The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Joe Paterno

Followed Rip Engle. Joe Paterno took Penn State from Power Program II to Blue Blood.

409–136
1966–2011 · 1 stint
Penn State
← all coaches

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerPENN STATEDynastythe sport's summitBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderPenn State, 1966: 5-5, Power Program II1966Penn State, 1967: 8-2, Power Program IIPenn State, 1968: 11-0, Power Program IPenn State, 1969: 11-0, Power Program IPenn State, 1970: 7-3, Power Program IPenn State, 1971: 11-1, Power Program IPenn State, 1972: 10-2, Power Program IPenn State, 1973: 12-0, Power Program IPenn State, 1974: 10-2, Power Program IPenn State, 1975: 9-3, Power Program IPenn State, 1976: 7-5, Power Program IPenn State, 1977: 11-1, Power Program IPenn State, 1978: 11-1, Power Program IPenn State, 1979: 8-4, Power Program IPenn State, 1980: 10-2, Power Program IPenn State, 1981: 10-2, Power Program IPenn State, 1982: 11-1, Blue BloodPenn State, 1983: 8-4, Blue BloodPenn State, 1984: 6-5, Blue BloodPenn State, 1985: 11-1, Blue BloodPenn State, 1986: 12-0, Blue BloodPenn State, 1987: 8-4, Blue BloodPenn State, 1988: 5-6, Blue BloodPenn State, 1989: 8-3, Blue BloodPenn State, 1990: 9-3, Blue BloodPenn State, 1991: 11-2, Blue BloodPenn State, 1992: 7-5, Blue BloodPenn State, 1993: 10-2, Blue BloodPenn State, 1994: 12-0, Blue BloodPenn State, 1995: 9-3, Blue BloodPenn State, 1996: 11-2, Blue BloodPenn State, 1997: 9-3, Blue BloodPenn State, 1998: 9-3, Power Program IPenn State, 1999: 10-3, Power Program IPenn State, 2000: 5-7, Power Program IPenn State, 2001: 5-6, Power Program IPenn State, 2002: 9-4, Power Program IPenn State, 2003: 3-9, Power Program IPenn State, 2004: 4-7, Power Program IPenn State, 2005: 11-1, Power Program IPenn State, 2006: 9-4, Power Program IPenn State, 2007: 9-4, Power Program IPenn State, 2008: 11-2, Power Program IPenn State, 2009: 11-2, Power Program IPenn State, 2010: 7-6, Power Program IPenn State, 2011: 8-1, Power Program I2011+25.2One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Blue Blood in his 17th career season — faster than 6% of the 100 FBS coaches who have ever reached Blue Blood (rank #92 of 100 by seasons-to-arrival).

Penn State, 46 seasons
+25.2
Power Program II → Power Program I.

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

43–27 against his rivals. Just 2–9 against Lloyd Carr.

Rivalry record
43–27–1
60.6% · 3 rivals
One-score games
111–59–3
64.2% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–3
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Pittsburgh22–7–173%
Ohio State9–1439%
Michigan State12–667%
The toughest matchupNemesis
vs. Lloyd Carr2–9
11 meetings, 1995–2007
’95 W’96 W’97 L’98 L’99 L’00 L’01 L’02 L’05 L’06 L’07 L
Performance by opponent class
Dynasty
0–3 0.0%
Blue Blood
28–41 40.6%
Power Program
79–50 61.2%
National Program
150–31 82.9%
Regional Program
140–13 91.5%

Coaching career

1966–2011
Penn Statetransformer
Power Program II → Blue Blood
Joe Paterno took Penn State from Power Program II to Blue Blood.

1st-best Penn State tenure of 8 by the numbers.

Followed Rip Engle (1950–1965) · succeeded by Bill O'Brien (2012–2013).

Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows Tight end from high school
100%
#164 of 188 stints
Grows Edge from high school
100%
#191 of 208 stints

184 NFL Draft picks: David Rowe (1967), Richard Buzin (1968), William Lenkaitis (1968), Mike McBath (1968), Ted Kwalick (1969), Dave Bradley (1969), Bob Campbell (1969), John Kulka (1969) + 176 more

409–136