Joe Paterno

Joseph Vincent "Joe" Paterno (born December 21, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York) is a college football coach, and is currently the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions, a position he has held since 1966. Paterno, nicknamed "JoePa", holds the record for the most victories by an FBS football coach, has coached more bowl game wins than any other coach in college football history and is the first FBS coach to reach 400 victories. Paterno is one of three active coaches inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as coaches (along with Chris Ault and John Gagliardi).

In 1944, Joe Paterno graduated from the now defunct Brooklyn Preparatory School. He attended Brown University; his tuition was paid for by Busy Arnold. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Upsilon chapter). He played quarterback and cornerback, and currently shares, with Greg Parker, the career record for interceptions at 14. Paterno graduated with the Brown University Class of 1950. Although his father asked "For God's sake, what did you go to college for?" after hearing of his career choice, Paterno joined his college coach Rip Engle as an assistant coach at Penn State in 1950; Engle had coached five seasons, 1944–1949, at Brown.

Joe Paterno is in his 61st season on the Penn State coaching staff as of 2010, holding the record for most seasons for any football coach at any university. The 2009 season was Paterno’s 44th as head coach of the Nittany Lions, passing Amos Alonzo Stagg for the most years as head coach at a single institution in Division 1. Paterno has been on Penn State's coaching staff for 691 of their 1,222 games, 56.5% of all games played by the program dating back to its inception in 1887.

The Pittsburgh Steelers offered their head coach position to Paterno in 1969, an offer he considered seriously. The Steelers hired Chuck Noll, who won four Super Bowls in his first 11 years, and coached for an additional twelve seasons.

Michigan Athletic Director Don Canham contacted Joe Paterno in 1969 to see if Paterno (whom Canham respected and knew personally) would accept the vacant Michigan job. Paterno turned down the offer and Michigan hired Bo Schembechler. In 1972, Paterno also turned down a head coaching position with the New England Patriots, which included partial ownership. The Pats hired Chuck Fairbanks of Oklahoma instead.

After five years of court battles, the Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System (SERS) revealed Paterno's salary in November 2007: $512,664. (He was paid $490,638 in 2006.) The figure is not inclusive of other compensation, such as money from television and apparel contracts as well as other bonuses that Paterno and other football bowl subdivision coaches may earn, said Robert Gentzel, SERS communications director. The release of these amounts can only come at the university's approval, which Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers said will not happen. "I'm paid well, I'm not overpaid," Paterno said during an interview with reporters Wednesday before the salary disclosure. "I got all the money I need."

On December 16, 2008, it was reported that Joe Paterno had agreed in principle to a contract extension that would extend his tenure at Penn State by at least three years.

On November 6, 2010, Joe Paterno recorded his 400th career victory with a 35-21 victory over Northwestern. Facing a 21-0 deficit, Penn State scored 35 unanswered points, tying Paterno's largest comeback victory as a coach.