated from Brooklyn Prep and headed to Brown University to study and play football. At Brown he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. There, he was a capable but unspectacular quarterback and also played cornerback. He currently still shares, along with Greg Parker, the Brown University record for career interceptions with 14.^[1] It was at Brown that he honed his skills as a leader, allowing him to go into coaching after graduation in 1950, joining Hall of Famer Rip Engle at Penn State as an assistant coach. Paterno thought his stint as an assistant coach would be brief, before going to law school. He never went to law school and instead became one of the most famous and recognizable coaches of any sport in the United States.

[edit] Records and Accomplishments

At age 80, Paterno will be entering his 57th season at the University as an assistant or head coach in 2007, holding the record for any football coach at any university. The 2006 season marked Joe Paterno’s 41st season pacing the sidelines as head coach of the Nittany Lions, tying him for the most years at a single institution with Amos Alonzo Stagg.^[2]

With Penn State's latest bowl win over the Tennessee Volunteers, Joe Paterno is said to have the second most NCAA Division I-A football wins with a total record of 363 wins, 121 losses, and 3 ties. Bobby Bowden, currently of Florida State, has 366 total coaching victories, but therein lies a controversy as 31 of Bowden's career victories were earned while coaching at Howard College, now known as Samford University. Samford does not play major college football, and all of Bowden's 31 victories at Howard/Samford were earned against teams not currently in Division I-A, including wins over The University of Mexico, Gordon Junior College, Millington Naval Air Station, and the Tennessee Tech Freshman Team. Bowden Wins By Opponent Bowden also has 18 victories while coaching at West Virginia and Florida State against schools that are currently not in Division I-A, for a total of 49 non-Division I-A victories. Over his career, Paterno has only 4 victories against schools not currently in Division I-A. Paterno Records By Opponent.

Following a 3-overtime victory over FSU in the 2006 Orange Bowl, Paterno has a 7-1 all-time record against Bowden (6-0 against Bowden's West Virginia teams and 1-1 against Bowden's Florida State teams).

Paterno holds more bowl victories (22) than any coach in history. He also tops the list of bowl appearances with 33.^[3] He has a bowl record of 22 wins, 10 losses, and 1 tie. Paterno is the only coach with the distinction of having won each of the current four major bowls -- Rose, Orange, Fiesta, and Sugar -- as well as the Cotton Bowl, at least once.

Overall, Paterno has led Penn State to two National Championships (1982 and 1986) and five undefeated seasons (1968, 1969, 1973, 1986, and 1994). Four of his unbeaten teams ('68, '69, '74, '95) won major bowl games and were not awarded a national championship. With Penn State, he has won the Orange Bowl (1968, 1969, 1973, and 2005), the Cotton Bowl (1972 and 1974), the Fiesta Bowl (1977, 1980, 1981, 1986, 1991, and 1996), the Liberty Bowl (1979), the Sugar Bowl (1982), the Aloha Bowl (1983), the Holiday Bowl (1989), the Citrus Bowl (1993), the Rose Bowl (1994), the Outback Bowl (1995, 1998, and 2007), and the Alamo Bowl (1999). Under Paterno, Penn State has been the Big Ten Conference Football Champions two times (1994 and 2005). Joe has had 21 finishes in the Top 10 national rankings.

Following the 1986 championship season, Paterno was the first college coach named "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated magazine. In 2005, following an 11-1 comeback season in which the Lions won a share of the Big Ten title and a BCS berth, Paterno was named the 2005 AP Coach of the Year, and the 2005 Walter Camp Coach of the Year.

On May 16, 2006 Paterno was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame after the National Football Foundation decided to change its rules and allow any coach over the age of 75 to be eligible for the Hall of Fame instead of having to wait for an individual to be retired.^[4] However, on November 4, 2006, he was injured during a sideline collision that occurred during a game against Wisconsin. As a result of his injuries, he was unable to travel to the induction ceremonies in New York City and the National Football Foundation announced that he will instead be inducted as a part of the hall of fame class of 2007.^[5]

[edit] Controversies and criticism

Under Joe Paterno, Penn State has never been under NCAA probation, and has never been under any serious investigation for wrong-doing.

In 2002, Paterno chased down referee Dick Honig in a dead sprint following a 42-35 overtime home loss to Iowa. Paterno saw Tony Johnson catch a pass for a first down with both feet in bounds on the stadium's video replay board, but the play was ruled an incompletion; Penn State had rallied from a 35-13 deficit with 9 minutes left in the game to tie the score at 35, and were driving on their first possession in overtime for a touchdown to tie the game at 42. Penn State failed on fourth down and Iowa held on for the win.

Just weeks later, in the final minute of the Michigan game, the same wide receiver, Johnson, made a catch, which would have given Penn State a first down and put them in range for a game winning field goal. Although Johnson was ruled out of bounds, replays clearly showed that Johnson had both feet in bounds and the catch would have been complete.

In 2003, the Big Ten Conference became the first college football conference to adopt a form of instant replay. The previous two incidents, along with Paterno's public objections and statements, are often cited as catalysts for its adoption. Within the next year, almost all of the Division I-A conferences adopted a form of instant replay based on the Big Ten model.^[6]

As Penn State football struggled from 2001 to 2004, Paterno became the target of criticism from some Penn State faithful. Many in the media attributed Penn State's struggles to Paterno's advancing age, and contingents of fans and alumni began calling for his retirement. Paterno has rebuffed all of this and has stated he will fulfill his contract which expires in 2008. Paterno announced in a speech in Pittsburgh on May 12, 2005 that he would consider retirement if the 2005 football team had a disappointing season. "If we don't win some games, I've got to get my rear end out of here", Paterno said in a speech at the Duquesne Club. "Simple as that". However, Paterno turned the football team around in 2005, taking a share of the Big Ten title and gaining the team's first BCS bowl game bid in the Orange Bowl.

[edit] Stances on college football issues

Paterno has long been an advocate for some type of college football playoff system. The question has been posed to him frequently over the years, as only one of his five undefeated teams has been voted national champions.

Paterno believes that scholarship college athletes should receive a modest stipend, so that they have some spending money. As justification, Paterno points out that many scholarship athletes are from poor families and that other students have time to hold down a part-time job. On the other hand, busy practice and conditioning schedules prevent college athletes from working during the school year.^{[citation needed]}

Paterno once believed that all true freshmen should be redshirted as allowed under NCAA rules.^{[citation needed]} However, he now plays exceptionally talented true-freshmen so as not to be at a competitive disadvantage. In fact, some Penn State recruits, like recruits at many other schools, now graduate from high school a semester early so that they can enroll in college during the spring semester and participate in spring practice. Several team members from the Class of 2009, including Justin King, Anthony Scirrotto and Derrick Williams all received considerable playing time as true freshmen during the 2005-2006 season.

Paterno has been an outspoken opponent of gambling on college sports. He would like to see an end put to legalized college sports gambling in Nevada.

[edit] Philanthropist and education

In addition to his legacy as a coach, Paterno is highly regarded for his contributions to academic life at Penn State. After the announcement of his hiring in 1966, Paterno set out to conduct what he called a "Grand Experiment" in melding athletics and academics in the collegiate environment, an idea that he had learned during his years at Brown.^[7] As a result, Penn State's players have consistently demonstrated above-average academic success compared to Division I-A schools nationwide. Over the past five years, the Nittany Lions' graduation rate as measured by the NCAA was the highest in the country three times, most recently exceeding the national average of 64 percent by 19 points.^[8]

Paterno is also renowned for his charitable contributions to academics at Penn State. He and his wife Sue have contributed over $4 million towards various departments and colleges, including support for the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, which opened in 2003, and the Penn State All-Sports Museum, which opened in 2002.^[9] Their philanthropic efforts led to the University naming the 1997 expansion of the existing Pattee Library in their honor, having helped raise over $13.5 million in funds for the project.^[10]

[edit] Political interests

Paterno is a political conservative and a personal friend of former President George H.W. Bush, endorsing the then-candidate in a speech at the 1988 Republican National Convention.^[7] In 2004, his son Scott Paterno won the Republican primary for Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district but lost in the November general election to conservative Democratic incumbent Tim Holden.^[11]

[edit] See also

• Penn State Nittany Lions football
• Penn State Nittany Lions football under Joe Paterno (as an Independent)
• Penn State Nittany Lions football under Joe Paterno (in the Big Ten)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Centre Daily Times Penn State Football coverage
• Penn State Football Searchable History (updated through 1999)
• All Time Record by Opponent (pdf document)
• Penn State Bowl Game Recaps

Preceded by Rip Engle	Penn State Nittany Lions Head Football Coach 1966-Present	Succeeded by Current
Preceded by Vince Dooley	Amos Alonzo Stagg Award 2002	Succeeded by LaVell Edwards
Preceded by Bobby Bowden Paul Johnson	Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award 1981 2005	Succeeded by George MacIntyre Jim Grobe
Preceded by Lou Holtz Danny Ford Fisher DeBerry	Paul "Bear" Bryant Award 1978 1982 1986	Succeeded by Earle Bruce Howard Schnellenberger Dick MacPherson
Preceded by Bob Devaney Terry Bowden Tommy Tuberville	Walter Camp Coach of the Year 1972 1994 2005	Succeeded by Johnny Majors Gary Barnett Greg Schiano
Preceded by Urban Meyer	The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award 2005	Succeeded by Greg Schiano

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