Joe Paterno graduated from Brown University in 1950. He had been in the service before attending Brown, and the plan was for him to go to law school -- his dad had wanted him to be an attorney. Joe told his father he decided to spend one year before law school assisting his former football coach at Brown, Rip Engle, who was the new head coach at Penn State. His parents playfully teased him for being "just a football coach," but what a coach he has been. It's safe to say Joe isn't going to make it to law school.
He was an assistant to Engle for 16 years, when he was offered the Yale job in the '60s. But he had been told Engle was close to retirement, and that he'd become the head coach. Engle retired after the '65 season, and Paterno became the head coach in 1966. He didn't have a very good first year -- the Lions were 5-5 -- but one quickly got an inkling of how Joe was already on his feet.
In 1966, Michigan State had its amazing team with Bubba Smith and George Webster and played the 10-10 game with Notre Dame. Somehow, the subject of drugs had come up during a Paterno interview (remember, it was the '60s), and Paterno was asked what he thought of LSD. He replied, "Michigan State would beat 'em by three touchdowns." It became clear rather quickly that Paterno was pretty good with the quotes. Now, the question was, could he coach?
In those days, if someone was an assistant for too long, they would rarely make the step up to head coach. People thought that a long-time assistant couldn't make it as a head coach.
In his second year, Paterno turned it around. Penn State played Navy and lost late in the game. Joe went home and said to his wife, Sue, "I've got a major problem. I'm going to change everything. I'm going to play the young kids, and if we still have a bad year, I might be looking for a job come December."
Following that decision, the Lions went down to Miami as a 10-point underdog on a Friday night and beat the Hurricanes 17-8. They lost one more game that year, tied their bowl game and then didn't lose another game until 1970. Paterno had perfect seasons in '68, '69, and again in 1973. Ironically, he didn't win a national title until 1982 -- a year that Penn State actually lost a game -- and went on to beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Paterno then won his second national title in 1986.
It's just a matter of time before he breaks Bear Bryant's record as the winningest coach in college football. Penn State will probably win eight games this year, but even if the Lions didn't win one, Paterno isn't going anywhere. He'll probably coach for five more years. He'll be 75 in December and will just keep on going.
The folks who have him buried are absolutely crazy.
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