No Ordinary Joe

Certainly one of the best-known coaches in college football, Paterno became an assistant at Penn State in 1950 and head coach in 1966. And he has stayed there ever since, despite offers from both colleges and professional teams. Through the years he has compiled a record of 298-77-3, but is probably more respected because of his insistence that the aim of college is primarily a college education and only secondarily a headline on the sports page, so he and his staff drive their players as hard for academic excellence as for gridiron success.