Joe Paterno Who's The Number 1 Greatest Coaches

According to “ Who’s The Number 1 Greatest Coaches”, Joe Paterno is ranked number 16 out of 20, of best coaches in the world. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Joe Paterno always dreamed of going to law school, but found a better career when asked to assist Rip Engle, coach of the Cleveland Browns. From assisting he eventually became head coach in 1966 of the Penn State Nitanny Lions and stayed with them until his death in 2011, and was named a legendary coach.

Joe Paterno was a coach of modesty but was still very stern and very competitive. Paterno’s philosophy was “Make an Impact”, whether that meant on or off the field. He harped on the fact of his players being “student-athletes”, “balancing academic excellence with athletic prowess.” Scott Shirley, former player on the Nittany Lions says, “ Paterno’s insistence that his players succeed off the field was the driving force behind the cancer fundraiser Lift for Life, which is run each year by the team.” Not only was Paterno a great coach but he was a great teacher, and that’s exactly was former ABC sports announcer said,” Great Coaches are Great Teachers.” Paterno made up what he called the “Grand Experiment”, this was a decision made by Paterno to have a team that would

excel in both the classroom and the on the field. Paterno tried to shelter his players from all the reporters and even played with no names on their jerseys to jeep that modesty alive throughout his whole team.
Paterno was known as one of the greatest coaches in the world not only because of his willingness to teach. but his ability to win championships. Throughout his career, Paterno has 409 wins, 37 bowl games, 2 national championships, and has sent 250 players to NFL careers. He coached in 37 bowl games and won 24 more bowl games than any other coach, which included Rose bowl, sugar bowl, cotton bowl, and the fiesta bowl. In his 46 years as a coach, Paterno had a winning percentage of about 75%, but the most intriguing statistic is that Penn state had the highest graduation rate at 87% in 2011, the year Paterno ended up dying. When offered the head coach position at New England where he would be making over 1 million dollars, Paterno denied the position to stay at Penn State making a merely 35000. Paterno showed his love for Penn State by helping them raise hundreds of millions of dollars and contributing 4 million.
Paterno’s coaching style, from what I read, was definitely athlete centered.

He wanted his athletes to succeed on and off the field at all times. He was modest and wanted to live by his philosophy, which was to make an impact, and wanted his players to do the same. He thrived on his players being student- athletes and coached with that mindset. Why is Joe Paterno one the greatest coaches? I believe it wasn’t just his national championships, various wins, or bowl games, but his tendency to put his athletes first, focus on their academics as well as their athleticism, and build their character as a team. His coaching style can be best defined as value- driven, he gave Penn State something to be proud of both through sports and through

academics.
Joe Paterno was a legendary coach, but before he died he dealt with something that would sort of ruin his reputation. While his assistant coach was accused of sexual abuse, he was put in the spotlight, saying he should have stopped it or he should of known about it. I’m not going to go into details but I still think Joe Paterno did so many amazing things throughout his coaching career and made an impact on Penn state and his athletes that will never be replaced. For 15 years Paterno was an assistant coach, moved up to head coach, and stayed with the same football team for 62 years. Commitment like that doesn’t come around too often, someone who can come into a program and change it for the better in almost every aspect of the game deserves recognition. I would hope to always focus my coaching on both values and athletics, you should focus on your players values, and that’s what Joe Paterno did. I’m going to sum up of this paper with a quote by Paterno. “There are many people, particularly in sports, who think that success and excellence are the same thing. They are not the same thing. Excellence is something that is lasting and dependable and largely within a person’s control. In contrast, success is perishable and is often outside our control. If you strive for excellence, you will probably be successful eventually. ----Joe Paterno