Joe Paterno
Joe Paterno went 409–136–3 as a head coach, 1966–2011, at Penn State. His teams claim two national titles: Penn State in 1982 and 1986. Share
- Record
- 409–136–3 career
- Seasons
- 46
- Schools
- 1
- National titles
- 2 claimed: 1982 and 1986
- Hall of Fame
- 2007 inducted
- Best season
- 1986 12–0, No. 1
Season by season
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Chuck FusinaSecond in the 1978 Heisman vote- Ki-Jana CarterSecond in the 1994 Heisman vote
- Ted KwalickFourth in the 1968 Heisman vote
- Mike ReidFifth in the 1969 Heisman vote
- Curtis EnisFifth in the 1997 Heisman vote
- Lydell MitchellFifth in the 1971 Heisman vote
- Bruce Clark1978 Lombardi Award
- Dan Connor2007 Chuck Bednarik Award
- Todd Blackledge1982 Davey O’Brien Award
- A.Q. Shipley2008 Rimington Trophy
- Bobby Engram1994 Biletnikoff Award
- Courtney BrownNo. 1 pick, 2000
31 more
Blair Thomas (No. 2 pick, 1990); Curt Warner (No. 3 pick, 1983); Kenny Jackson (No. 4 pick, 1984); Dennis Onkotz (Consensus All‑American, 1968 and 1969); Shane Conlan (Consensus All‑American, 1986); Keith Dorney (Consensus All‑American, 1978); Tamba Hali (Consensus All‑American, 2005); Aaron Maybin (Consensus All‑American, 2008); O.J. McDuffie (Consensus All‑American, 1992); Jeff Hartings (Consensus All‑American, 1995); Sean Farrell (Consensus All‑American, 1981); D.J. Dozier (Consensus All‑American, 1986); Devon Still (Consensus All‑American, 2011); Levi Brown (No. 5 pick, 2007); Jack Ham (Consensus All‑American, 1970); Brandon Short (Consensus All‑American, 1999); Bruce Bannon (Consensus All‑American, 1972); Greg Buttle (Consensus All‑American, 1975); Mike Hartenstine (Consensus All‑American, 1974); Dave Joyner (Consensus All‑American, 1971); John Skorupan (Consensus All‑American, 1972); Mike Munchak (No. 8 pick, 1982); Ed O’Neil (No. 8 pick, 1974); Kyle Brady (No. 9 pick, 1995); Jared Odrick (No. 28 pick, 2010); Franco Harris (No. 13 pick, 1972); Bryant Johnson (No. 17 pick, 2003); Booker Moore (No. 28 pick, 1981); Andre Johnson (No. 30 pick, 1996); Jimmy Kennedy (No. 12 pick, 2003); Michael Haynes (No. 14 pick, 2003).
18 of the 49 players from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 167 | 85–81–1 | 51% |
| Against top-10 teams | 81 | 35–46 | 43% |
| Against rivals | 221 | 162–57–2 | 74% |
| Conference games | 149 | 95–54 | 64% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 37 | 24–12–1 | 66% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 172 | 110–59–3 | 65% |
| At home | 285 | 230–54–1 | 81% |
| On the road | 216 | 148–67–1 | 69% |
| At neutral sites | 47 | 31–15–1 | 67% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 431 | 363–66–2 | 84% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 117 | 46–70–1 | 40% |
His own 548 games on file, 1966–2011, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don Nehlen 1980–1992 | 11–2 | West Virginia | 13 | |
| Lou Holtz 1972–1992 | 6–5 | NC State, Notre Dame | 11 | |
| Kirk Ferentz 1999–2011 | 3–8 | Iowa | 11 | |
| Lloyd Carr 1995–2007 | 2–9 | Michigan | 11 | |
| Jack Bicknell 1981–1990 | 9–1 | Boston College | 10 | |
| Dick MacPherson 1981–1990 | 8–2 | Syracuse | 10 | |
| Joe Tiller 1997–2008 | 8–2 | Purdue | 10 | |
| Jim Tressel 2001–2010 | 3–7 | Ohio State | 10 | |
| Barry Alvarez 1995–2005 | 4–5 | Wisconsin | 9 | |
| Jerry Claiborne 1972–1980 | 8–0 | Maryland | 8 |
Joe Paterno’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Pittsburghseries | 31 | 23–7–1 |
| Templeseries | 28 | 28–0 |
| West Virginiaseries | 27 | 25–2 |
| Syracuseseries | 27 | 23–4 |
| Marylandseries | 25 | 24–0–1 |
| Iowaseries | 23 | 12–11 |
| Ohio Stateseries | 22 | 8–14 |
| Boston Collegeseries | 20 | 16–4 |
National coaching awards
The awards- 2005 Penn State: Bobby Dodd Award and Walter Camp Coach
- 1994 Penn State: Walter Camp Coach
- 1986 Penn State: Bear Bryant Award and Eddie Robinson
- 1982 Penn State: Eddie Robinson
- 1981 Penn State: Bobby Dodd Award
- 1978 Penn State: Eddie Robinson
- 1972 Penn State: Walter Camp Coach
Other roles
- Team captain, Brown 1949
From each season’s Wikipedia article.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950–65 | Penn State | Assistant coach | |
| 1966–2011 | Penn State | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Rip EnglePenn State
Assistants who became head coaches
- Bob TuckerWooster
- George WelshNavy, Virginia
- Jim WeaverVillanova
- Frank SpazianiBoston College
- Dick AndersonRutgers
- Art WilkinsAmerican International
- John RosenbergBrown
- Rip SchererMemphis, James Madison
- Kit CartwrightButler
- Craig CirbusBuffalo
- Ron DickersonTemple, Alabama State, Lambuth
- Jim CaldwellWake Forest, Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions
- and 8 more
Worked under (1)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rip Engle | Penn State | 1950–65 | Assistant coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (20)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Tucker | Penn State, 1966: graduate assistant | Wooster | |
| George Welsh | Penn State, 1966–72: assistant coach | Navy, Virginia | |
| Jim Weaver | Penn State, 1967–72: assistant coach | Villanova | |
| Frank Spaziani | Penn State, 1969: graduate assistant | Boston College | |
| Dick Anderson | Penn State, 1973–83, 1990–92: offensive line coach; 1993–98: quarterbacks coach; 1999–2011: offensive guards and centers coach | Rutgers | |
| Art Wilkins | Penn State, 1974–77: assistant coach | American International | |
| John Rosenberg | Penn State, 1974–82: assistant coach | Brown | |
| Rip Scherer | Penn State, 1974–75: graduate assistant | Memphis, James Madison | |
| Kit Cartwright | Penn State, 1978: part-time assistant | Butler | |
| Craig Cirbus | Penn State, 1984–94: assistant coach | Buffalo | |
| Ron Dickerson | Penn State, 1985–90: cornerbacks coach | Temple, Alabama State, Lambuth | |
| Jim Caldwell | Penn State, 1986–92: quarterbacks coach | Wake Forest, Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions | |
| Greg Schiano | Penn State, 1990: graduate assistant; 1991–95: defensive backs coach | Rutgers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |
| Earnest Wilson | Penn State, 1993–94: graduate assistant | Savannah State, Elizabeth City State, Defiance College, Vermilion | |
| Dave Opfar | Penn State, 1998: graduate assistant | Saint Francis | |
| Matt Rhule | Penn State, 1998: volunteer assistant | Temple, Baylor, Nebraska, Carolina Panthers | |
| Al Golden | Penn State, 2000: linebackers coach | Temple, Miami | |
| Ron Vanderlinden | Penn State, 2001–11: linebackers coach; 2011: co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Maryland | |
| Galen Hall | Penn State, 2004–11: offensive coordinator and running backs coach | Florida, Orlando Thunder, Charlotte Rage, Rhein Fire, Orlando Rage | |
| Elijah Robinson | Penn State, 2009–10: graduate assistant; 2011: graduate assistant and defensive line coach | Texas A&M |
Other assistants under him (11)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| ChoMo Jerry Sandusky | Penn State, 1966: graduate assistant; 1969: defensive line coach; 1970–76: linebackers coach; 1977–99: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Dan Radakovich | Penn State, 1966–69: assistant coach | |
| Jim O’Hora | Penn State, 1966–76: defensive coordinator | |
| Fran Ganter | Penn State, 1972: graduate assistant; 1978–83: running backs and kickers coach; 1984–99: offensive coordinator; 2000–03: assistant head coach and offensive coordinator | |
| Tom Bradley | Penn State, 1979: graduate assistant; 1980: special teams coach; 1981–85: special teams and wide receivers coach; 1986–95: outside linebackers and special teams coach; 1996–99: defensive backs coach; 2000–11: defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach | |
| Jamie Barresi | Penn State, 1984–85: grad assistant; 1988–92: recruiting coordinator | |
| Teryl Austin | Penn State, 1991–92: graduate assistant | |
| Stan Clayton | Penn State, 1995: graduate assistant | |
| Larry Johnson | Penn State, 1996–99: defensive ends and special teams coach; 2000–11: defensive line coach | |
| Jeff Nixon | Penn State, 1997: graduate assistant | |
| Brian Norwood | Penn State, 2001–07: safeties coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Penn State | head coach | $1,022,794 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2010 | Penn State | head coach | $1,109,977 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2009 | Penn State | head coach | $1,097,767 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2008 | Penn State | head coach | $1,500,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2007 | Penn State | head coach | $512,664 USA Today via Leeds |
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Paterno’s teams went for it on 14% of fourth downs and on 26% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 47% of plays and took 25.7 seconds a play, 2004–2011.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 10 g | 14 of 82 17% | 30% | 50% | 24.1 | −0.16 | |
| 2005 12 g | 6 of 84 7% | 18% | 41% | 24.8 | 0.00 | |
| 2006 13 g | 19 of 110 17% | 30% | 51% | 24.7 | −0.15 | |
| 2007 13 g | 14 of 97 14% | 26% | 46% | 24.6 | +0.01 | |
| 2008 13 g | 13 of 78 17% | 25% | 44% | 26.9 | +0.10 | |
| 2009 13 g | 6 of 86 7% | 12% | 48% | 28.5 | +0.01 | |
| 2010 13 g | 17 of 98 17% | 33% | 50% | 26.1 | −0.07 | |
| 2011 13 g | 18 of 111 16% | 26% | 44% | 25.1 | −0.12 | |
| All 100 g | 107 of 746 14% | 26% | 47% | 25.7 | −0.04 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.
Films, books and statues
In books
In bronze
Films: Wikidata (CC0) and Wikipedia’s lists and categories (CC BY-SA). Books: Open Library (CC0); most-reissued first, each linked to its page there. Statues: Wikidata (CC0) and Wikimedia Commons; links only.