Joseph Vincent "Joe" Paterno was an American college football coach who was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 years, from 1966 through 2011. Paterno, nicknamed "JoePa", holds the record for the most victories by an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football coach with 409 and is the only FBS coach to reach 400 victories. He coached five undefeated teams that won major bowl games and, in 2007, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach. Paterno was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended Brown University, where he played football both as... the quarterback and a cornerback. Originally planning to be a lawyer, he instead signed on as an assistant football coach at Penn State in 1950, persuaded by his college coach Rip Engle who had taken over as Penn State's head coach. Fifteen years later, in 1965, Paterno was named as Engle's successor. Before long, he had coached the team to two undefeated regular seasons in 1968 and 1969. He went on to win two national championships—in 1982 and again in 1986.
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| Birthdate: | December 21, 1926 |
| Birthplace: | Brooklyn, New York |
| Date of death: | January 22, 2012 |
| All Positions Played: | Quarterback, Cornerback |
| Education: | Brown University |
| Religion: | Roman Catholicism |
| Also known as: | Joseph Vincent Paterno, JoePa |