Joe Paterno Biography - Growing Up, Happy In Happy Valley, Chronology, Awards And Accomplishments, Moving On Up - CONTACT INFORMATION
football coach college university
1926-
American college football coach
Joe Paterno
Joe Paterno is a living legend. With his thick glasses, khaki slacks (always a bit too short), and his Penn State windbreaker, Paterno is one of the most recognizable coaches in this history of football—college or professional. And he deserves the recognition. Since taking over the head coaching position at Pennsylvania State University in 1966, he has amassed five undefeated seasons, more bowl wins than any coach in college football (including three national championships), and risen to earn the title "the winningest active coach in college football." Paterno has also been voted coach of the year an amazing four times by the American Football Coaches Association.
But he is more than just a coach. He is a tenured professor, too, and to his players he is like a father, more so than most coaches could even dream of being. He instills in every member of his team that being well-rounded supercedes singular successes on the football field. "In an era of college football in which it seems everybody's hand is either in the till or balled up in a fist," writes Rick Reilly in Sports Illustrated, "Paterno sticks out like a clean thumb."
CONTACT INFORMATION
Address: Office—234 Recreation Building, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802.
Additional Topics
Joseph Vincent Paterno was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 21, 1926, to Italian parents who pressed upon him early the importance of education. His father worked hard, and eventually obtained his law degree when he was forty years old, while at the same time supporting a family with his full time job. The drive and determination of his father rubbed off on Joe. Growing up, Paterno spent mo…
Paterno remained an assistant coach at Penn State for the next sixteen years. He had started a family with wife Suzanne (they would have five children, all of whom attended Penn State) and felt at home in Happy Valley. When head coach Rip Engle retired in 1966, Paterno was asked to be the new head coach. He had a rocky start, going 5-5 in his first year, but the following season he turned it aroun…
In the late eighties Penn State—based in large part on Paterno's exceptional tenure with the school and the reputation he had brought the football program—was invited to play in the Big Ten, college football's powerhouse. The school accepted, entering the Big Ten officially in the early nineties, and giving Paterno the opportunity he'd been longing for: to win th…
Throughout his career, Paterno has not been without his detractors, many of whom in recent years called for him to step down, due in part to his age and in part to the losing seasons of 2000 and 2001. He has also come under scrutiny for holding closed practices and not allowing fans to watch. But Paterno is a private individual, and he has never been a big fan of media attention. What he has done …
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 …
Hyman, Mervin D. and Gordon S. White. Joe Paterno: "Football My Way." New York: MacMillan, 1978. "Joe Paterno." Newsmakers 1995, Issue 4. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Research, 1995. O'Brien, Michael. No Ordinary Joe: The Biography of Joe Paterno. Rutledge Hill Press, 1998. Paterno, George. Joe Paterno: The Coach From Byzantium. Sagamore Publishing, 1997. Paterno, …
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User Comments
over 1 year ago
Care to revise your description a little bit?
about 4 years ago
ok whoever posted this.. Joe Paterno has only won 2 national championships and he hasn't been the winningest coach in college football.. He and bowden have been neck and neck for years in Division 1 ball. At St. Johns division 3 school John Gagliardi has racked in 453 wins.. Which is by far the best record. Im a huge penn state and joe paterno fan but you are giving old joe a little too much credit even though he deserves it;)