Joe Paterno

Asked by Sporting News reporter Tom Dienhart before the 2002 season began if he would ever take it easy, Paterno replied: "If I feel as I do now, I'm gonna keep coaching. I'm enjoying it… It's a little tougher job than maybe it was 20 years ago because of the environment that's out there now—the exposure and the attention… I'd like to say [I'll coach] maybe five more years. It could be 10 more years. I really don't know."

When Bamberger of Sports Illustrated recently reminded him that nobody lives forever, Paterno said, "You only say that because nobody's ever done it." Regardless of what happens in the last years of Paterno's tenure at Penn State, he has turned around the two-year hiccup in the program of back-to-back losing seasons. His five undefeated seasons, his statistic of more bowl wins than any coach in college football (including those three national championships), his claim as the "winningest active coach in college football," and his greatness seem to speak for itself. Add to that his relationship with his players and his ability to turn young men into outstanding adults, and Paterno remains as one of the greatest coaches the game has known.