AKA Joseph Vincent Paterno

Born: 21-Dec-1926
Birthplace: Brooklyn, NY
Died: 22-Jan-2012
Location of death: State College, PA [1]
Cause of death: Cancer - Lung

Gender: Male
Religion: Roman Catholic
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Football

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Penn State Head Coach, 1966-2011

Over fifty years of coaching football at Penn State, first as an assistant coach from 1950 to 1966, and then as head coach until 2011. Under his long tenure, the Nittany Lions went undefeated five seasons, won two national championships, and finished nationally ranked 35 times. 85% of Paterno's players graduated, and the football program was never found to have committed any serious violations of NCAA recruiting rules. With 409 career victories as head coach, Paterno — iconic for his thick glasses, white socks and sneakers — was the winningest football coach in NCAA history at his death in 2012.

His last months were spent battling lung cancer and an unfolding scandal surrounding a former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, who was reportedly caught raping a 10-year-old boy in Penn State's locker room in 2002. When informed of the allegations, Paterno told two people — the University's athletic director and its director of business and finance — but he did not contact police. In his last interview, published in the Washington Post in January 2012, Paterno said he had "regrets" over his handling of the incident. Six months after his death, the NCAA issued its punishment for the Sandusky scandal, and nullified all of Penn State's victories from 1998 through 2011, leaving Paterno with a mere 298 career victories. The nullification was itself nullified in 2015, restoring Paterno's standing as the coach with the most college football victories.

    High School: Brooklyn Preparatory, Brooklyn, NY (1944)
    University: Brown University (1950)
    Coach: Assistant Coach, Pennsylvania State University (1950-66)
    Coach: Head Coach, Pennsylvania State University (1966-2011)

    Obama for America
    Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity
    Walter Camp Coach of the Year 1972
    Paul "Bear" Bryant Award 1978
    Paul "Bear" Bryant Award 1982
    Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year 1986
    Paul "Bear" Bryant Award 1986
    Walter Camp Coach of the Year 1994
    Amos Alonzo Stagg Award 2002
    Walter Camp Coach of the Year 2005
    College Football Hall of Fame 2007
    Laser Eye Surgery 2010
    Risk Factors: Lung Cancer

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    Go Tigers! (20-Jan-2001) · Himself

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