Paterno, Joseph Vincent

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Joseph Vincent Paterno

With 343 victories throughout the 2004 season, American football coach Joe Paterno (born 1926) ranks second in victories among major college football coaches and fourth among coaches in all divisions. "Joe Pa," who has coached football at Pennsylvania State University since 1966, has produced five undefeated, untied teams and two national champion teams. He has retained conservative football schemes and drab uniforms even amid critics who say Paterno has fallen behind the times, and has insisted he will leave on his own terms. "Joe Paterno believes he is the right man to bring Penn State football back to the high standards he established," Ray Parrillo wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer at the end of 2004. "Frankly, that's all that really matters."

Early Life

Paterno, the son of Florence and Angelo Paterno, grew up on 18th Street in the Flatbush section of New York City's Brooklyn borough. He attended St. Edmond's Grammar School and Brooklyn Prep High School. As a high school senior, he played on a city–best Catholic school team whose only loss was to St. Cecilia of Englewood, New Jersey; St. Cecilia's coach was a young Vince Lombardi, another Brooklyn native who himself would become a coaching legend in the National Football League. He was also a very good student. "I had a sense that this young man had read far beyond his years and was still reading on his own," said Father Thomas Bermingham, one of Paterno's high school teachers, according to a biography on Penn State's Web site. "I called him after class and I said, 'Joseph, I can't make you but I would love to have you do much more than the rest of the class.' And, typical Joe Paterno, he jumped at that chance."

Paterno, who enjoyed listening to opera as a youth, credits his inquisitive mind to his family upbringing. His father always stressed education, and young Paterno joined numerous collegiate honor societies as a result. Angelo Paterno, who passed the bar exam at age 44, kept a dictionary at his side while reading newspapers; Paterno's aunt coordinated a foreign language department for a Long Island school district and his cousin became president of Chrysler Corporation. "He was bred for more," Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated wrote in 1986, when that magazine named Paterno its sportsman of the year. "When I was young, I used to see my father studying late at night to pass high school, college, and even law school," Paterno once said at a National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame banquet, according to that organization's website. "My father did all his schoolwork while working two other jobs and taking care of his family," adding, "I quickly learned that through hard work and perseverance you can attain your goals in life."

Excelled at Brown University

After serving in the United States Army during the final year of World War II, Paterno went to Ivy League institution Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island on a scholarship. "Probably because of my unimpressive height and weight, the Paterno doorstep wasn't overrun with college scouts," Paterno said, according to the Penn State biography. Paterno, though, excelled as a quarterback and defensive back at Brown. The Bears won eight of nine games in 1949 and were ranked one of the top teams in the East. Defensively, Paterno's 14 interceptions in a single season is still the Bears' record. At Brown, Paterno played for Charles A. "Rip" Engle, whom he ultimately succeeded as Penn State head coach. According to the Penn State biography, Stanley Woodward, longtime sportswriter for the New York Herald Tribune, called Paterno a quarterback "who can't run, can't pass—just thinks and wins." In addition, Paterno returned kicks—his 69–yard return of a punt carried the Bears past Holy Cross in a 1949 game. The versatile Paterno also played two seasons of basketball for Brown; in that sport, his freshman coach was Weeb Ewbank, a Hall of Fame football coach who won NFL titles with the Baltimore Colts and New York Jets.

After he graduated from college Paterno intended to enter Boston University law school, to follow in his father's footsteps. Before he could do so, however, Engle called him. His Brown coach had taken the Penn State job and asked Paterno to be the one assistant his contract would allow him to bring along. Paterno, who told his father that he took the job to get extra money for law school, served under Engle for 16 years. When Engle retired after the 1965 season, Paterno took over his mentor's job. Paterno, meanwhile, had married his college sweetheart in 1962, Suzanne Pohland of Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

Happy in Happy Valley

Penn State roared to the first two of five perfect seasons under Paterno during his third and fourth years there, 1968 and 1969, respectively, en route to a 31–game undefeated streak. But the Nittany Lions were passed in the polling system that determined the "mythical champion." The 1969 experience was particularly galling for Paterno; while the Lions rolled to an 11–0 season that included an Orange Bowl victory over Missouri on New Year's Day, the debate over who was best in the country focused on Southwest Conference rivals Texas and Arkansas, both also unbeaten. It even involved the White House. Before Texas and Arkansas squared off in early December that year before a national television audience, President Richard M. Nixon had declared the winner would be No. 1. After Texas won the game, 15–14, Nixon presented a mythical national championship plaque to the Longhorns. From that point, Paterno favored a playoff rather than the bowl system to determine national champions. According to Sports Illustrated's Reilly, Paterno said, "How could Nixon know so little about Watergate and so much about football?" at the university's 1973 commencement, referring to the scandal that brought down the Nixon presidency one year later.

In 1973, the Nittany Lions went 12–0, only for the pollsters to shun Paterno once more. According to Reilly, Paterno told reporters on New Year's night, after Penn State beat Louisiana State University in the Orange Bowl, "I had my own poll. The Paterno Poll. And the vote was unanimous. Penn State is Number 1. I took the vote a few minutes ago." Then, Paterno gave his players championship rings.

Finally, Two Recognized Champs

Ironically, when Penn State finally emerged as No. 1 when the bowls were over, in 1982, the Nittany Lions did not go unbeaten. After a mid–season loss at Alabama, the Lions won seven straight games, capping their season with a come–from–behind, 27–23 win over Georgia at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Four seasons later came the second title, after Penn State knocked off favored Miami 14–10 in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona. With the championships came recognition for the Paterno way of doing things. "Joe's different from the rest of us," said Barry Switzer, who coached the University of Oklahoma to a national title with the University of Oklahoma and a Super Bowl championship with the Dallas Cowboys. Reilly adds: "How many coaches draw up game plans while listening to opera? . . . How many write opinion pieces for The New York Times and throw in words like 'sophistry,' 'proselytizing,' and 'mendacious'? How many even read The New York Times? " Outside–the–box Paterno moves have included allowing star lineman Mike Reid to take a year's sabbatical to star in a theater production, and letting place kicker Chris Bahr miss a road game to play for the varsity soccer team.

Penn State under Paterno has also refused to modernize its uniforms. The Nittany Lions wear what look like blue–and–white practice sweats and a plain white helmet, one thin blue stripe down the middle. Paterno once told a skeptical recruit that the uniforms may be dull, but when people see them on television, they know it is Penn State playing. "I hated our uniforms at first," said defensive back Ray Isom, who played for Paterno's second title team. "Now I think they're beautiful." Players over the years bought into the Paterno system. "He's tough as hell," said Shane Conlan, a star linebacker with the Buffalo Bills and St. Louis Rams, according to the Penn State Web site biography. "But he does things the way they're supposed to be done. He follows the rules. He believes you're there for an education. He teaches you more than football. He teaches you about life."

Later Years

Penn State's fifth and last perfect season came in 1994, capped by a 38–20 win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl; again, the polls overlooked the team in balloting for No. 1. By then, the school, frustrated at attempts to form a conference among Eastern independents, had joined the Midwest–oriented Big Ten Conference. From 2000, Penn State has had four of five losing seasons, save for a 9–4 year in 2002 and an appearance in the Capital One Bowl. The following season, the Lions tumbled to 3–9 amid morale problems and off–field police incidents for some players.

Critics began clamoring for Paterno's resignation, but "Joe Pa" has insisted he will leave on his own terms. "As I've said, I'd like to be able to put together a scenario where I can pick the time I want to leave and have somebody in house ready to take over," he said in 2004 after a season–ending 37–13 win over Michigan State, according to Dick Jerardi of the Philadelphia Daily News. Penn State's record was 4–7 in 2004. Some reporters cited friction within the Penn State coaching ranks when Paterno chose his son, assistant coach Jay, to call the offensive plays instead of offensive coordinator Galen Hall. "Jay Paterno so badly wants to be a football success on his own merits, and instead he has become a scapegoat," Dan Connolly wrote in Pennsylvania's York Daily Record. "There is a good and bad with everything, and having the last name Paterno is good and bad," Jay Paterno said in the same newspaper.

The anti–Joe Paterno has gone cyberspace, with the proliferation of Internet message boards. "Some sites have turned into strange bazaars," Pete Thamel wrote in the New York Times. "The site lobbying for the departure of [Paterno], joepamustgo.com, sells . . . underwear emblazoned with its message." Mark Beech of Sports Illustrated suggested Paterno is on the hot seat, adding, "It's a testament to the vagaries of coaching that someone as venerable as [Paterno] . . . could find himself fighting to save his job."

The Paterno Legacy

Despite Penn State's problems in the 2000s, Paterno is still one of the biggest marquee names in college sports. And that still draws recruits. Sportswriter Parrillo called Paterno "the man who is most responsible for transforming Penn State from an agricultural school into a nationally respected institution." One of the top high school offensive linemen, Dennis Landolt of Holy Cross High School of Delran, New Jersey, told the Philadelphia Inquirer late in 2004, "Even though [Paterno's] getting a lot of heat lately, he's one of the best coaches ever. It's definitely exciting to play for a coaching legend. And he says when he does leave in a few years, someone from inside will take the job, and that's good that there won't be a major change."

Joe and Suzanne Paterno are also acclaimed for their philanthropy. In 1997, they gave the university $3.5 million for faculty positions and scholarships, and two building projects. As co–chairs of the campaign to expand the Pattee Library, they raised $14 million and personally donated $250,000. "I've said it a hundred times," Paterno said, as quoted on the university Web site, "a great library is the heart of a great university, and if we want to remain a big league university, we've got to have a big league library." The 2005 season was Paterno's 50th at Penn State, the State College, Pennsylvania, whose campus is known as "Happy Valley." Paterno's lifetime record is 343 wins, 116 losses, and 3 ties; only Bobby Bowden of Florida State has more wins, 351, among major college coaches. John Gagliardi of St. John's University of Collegeville, Minnesota, and Eddie Robinson of Grambling top the overall list with 421 and 408 victories, respectively. Paterno has frequently spurned jobs offers from other major colleges and such NFL teams as the New England Patriots, who courted him in the early 1970s. "Money alone will not make you happy," Paterno said at the 1973 Penn State commencement, according to the university's Web site. "Success without honor is an unseasoned dish. It will satisfy your hunger, but it won't taste good."