![]() Paterno’s football team went on to win another national title in 1986 after defeating the University of Miami in the the Fiesta Bowl. Instead of perfunctory remarks about football, Paterno called for hiring distinguished professors, providing more scholarships to students, constructing new academic facilities, and renovating the library. Invited later in the month to speak to the Penn State Board of Trustees, Paterno urged the trustees to use the championship as a stimulus for a fundraising campaign to make Penn State a world-class academic institution. The school won its first national championship after defeating the University of Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day 1983. Significantly, the change allows athletics to control all its revenue for its own purposes. All control of athletics was moved from the College of Health, Physical Education and Recreation to the senior vice president for business and finance. During this time Paterno succeeded in changing the way the university handles the finances of intercollegiate athletics. Paterno also served as Penn State athletic director from 1980 to 1982. Paterno became beloved for his gameday image that included coat and tie, rolled-up khaki slacks, white socks, and black athletic shoes. ![]() During these years, the fan base exploded, and Beaver Stadium expanded to seat more than 85,000. Cappelletti won the Heisman Trophy in 1973. The team had undefeated seasons in 1968, 1969, and 1973 and finished thirteen years in the top 10 of the polls, led by All-America players like Mike Reid, Lydell Mitchell, Jack Ham, John Cappelletti, Charlie Pittman, John Hufnagel, and Randy Crowder. In his second season, 1967, Paterno began to take Penn State to the pinnacle of college football. A sportswriter gave Paterno’s vision a name: “The Grand Experiment.” Penn State players consistently showed above-average academic success and graduation rates compared to other Division 1 schools. Honing a philosophy of academic integrity instilled in him by Engle and the athletic director, Ernest McCoy, Paterno sought to turn the sons of working-class families into players who would go on to be respected citizens in law, medicine, finance, and other professions. Between the 19 seasons, Beaver Field, in the heart of campus was dismantled and reconstructed in a one-time cow pasture on the eastern edge of the campus, with seating expanded from 28,000 to 46,284.ĭespite a mediocre 5-5 debut season, Paterno believed he could build an elite college football program with superior athletes who were also superior students. When he retired and Paterno succeeded him in 1966, Penn State was one of the best teams in the East, a potential national power with a winning intersectional schedule. (Penn State Archives)Įngle had rejuvenated Penn State football. Joe Paterno (back row, far left) joined the coaching staff in 1950. The couple had five children, Diana, Joseph Jr. In 1958, he met Suzanne Pohland, a freshman, and they were married in 1962, the year she graduated. During his 16 years on Engle’s staff, the college grew from an 11,000-plus student body in 1950 to 22,500. As the years passed by, he became Engle’s top assistant. Paterno fell in love with football and Penn State, and law school was soon forgotten. Yet his Ivy League education gave him something in common with Penn State’s academic community, and his outgoing personality enabled him to make friends easily. Joseph Vincent Paterno was the son of an Italian immigrant and raised on the boisterous, crowded streets of Brooklyn. On the surface, the 23-year-old Paterno seemed to be out of his element. He intended to move on to law school the following year. Paterno initially signed on in 1950 to spend one year helping Rip Engle, his coach at Brown University, who had just become the head coach at Penn State. Not only was the longevity of his career at one institution exceptional in the world of intercollegiate football, but his success was unequaled as well: No other NCAA Division I football coach won more games than Paterno’s 409. In Joe Paterno’s extraordinary career as Penn State’s head football coach from 1966 to 2011, Paterno was the most recognizable Penn Stater and citizen of Centre County.
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